Local non-partisan races will be on fall ballot

Posted July 13, 2016 at 8:18 pm

The November general election is still almost four months away. However, there are some local non-partisan races that will be on the ballot this fall as well, and the deadline for potential candidates seeking the total of nine seats is quickly approaching.

Tuesday, August 9 is the last day a candidate can file for local office. The public drawing for ballot position will be two days later, Thursday, August 11.

In 2016, all six seats that make up the Albany City Council will appear on the city precinct ballots. Council members serve two-year terms, while mayoral elections are held once each four years.

Also this year, three of the five seats that make up the Clinton County Board of Education, which will involve a total of eight precincts across the county and three inside the city/county, will be on the ballot.

School board races will be held in District Two, made up of Seventy-Six and Cave Springs, a seat now held by Jeff Sams; District Three, made up of the Highway, Illwill and Speck precincts will be on the ballot. That seat is currently held by Paula Key. Also, District Four, which includes the town precincts of North, East and West Albany, is also on the ballot. That seat is currently held by the newest board member, Crystal Irwin.

Also, for persons not registered to vote, but wishing to cast a ballot in the November general election, you have until October 11, the day after the Columbus Day holiday, to do so.

This fall’s election is expected to see a more moderate to heavy turnout due to it being a federal election where a new United States President and other federal offices will be on the ballot, coupled with the local interest in the city and school board races.

Other than president, Clinton Countians will join the rest of Kentucky in electing a U.S. Senator, a seat currently held by Republican Rand Paul and in the First Congressional District for U.S. Congress, where a new member of the U.S. House of Representatives will be elected with the upcoming retirement of long-time Republican Congressman Ed Whitfield of Hopkinsville, who chose not to seek another term.

No contested state races will be on the ballot in the fall of 2016.

County Clerk Shelia Booher noted the importance of casting a ballot, as well as for candidates and prospective new voters to remember the aforementioned deadline dates.

In the past May primary election, which saw only a handful of contested races in both parties, 7,454 people were registered to vote and a higher than expected turnout was seen at the polls, with 1,893 local residents voting for an approximate 25 percent turnout.

More information on absentee ballot deadlines and listing of all candidates who will be on the ballot will be published in a later issue.

The Clinton County News will keep up weekly with candidates who file from now through the August 9 deadline period.