Eddie Ellington is the mayor-elect for the City of Henderson. While the canvass still takes place on Tuesday, Ellington can now be safely declared the winner of the Mayoral election.
Audio from the 5 P.M. Local News – WIZS Lead Story
Ellington said, “I am honored to become the next mayor for the City of Henderson. It’s been a long process, and I want to thank the citizens of Henderson for standing behind me, and I look forward to going to work for all the people of the City. Thank you and may God bless you.”
The question since Tuesday night had been about the 10 provisional ballots. Those ballots determined the Mayoral race, but the Ward 1 race between Marion Brodie Williams and Clarence J. Dale is far from over. The Ward 3 At Large race between Mellissa Elliott and Brenda Peace will still go to a runoff if Peace requests the runoff.
Chairman of the Vance County Board of Elections, Kevin Kilgore, said, “Out of the 10 provisional ballots, four were counted in full, two were partially counted, and there were four that were not counted at all.”
Kilgore said, “Ellington’s margin went up by two votes and his percentage went to 50.20 percent.”
That is enough for Ellington to avoid a runoff with Jim Kearney.
As for Ward 3 At Large, “Elliott and Peace each got three more votes, so the margin stays the same,” Kilgore said.
Now to the really fine print, Ward 1 Ward seat. Dale and Williams each have 234 votes now. They are tied. So, what’s next?
“We have three mailed absentee ballots that have not be returned. As long as they are here by 5 P.M. tomorrow (Friday) and postmarked by election day, they can be counted,” Kilgore said. Also, he said, “We have four mailed absentee ballots that have not be counted because we are waiting for more information. Those are due by the canvass on Tuesday.”
In most elections, there is not a tie, nor is it this close. Kilgore said, “In most elections this would not make a hill of beans of difference.”
Instead, Kilgore, Faye Gill and all of the board and volunteers are still hard at work.
Seven more votes, not enough to affect the Mayoral result or the anticipated runoff between Peace and Elliott, but seven votes is plenty of votes to break a tie. To that end, the State Board of Elections has required the Vance County Board of Elections to perform a hand recount on the Ward 1 race, which will be started tomorrow (Friday) at 10 A.M.
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