The effort to confirm the election result of the mayor of Caledonia will stretch into two days — and possibly longer — after three separate counts of the votes has produced three different vote tallies in a razor-thin race between incumbent Bill Lawrence and challenger Mitch Wiggins.
“I’m still walking the floors,” Lawrence said Tuesday evening, soon after the election commission said it would reconvene today at noon for a fourth recount.
Lawrence held a two-vote lead when the ballots were initially tabulated late Tuesday evening. Two recounts Wednesday first showed a tie, then a one-vote margin for Lawrence (172 votes to 171). Also on Wednesday, the election commission reviewed eight affidavit ballots, rejecting six. Of the two affidavit ballots accepted, Lawrence and Wiggins earned one vote each.
Although the mayor’s race is still undecided, Wednesday’s initial recount confirmed the results from Tuesday’s initial count for aldermen. Incumbents Bill Darnell and Quinn Parham will return to the board, along with newcomers Tammy McCool, Matt Furnari and Tyler Brock.
Although election supervisor Ken Byars did not return calls late Wednesday, both mayor candidates confirmed Lawrence held a one-vote lead after Wednesday’s third counting of the vote.
Wiggins said he’s unsure if recounting the votes a fourth time today will settle the issue.
“Each time, there has been a different total, so I’m not sure what that really settles,” Wiggins said. ” It seems as though there were more votes than ballots. So I’m totally at a loss to understand what’s going on,” he said.
Wiggins said his attorney will meet with the election commission and the town’s attorney, Chris Hemphill, before today’s fourth recount to discuss what options remain.
“Really, I don’t know what the answer is,” Wiggins said. “We’re just trying to figure out what to do next. I have no idea.”
Lawrence agreed.
“This is something I don’t think anybody saw coming,” he said. “But we have to get this straightened out, somehow, and the sooner the better.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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