One-stop concludes Saturday
Robbinsville – If you want to vote early, there’s still time.
If you want to vote on Election Day, there’s time for that, too.
So if you have been one to hem and haw over making the trip to the polls this fall, there is no excuse to avoid casting a ballot between the time you read this report and when the election closes at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8.
After all, as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, 1,255 Graham County voices have already expressed their opinion at the local level. The board of elections noted at its Tuesday absentee meeting that 1,201 voters have visited the recently re-located election office, which is now in Suite A of the Graham County Community Building (196 Knight St.). A whopping 113 absentee ballots have been requested, with 54 (47.8 percent) already returned.
Overall, the county has 6,092 registered voters in the system, so a turnout of 20.6 percent for early voting is encouraging. One-stop closes at 3 p.m. Saturday.
From there, voters can visits one of four locations across the county on Election Day: Robbinsville’s West and East wards, as well as Stecoah and Tapoco’s precincts. Polls open at 6:30 a.m.
Absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day (Nov. 8) and received by 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14 to be counted in the overall results.
Local races
Perhaps the contest that has drawn the most local attention is the race for Graham County Sheriff.
Current sheriff Jerry Crisp was appointed mid-term after the sudden resignation of former sheriff Joseph Jones in July 2020, but was not one of the two candidates to move forward after May’s primary.
Instead, another former sheriff – Russell Moody – emerged as the Republican nod to the seat, after successfully challenging Crisp in a second primary. Crisp had bested Moody 414-411 in the initial primary; Moody pulled away 467-403 in the second primary. Moody’s opposition is former N.C. State Trooper Brad Hoxit, who is running unaffiliated. Hoxit has worked in some capacity around Graham County since 1996.
A bevy of other local races will also be left in the hands of voters on the general ballot, with the contest for both the county’s board of commissioners and board of education at the forefront.
In another race that came down to the final ballot tallied, Natasha Williams (697) picked up a one-vote victory in the primary over Andy Lynn for the third and final Republican nod on the November ballot.
However, a second primary between Williams and Lynn was not held, per N.C. G.S. 163-111(a)(2). Had the two candidates tied, a coin-flip tiebreaker would have determined who advanced.
“If nominees for two or more offices (constituting a group) are to be selected, and there are more persons seeking nomination than there are offices, the substantial plurality shall be ascertained by dividing the total vote cast for all aspirants by the number of positions to be filled, and by multiplying the result by thirty percent (30 percent),” the statute reads. “Any excess of the sum so ascertained shall be a substantial plurality, and the aspirants who obtain a substantial plurality shall be declared the nominees.
“If more candidates obtain a substantial plurality than there are positions to be filled, those having the highest vote (equal to the number of positions to be filled) shall be declared the nominees.”
Incumbents Jacob Nelms and Lynn Cody also moved on to the general ticket. Dale Wiggins, who has served several terms on the board of commissioners over the years, came in fifth in the race. He was the only local incumbent who lost a re-election bid in the primaries.
Opposing will be Democrats Scott Hooper, Jeff Millsaps and Kent Williams, as well as unaffiliated Harv Bollinger.
The school-board race will feature Republican incumbent Clark Carringer, who easily won the May primary with 1,258 votes. Republican Debra “Hank” Dinschel finished second with 527 votes. The two will challenge Democrats Shane Garland (incumbent) and Maria Shook.
Many of the candidates running contested appeared at an Oct. 15 forum hosted by The Graham Star. The video is available at grahamstar.com.
Races for the county’s clerk of court (Tammy Holloway, Democrat) and register of deeds (Kim Lequire, Republican) are unopposed.