Johnson, Reams head to runoff; local referendum passes
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By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
While there was a low voter turnout statewide, those who visited the polls Tuesday for the primary election cast their ballots to help determine the Democratic and Republican nominees for the general election.
According to unofficial results with the secretary of state’s office, the statewide voter turnout was just 21.05%, with only 793,275 ballots cast across the state out of the 3.7 million registered voters.
Coosa County had a turnout of 31.30% with a total of 2,582 ballots cast out of the county’s 8,249 registered voters. Locally, Equality had the highest voter turnout with 43.84% while Richville was a close second with 43.72%. Goodwater saw the lowest turnout at 21.16%.
Out of the 2,582 ballots cast in the county, 2,117, or 82%, were Republican ballots while 457, or 17.7%, were Democratic ballots. There were also six nonpartisan ballots cast in the county.
The only local races on Tuesday’s ballot were the circuit clerk, with all three candidates running on the Republican ticket, and the local referendum regarding the tag fee and county ambulance service, which was a nonpartisan issue that was included on both ballots.
The county’s unofficial results revealed that circuit clerk candidates Jamey Johnson and Matthew Reams will now head to a runoff election to see who will be the county’s next circuit clerk, with neither receiving 50% of the vote.
Johnson received 885 votes, or 44.70%, while Reams received 838 votes, or 42.32%. Ramona Cina received 257 votes, or 12.98%.
Following the election, Johnson expressed his thanks to God, his family and his supporters, giving appreciation to his family and supporters for their votes and their confidence in him.
Reams said that he is humbled by the support he received from the Coosa County citizens and that he looks forward to the primary runoff election, which will be held April 16.
At the state level, unofficial results reflect that there is no need for a runoff for any of the state races on Coosa’s ballot. As such, next month the only item on the ballot will be for the circuit clerk’s race on the Republican ballot.
Those who voted Democratic on Tuesday will not be able to vote in the runoff election. Those who voted Republican or did not vote at all can cast a ballot for the runoff election.
On Tuesday there were some issues at some of the polling locations with a few voters mentioning that they were not asked which ballot they preferred to vote in the primary. With the primary being a party election, voters are supposed to have the option regarding which ballot they prefer to vote for that specific primary, Democratic, Republican, or nonpartisan.
The voter’s choice for the primary ballot does not necessarily reflect how they are registered to vote, and every election cycle the voter has the choice.
The poll workers attend school ahead of the elections and are instructed to always ask which ballot the voter prefers to vote in a primary, even if the voter argues that it is none of their business.
Judge of Probate Richard Dean was made aware of the issues Tuesday, and he explained that if a voter ever has an issue on election day then the voter needs to talk to the inspector on site. If that does not resolve the issue, then he said the voter should call his office at 256-377-4919 while still at the polling place so that they can resolve the issue.
Dean emphasized that ideally the voter needs to do this before he or she casts their ballot. Once the ballot is cast and goes through the machine, it is too late for them to do anything about any ballot-related issues, including not being asked about which ballot the voter preferred.
Dean said that while poll workers go through training each election cycle, he will express again and emphasize the importance of asking about ballot preference before the 2026 primary election.
In other local matters, the majority of voters approved the local referendum for the $15 tag renewal fee per vehicle to be used to help fund the Coosa County Ambulance.
The referendum received a 61.47% yes vote, or 1,541 votes, compared to the 966 no votes, or 38.53%. With the referendum passed, those who buy tags will soon pay an extra $15 per tag, with the extra funds earmarked specifically for the countywide ambulance service, which has been in operation since July 8 with ARPA funding.
As the first county-operated ambulance service in the state, Coosa County Ambulance has served as a pilot program for the State of Alabama. Gov. Kay Ivey, state officials and other counties have been keeping up with the service to see about the feasibility of implementing similar services in their counties.
The countywide ambulance will remain in service to respond to calls anywhere within the county 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year with its full-time crews. The only times the ambulance is unable to respond is if it is on another call or down for maintenance.
Coosa EMS Director Hollie Osbourn was elated to see the referendum passed to keep the ambulance in service in the county.
“Let me start by saying thank you to the citizens of Coosa County for their support in being able
to continue the ambulance service for all of Coosa County,” Osbourn said. “You can be sure that we will continue to provide the great quality and standard of service that this county deserves. The fact that we received a majority ‘yes’ vote speaks volumes as to the need and want that Coosa County Ambulance has brought for the citizens of this county.”
“Much has been done, and there is still much to do,” she added. “The goals that have been set are to not only continue this service, but to grow and expand in the future. We would also like to thank you and ‘The Coosa County News’ for the support in getting the word out about this great and wonderful service that Coosa County has, keeping in mind we are the first county-owned and -operated service in Alabama.”
Osbourn further thanked the commissioners and state officials who initially got the ball rolling for the county ambulance service and recognized all those who had a hand in getting the service started, as well as all the volunteers throughout the county who help their fellow citizens and respond to calls.
“There have been many people that have been instrumental in getting this service up and operational, and their efforts are paying off,” Osbourn stated. “On behalf of Coosa County Ambulance, we say thank you for the support and faith shown to us throughout this journey. Also, to the volunteer departments: Equality, Hanover, Goodwater, Kellyton, Marble Valley, Ray, Richville, Rockford, Stewartville, and Weogufka, you make our job easier knowing that y’all are coming to assist and support us. We appreciate all you do! Again, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
On Tuesday at noon, any eligible provisional ballots that were cast in the primary election will be reviewed and added to the county’s totals. After that, the party chairs will sign and certify the votes, and the election results will be made official.
For more information on state votes and how other counties voted, see the secretary of state’s website at www.alabamavotes.gov for unofficial results.
For a precinct-by-precinct breakdown of how Coosa County voted, see the chart on page __. Note that in precincts where nonpartisan ballots were cast, the total number of votes cast does not equal the total of the Democratic and Republican ballot numbers.
