Municipal elections

certified
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

The Watauga County Board of Elections had the hat ready and Sheriff Len Hagaman standing by to draw a name, but a 50-50 council race was determined after a hand count instead.

The elections board performed a hand-eye count in the Beech Mountain Town Council race after the canvass results initially suggested a tie for the third and final council seat. After the hand count, Randy Corn edged ahead of Paul Piquet by one vote, 65 to 64, joining Alan Holcombe (115 votes) and Rick Owen (88) in the winner’s circle.

Unofficial results had the two incumbents tied at 64 votes. There were three provisional votes cast in the contest, and one was ruled invalid. Of the other two, both voted for only one candidate, Holcombe.

Piquet was the only candidate in attendance as board of elections members from both parties called out votes from the paper ballots and agreed to accept the votes. Piquet, an incumbent along with Corn, graciously acknowledged the outcome by saying, “The important thing is getting the vote right.”

Board chairwoman Stella Anderson stressed that it was important for voters to completely fill in the circles when casting ballots, as some of the hand-counted ballots had check marks instead. “Voters should follow the instructions,” she said. “Marks may be visible to the eye but may not be visible to the machine.”

If the candidates had ended in a tie after the hand count, both names would have been written on slips of paper and put into a hat, with Hagaman drawing to determine the winner. Elections director Jane Hodges said that during her two decades in office, there had been “four or five” times the hat had been used, all in Beech Mountain races. “It’s a small municipality and it usually has fewer candidates and fewer voters,” she said.

In the region’s other close race, Bill Wilkinson picked up one more provisional vote during the canvass to secure his win in Seven Devils. Incumbent Wilkinson finished with 50 votes in certified returns, just ahead of challenger David Ehmig’s 48. Wilkinson earned a two-year term, joining incumbents Kathy Copley (82) and Richard DeMott (67).

In the Boone Town Council runoff, Liz Aycock expanded her margin of victory over incumbent Dempsey Wilcox in certified returns. Aycock received 35 votes of the 54 approved provisional ballots, finishing with a total victory margin of 959 to 827 votes.

In Blowing Rock, the results were unchanged as newcomers Albert Yount (302) and Phillip Pickett (199) earned four-year terms on the town commission. Patsy Fountain finished with 156 and incumbent Rita Wiseman got 137 votes.

All winning candidates will be sworn in during the town councils’ regular meetings in December. Beech Mountain and Seven Devils elect their mayors from within the council.