Write-in campaigns swing votes, decide three municipal elections
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 7, 2013 1:46 PM
Write-in votes decided the outcome in three of the five Wayne County municipal elections Tuesday, including one upset in which write-in votes topped the totals for the candidates whose names were on the ballot.
That happened in Pikeville, where a concerted write-in effort was held, Mayor Johnny Weaver said. The write-in votes exceeded the totals for the official candidates by an almost two-to-one margin.
According to unofficial results, write-in candidate Glenn Hartman had 84 votes for mayor to defeat Commissioner Todd Anderson, who had 61 votes.
In the commissioners race, write-ins Al Greene and Todd Smith had 89 and 86 votes respectively to defeat Eric Snoody, who had 43, and Garrett Johnston, who had 40. Commissioner Lyman Galloway, who did not seek re-election, received seven votes.
Write-ins also decided the elections in Seven Springs and Eureka, where no one had filed for the two board seats and mayor's office.
Seven Springs Mayor Allen Cash won re-election with 29 votes. Robert Mozingo had 9.
Ronda Hughes received 31 votes to be re-elected to the town board. John H. Lee II had 28 votes to win the second seat.
In Eureka, Mayor Doug Booth received all 24 write-in votes to be re-elected. Commissioner Billy Martin had 21 votes to win one of the two board seats and David Elmore had 12 votes to win the other.
All totals are unofficial until the Wayne County Board of Elections holds a vote canvass next week.
The board will meet Friday at 2 p.m. to conduct the state-mandated hand-to-eye count in preparation for the canvass of Tuesday's elections.
The board will meet again at 4 p.m. to count the provisional ballots.
The vote canvass is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12. At 9 a.m, the elections board will meet to consider a protest filed in the Southeastern Wayne Sanitary District. One of the candidates on the ballot apparently is not a resident of the district.
All of the meetings will be held at the Board of Elections office at 209 S. William St.