More than 9,000 Howard County ballots left to count today and Friday, as school board seats hang in the balance

More than 3,000 provisional ballots and 5,200 mail-in ballots from Howard County voters will be counted Wednesday, according to Board of Elections Director Guy Mickley, leaving about 1,000 ballots for a final canvassing session Friday, the same day local election results are certified by the state board and posted online. “We’re just very tired and we’ll be very happy when we’re finished counting all these ballots,” said Mickley as he headed into Wednesday’s canvassing at the Kenneth Ulman Innovation Hub in Columbia.