Exactly one month after Election Day, the race for the 15th Congressional District race hit another snag.

Thursday afternoon the Ohio Supreme Court was evacuated due to a gas leak from a nearby construction site while the court was in the process of hearing a case from supporters of Steve Stivers (R-Columbus) against Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D) concerning provisional ballots that aren't fully filled out.

The court was evacuated for 4 hours. While there's no official comment about when a ruling will be made in the case, rumors circulated on Wednesday that a decision was imminent.

About 27,000 provisional ballots in Franklin County - the largest of the three counties in the 15th district - have not been counted. Federal and state courts have delayed counting these provisional ballots as they decided the fate of 1,000 incomplete provisional ballots. The ballots lack information such as a voter's signature or his or her printed name.

Stivers supporters argue that these ballots run afoul of state law and shouldn't be counted. Brunner argues that these ballots can be counted because of a directive she issued before the election which said provisional ballots may not be rejected because of poll worker error, such as failing to properly inform voters they need to print and sign their names.

Stivers' campaign clams it has a 594-vote lead over Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy - not including the provisional ballots in question.

The case's outcome will also settle the winner of the 19th state House race where Democrat Marian Harris leads Republican Brad Lewis by 40 votes. Democrats currently hold a five-seat majority in the state House.