local races; paper balloting numbers up

The filing deadline for local non-partisan races in Albany and Clinton County was last Tuesday, June 2, at 4 p.m. and when all was said and done, only 14 people had filed for some seven total positions that will be on the November general election ballot.

Just a note of interest, of the total 14 candidates, nine are male and five are female. Two city council, two school board and one Soil Conservation board member candidates are women.

Candidates who officially threw their hats in the ring at deadline include:

School Board District 2: Incumbent Sue Irwin and newcomer Ronald Albertson; School Board District 3: Incumbent Leslie Stockton; School Board District 4: Incumbent Gary Norris.

Stockton and Norris will be unopposed in the fall.

District 2 is comprised of Neathery-Cave Springs and Seventy-Six precincts; District 3 is Highway, Speck and Illwill precincts and District 4, North, East and West Albany precincts.

Only seven people decided to seek seats on the Albany City Council, which is made up of six members. Two incumbents, Tony Delk and Rene York did not seek reelection.

City candidates include incumbents Reed Sloan, Tonya Thrasher, Gene Ferrill and Steve Lawson. There will be three newcomers in the race, including Joe Stockton, Scott York and Sarah Wilson Browning.

In the race for seats on the Clinton County Soil Conservation District Board of Directors, only three of four incumbents filed, meaning that race will appear on the general election ballot this fall for any write-in candidate or candidates who may seek a seat on the board.

The incumbents on the Soil Conservation District Board who had previously filed include Kathy Conner, Roger Beard and Greg Abston.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions and mandates, voting for this year’s primary has been drastically changed. First, the primary was moved from May to Tuesday, June 23.

Voters are also being encouraged, to adhere to social distancing and other safety measures, to vote by mail-in ballot, with only the courthouse being open for voting on election day.

County Clerk Nathan Collins noted last Friday that appointments to vote in person at the clerk’s office are now being taken and the machine in the clerk’s office will remain open through Monday, June 22, for voters who will not be in the county on election day.

Collins was pleased, however, at the positive response and numbers of people taking part in the mail-in balloting process through last Friday, June 5.

The county clerk said his office, through that date, had received 1,477 applications for paper ballots and of the 1,072 that had already been mailed out, 515 people had already returned their mail-in votes.

Another major change will be how and when all the votes are counted and when the local election totals are actually verified.

Collins said only those votes cast on the machine, either walk-in or in person at the courthouse on election day would be counted that night, using four election precinct officers chosen by himself and the county board of elections.

The clerk’s office will continue to monitor the mail and collect all paper ballots for the next week, with those being counted and a final total for the county being announced Tuesday night, June 30.

Other than local races, the primary will have the presidential race, a U.S. Senate nominee to be chosen from each party, a congressional race and perhaps more interesting among local Republicans in this area, the race for State Representative to possibly fill the seat of long-time Representative Jeff Hoover, who chose not to run for another term.

A “sample ballot” that will show voters who the candidates in all races are, is expected to be published next week.

Anyone needing information or assistance in voting in this year’s primary election may contact the Clinton County Clerk’s Office at (606) 387-5943.