City seats up for grabs at polls today

The issues have been debated, the yard signs long planted, the campaign glad-handing and back-slapping done and the promises all made.

Today is election day in Statesville, and it is time to find out if all that vote-for-me advertising paid off.

And while the voting booths will be open for 13 hours today — from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. — election workers will probably not have to worry about keeping the voting masses from breaking down the doors.

“We are not expecting a big crowd,” said Iredell Board of Elections Director Becky Galliher. “People just don’t seem to get excited about municipal elections.”

In two of Statesville’s races, three candidates each are vying for a place at the city council dais. In two other races, the incumbents — Michael Johnson and Paula Steele — are unopposed.

In some ways, the fact that six candidates filed to run for the seats in Ward 3 and Ward 6 represents a push to shake things up in South Statesville, where both wards are located.

In the last elections for both of the seats, the incumbents — A.E. “Pete” Peterson and Flake Huggins — ran unopposed.

Peterson had been in his fifth four-year term as the Ward 3 representative on council when he resigned his seat in June for health reasons.

The council decided to wait until today’s election results were tallied before acting to fill the seat.

The winner of the election will be sworn in as soon as possible, perhaps as early as Wednesday’s pre-agenda meeting.

Three political newcomers are on the ballot to take the seat: machine operator Doris Allison, alteration shop owner Bonita Eisele and businessman Dave Jackson. A win by Allison or Eisele would put a second woman on the council. That person would join Steele, the mayor pro tem Paula Steele, who represents Ward 1.

If Allison takes the seat, she would become the first African-American woman on the council in the city’s history.

Allison said she isn’t concerned about being the first.

“I just want the community to come together,” she said.

According to Iredell County Board of Elections records, 72 percent of the 1,560 registered voters in Ward 3 are black.

In Ward 6 — where Huggins is hoping to stave off threats by Juan “J.D.” Williams and Donnetta L. Watkins — the percentage of registered African American voter falls slightly. A full two-thirds of the ward’s nearly 2,000 registered Ward 6 voters are black.

In 2003 — when three of the four seats on this year’s ballot were contested — a total of 595 votes were cast out of a possible of pool of almost 11,000 registered voters.

That’s about a 5 percent turnout.

In that election, with only three council seats up for grabs, 92 people voted early.

This year, with four races on the ballot, only 76 voters cast early votes. Huggins said he is not nervous about the possibility of losing his seat.

“We’ll just have to take things as they happen,” he said.

“Whatever the outcome, it’ll be what the residents and voters want.”

Galliher said because both the Ward 3 and Ward 6 races have three candidates there is a chance that neither would take a majority — more than 50 percent — of the votes.

In that case, the candidate who finishes in second could request a run-off election, which would take place on next month’s Election Day.

Today is also the primary election for the Ward 2 seat on the Mooresville Board of Commissioners.

The slate of three candidates will be pared down by one, as the top two vote-getters will move on to the November election.

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WANT TO VOTE?
Polling places for today’s elections:

Statesville
Ward 1 — East Iredell Elementary School
Ward 3 — Statesville Civic Center
Ward 4 — Wesley Memorial Methodist Church
Ward 6 — Shiloh AME Zion Church

Mooresville
Ward 2 — Shepherds Fire Department No. 1

Posted on 10/09/07 at 08:41 AM
Mooresville •Town Council •Ward 2 •Statesville •City Council •Ward 1 •Ward 3 •Ward 4 •Ward 6 • (0) Comments

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