A Sebring charter amendment to eliminate the village’s civil service commission is winning by one vote with 10 provisional votes to be counted.

The charter amendment is winning 296-295 as of Tuesday’s unofficial count.

There are 10 provisional ballots in Sebring that still need to be added to the final count to determine the outcome, said Tom McCabe, director of the Mahoning County Board of Elections. Just because there are 10 outstanding provisional ballots in Sebring doesn’t mean all of them include votes for the charter amendment, he said.

The current margin of victory is 0.16 of a percent. Any results that are 0.5 of a percent or less get an automatic recount.

The Sebring charter amendment was the only race — either for issues, levies or candidates — in the county that currently falls within that 0.5 of a percent margin.

The board of elections will meet Nov. 18 to certify the results of Tuesday’s election, including the Sebring issue.

Tim Gabrelcik, Sebring’s village manager, said village officials decided to ask voters to eliminate three charter provisions dealing with the civil service commission because the written test required for those wanting to be police officers and emergency 911 dispatchers is “so prohibitive.”

Candidates must score at least 70% on the written test to be considered to be hired or promoted — and that has been a problem, Gabrelcik said.

“The rules are we interview the top 10 people who pass the test, but we’re lucky to get one or two people taking it,” he said. “It’s been so challenging for testing, promoting and getting new hires. The civil service commission was set up 25 to 30 years ago when we were a city. Things have changed.”

If the charter amendment passes, there will still be standards and testing with a committee of the village manager, mayor, police chief and a citizen interviewing candidates for police and dispatcher hirings and promotions, Gabrelcik said.

“We would still use a written test in some form, but there would be more weight on the interview and experience,” he said. “I don’t want the citizens to think it’s cronyism and hiring your buddies. We’ll do this professionally.”

There are seven full-time officers, a police chief, two part-timers, four full-time dispatchers and three part-timers in the village’s department.

Asked if he was surprised by the current one-vote margin, Gabrelcik said, “Yes and no. There’s a segment of the community that’s old school and like the way we do it with civil service. If it fails, we’ll continue with what we’re doing. If it passes, we’ll use the committee. We’ll still use similar tests, but this gives us more flexibility.”