Polling locations in Lincoln County closed for the evening, and local election workers immediately began counting and finalizing ballots as election night moved from voting to tabulation.
The shift matters now because several contested local races are still being watched, including mayor, sheriff, school board and multiple county commission seats. Voters and candidates were waiting for the count to start, and that wait is now over.
Alongside those contested races, the ballot also included uncontested positions for Circuit Court Clerk, County Clerk, County Trustee and Register of Deeds. That mix is what makes the count important on a night when the public is looking for answers across more than one part of the local ballot.
For now, the unresolved part is the one people are watching most closely: which candidates are leading in the contested races. No results were available as the counting got underway, so the first reporting from election workers will have to do the work that polling place closings only begin.
This is a live election-results update from WBIR, and the next step is simple: election workers will keep counting and finalizing ballots until the first results are ready to report.
