Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward MageeNews.com a small commission – at no extra cost to you.
The Simpson County Republican party has completed the counting and verification of affidavit ballots cast in the Tuesday, May 2nd Republican Primary. Under directions of the City Clerk, Twila Grant, Tommy Meador called the meeting to order and began with prayer.
Mayor Jimmy Clyde expressed appreciation to the party members, the city clerk, and poll workers who assisted in the primary on the 2nd. Mayor Clyde stated that we have a group that “gives of themselves and that is what makes it work.”
Chairman Tommy Meador broke the seal on the box which contained the affidavit ballots. These ballots had been researched by City Clerk Twila Grant as to their authenticity through Simpson County voter rolls. Twila informed the group there was a glitch in the county system which led to a miscoding error that caused some people who registered at the county not to be placed on the city roll.
If someone votes by affidavit ballot due to not having proper identification (picture ID), the person has 5 working days to bring identification to the City Hall. The people who voted affidavit without proper ID never brought identification to City Hall.
Some of the affidavit voters lived outside the city or had never registered. Each ballot was individually considered.
Ward 1 had 7 rejected ballots and 5 proper ballots.
Voting: Dale Berry 2 votes; Robert Vinson 2 vote; Brent Walker 1 vote
Alderman at Large: Paul Arnold had 2 votes and Angel Brister had 2 votes.
Ward 1 Alderman: Dr. Jasper Adcock had 1 vote; Whitney Barnes Baker had 2 votes and Eddie S Lofton had 1 vote
(some voters did not vote on every candidate)
Ward 2 had 9 rejected ballots.
Voting: Berry had 1 vote. Brister had 1 vote and Hickman had 1 vote.
Ward 3 had 7 rejected ballots.
Voting: Berry had 1. Brister had 1. Chris May had 1 and Lane Steel had 1. (2 ballots were certified to be counted in this ward…but one of the voters only voted for 1 person on the ballot)
Ward 4 had 2 rejected ballots.
Voting: Vinson had 3. Angel McPhail Brister had 3.
The certified voting numbers for the May 2nd Republican Primary counting affidavit ballots and absentee ballots:
Dale Berry—281 or 45%
Robert Vinson—200 or 32%
Brent Walker—152 or 23%
Paul Arnold—245 or 40%
Angel McPhail Brister—283 or 46%
Gary Kevin Meadows—92 or 14%
Ward 1
Dr. Jasper Adcock—76 or 30%
Whitney Barnes Baker—93 or 36%
Eddie S Lofton—91 or 34%
Ward 2
Matthew D Hickman—90 or 56%
Murray Keith—72 or 34%
Ward 3
Christopher May—35 or 20%
Lane Steele—140 or 80%
*There was no Republican Candidate in Ward 4
Run-off elections are Tuesday, May 16, 2017. Everyone will again vote at the Civic Center. MageeNews.com will cover the returns live.
Pictured: Republican Executive Committee Members Tommy Meador, Jan Magee, and Roy Terrell signing off on the election count
