Jackson County’s 2012 election questions will be resolved within a week. Voters will go back to the polls next Tuesday to finish the process of electing a new sheriff and judge of the probate court, and they’ll have a say in selecting the new representative in Congress from the Ninth Congressional District.
Early voting began Wednesday morning. It will continue through Friday at the Jackson County Administrative Building. There will be no Saturday voting.
The Republican primary runoff election features the race for sheriff between Ramone Gilbert and Janis Mangum, and for Congress, between Doug Collins and Martha Zoller. The nonpartisan race for probate judge features the runoff between Sherry Moore and Donna Sikes. There is no Democratic primary runoff, but election superintendent Lori Wurtz notes that voters who participated in the Democratic primary July 31 can cast ballots in the nonpartisan race for probate judge. That race will also be on the Republican ballot.
By law, voters who participated in the Democratic primary cannot vote in the Republican primary runoff.
“They (the voters) can’t change their party,” Wurtz noted, adding that the primary system continues to be confusing to some voters.
“People don’t understand the general primary,” she said. “They think everybody’s on the same ballot.”
Mangum led the field of seven GOP candidates for sheriff with 4,507 votes or 41.34 percent of votes cast. Gilbert tallied 2,784 votes, 25.54 percent of the total. There is no Democratic candidate for sheriff.
In the race for probate judge, Moore led Sikes by a 3,502-3,110 margin, capturing 31.91 percent of the vote, to 28.34 percent for Sikes.
Collins and Zoller finished in a statistical dead heat in the three-candidate race. Over the 20-county district, Collins received 45,894 votes (41.8 percent) to 45,160 (41.14 percent) for Zoller. The winner will take on Democrat Jody Cooley in November. Cooley ran unopposed on the Democrat ballot.
Early Voting Confusion
Voters used to going to the polls during periods of “early voting” found themselves frustrated this go-round.
By law, early voting cannot begin, Wurtz said, until the paper ballots are in and tested in the optical scanner used to count paper ballots. The ballots were arrived Tuesday morning, so early voting finally started Wednesday.
“The public is hammering us on this,” Wurtz complained on Monday. “They don’t understand why they can’t come in and vote.”
In the primary, 3,558 Jackson County voters took advantage of early or advance voting. That does not include those who voted by absentee ballot. There are right at 34,000 registered voters, almost 39 percent of who cast ballots in the July 31 primaries.
The short window between the primary and the runoff created additional challenges with absentee ballots as well. This year, the secretary of state’s office intervened and is allowing military and other out-of-country voters to receive and return ballots by email or fax. The secretary of state will tabulate those votes on behalf of the counties. In Jackson, 18 such ballots had been requested as of Monday, Wurtz said.
For that reason, the results of the runoff elections will not be officially certified until Aug. 31. Typically, elections are certified the Friday following the Tuesday election.
