Election results made official
Published 12:00 am Thursday, November 17, 2005
JACKSON – Who said one vote couldn’t make a difference?
One vote was exactly the margin of victory for one Commissioner-elect in the town of Gaston.
After the Northampton County Board of Elections approved a provisional ballot from the town, Wade Moseley edged out Becky Sykes by a single vote (108-107) for the fifth and final seat on the Board.
Moseley and Sykes had been tied at 107 votes each since last Tuesday’s preliminary voting. The totals did not change during Monday’s recount, but the provisional ballot made the difference after it was approved during canvassing to certify election results Tuesday.
Moseley became one of two new members on the Gaston Board of Commissioners. Newcomer Deborah Lee James was elected with 114 votes. The two replace Commissioner Danny Tolbert, who was elected mayor, and Commissioner Billy Martin who did not seek reelection.
Three other incumbents were certified as winners on the Gaston Town Board. They included Louise Bailey, Donald Conner and Mike Phelps.
Write-in candidate Darryl Wayne Whittle took the fifth seat on the Garysburg town board after a successful write-in campaign.
There were five candidates on the original ballot, but former Commissioner Sabrina Thomas Clark withdrew from the race, meaning the highest write-in candidate would win the election.
The other four Garysburg incumbents which were reelected included Lola Ausby, Jearline Brown, James Mayo and Iris Williams.
In Conway, there were no changes in the final voting, as the Board approved no provisional ballots.
Newcomer Andy Woodard remained the highest vote-getter in the election with 98 votes. He was followed in succession by George Clark, Peggy Davis, William R. &uot;Billy&uot; Joyner and Alan Harris. Incumbent commissioner Lynmore Gay trailed Harris by two votes (67-65).
There were no changes in the outcome of voting in any other election in Northampton County.
Following Tuesday’s canvass, the results of the election were certified as official by the Northampton County Board of Elections.