Ahoskie race still not official

Published 4:50 pm Tuesday, November 21, 2023

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AHOSKIE – With the exception of the three-man race for the Ward B seat on the Ahoskie Town Council, the results of the Nov. 7 election held in Hertford County municipalities are official.

The Hertford County Board of Elections met on Friday of last week to conduct the state-mandated canvass of the vote totals.

Shelia Privott, Hertford County Elections Director, said a pending protest that was filed prior to the start of One Stop voting back in October has delayed the certification of the Ward B winner.

Unofficial results from the election show that Ward B incumbent Charles Reynolds topped the ballots in that race. Reynolds received 94 votes compared to 78 for David Robertson and 13 for Donald Kirkland.

In early October, Kirkland filed a protest with the county’s Board of Elections, alleging that Robertson does not reside at the address as listed his voter registration card.

At that time, Privott said that Kirkland submitted enough evidence to warrant the elections board looking into his protest.

On Friday of last week, Privott said this kind of protest, does not involve the manner in which votes were counted or involve how the results were tabulated.

“Instead, it is just the issuance of the certificate of election that is delayed until the protest is fully resolved,” Privott said.

She added that the Elections Board has tentatively scheduled a meeting for 6 p.m. on Dec. 5 at which time a decision may be made on the protest.

The canvass determined the name of a write-in candidate that turned out to be the top vote-getter for one of five seats on the Harrellsville Town Council. Emma Perry received 19 write-in votes to top the balloting. The totals did not change for the next four as Town Council incumbents Lisa Hunnicutt (17 votes), Thomas Grimes (16), Ronnie Revell, Sr. (16), and Deborah Baker (14) all ran unopposed.

Christopher Ambrose, also a write-in candidate for the Harrellsville Council, received 11 votes.

In Winton, the canvass broke a tie for the fifth and final seat on the Town Council. The unofficial results from Nov. 7 showed incumbent Clifton W. Sexton and political newcomer Danny Greene each receiving 55 votes. The canvass revealed one additional vote for Greene and none for Sexton, thus making Greene the winner.

The canvass did not impact the finishing order in the election of town officials in Cofield or Murfreesboro.

About Cal Bryant

Cal Bryant, a 40-year veteran of the newspaper industry, serves as the Editor at Roanoke-Chowan Publications, publishers of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald, Gates County Index, and Front Porch Living magazine.

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