The city of Parma's ban on pit bull dogs will officially remain intact.
An automatic recount had been triggered regarding the results of Issue 10, which would have repealed the city's bread-specific legislation. Voters decided against repeal on May 7, but the margin of victory was just .12% (14 votes), meaning a recount must be conducted under Ohio law.
The recount began Wednesday, and on Thursday, Cuyahoga County election officials revealed the recount matched with the original results. Three of Parma's 51 precincts (accounting for 699 of the roughly 12,000 votes cast) randomly received hand recounts, and the results were unchanged. The remaining 48 precincts were then re-scanned electronically, and the results were also the same as before.
The result brings an end (for now) to what has been at times a bitter debate about whether to repeal the ban or not. Some even claimed the wording of the ballot measure was confusing ("yes" voted to repeal the ban, while "no" voted to uphold it). Several localities, such as Lakewood and Rocky River, have done away with similar breed-specific bans in the past year.
WKYC has reached out to the city of Parma for comment.