Candidates qualify for municipal elections
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By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
Qualifying closed Tuesday for municipal elections, with candidates now set to appear on ballots in two of Coosa County’s three municipalities.
The ballots for municipal elections are to include names of those who qualified by the 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday. However, in cases where only one statement of candidacy was filed for a particular office, no names will be printed on the ballot for that office.
Additionally, in those instances, the mayor must immediately file a written statement with the council certifying that only one person filed a statement of candidacy for that office. At the first regular meeting after receiving that statement, the council shall then issue a certificate of election to those individuals, per Section 11-46-26 of the Code of Alabama.
Also, as stated in the Code of Alabama, if there is only one candidate for each office for council and mayor, then the municipality does not have to hold an election. Those candidates simply become the elected officials.
Such is the case for the Town of Kellyton, with Town Clerk Karen Keel reporting that the mayor and council positions will remain unchanged because of each seat being uncontested and only the incumbents qualifying for office. As such, Kellyton will not hold an election in August.
For Kellyton this means that Johnny Sharpe will serve another term as mayor alongside George Camp in Place 1, Nancy Fuller in Place 2, Gwen Rich in Place 3, Donna Keel in Place 4, and Missy Kohls in Place 5.
In Rockford, eligible voters will only have two names on their ballots, as only the mayor’s seat is contested.
The Town Council positions will remain the same, with only incumbents having qualified for those offices. This means that Council members serving another term will be Lynn Anne Castleberry for Place 1, Robert Smith for Place 2, Shirley Ogle for Place 3, Nieshia Whetstone for Place 4, and Cordarius Lee for Place 5.
Those who qualified for the office of mayor are incumbent Scott White and Randall Lewis, and those will be the only candidates on Rockford’s ballots.
Goodwater will have the busiest election in Coosa County, with four individuals qualifying for mayor and two Council seats being contested.
Those who qualified to run for mayor are incumbent Lonnie Caldwell, Samuel Evans, Karleyun Lauderdale, and Rodney Jones.
For Town Council, those who qualified to run for Seat 2 are James Braun (Jimmie), Torrey Jones, John (Bobby) Riesenbeck-Lopez, and Mae Catherine Wilson.
Those who qualified to run for Seat 3 are incumbent Mary Lee Graham and Lashayla Coleman.
The other three seats are unopposed, with those Council members going on to serve another term. Those are Jerome Crayton for Seat 1, John Kelley for Seat 4 and Genovis Whetstone for Seat 5.
For municipal elections no write-in candidates are allowed, meaning that voters can only cast votes for those candidates appearing on their ballot.
The county’s municipal elections will be held August 26, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In Goodwater the polling location is the Goodwater Fire Department, and in Rockford the polling location is the Rockford Event Center.
Candidates may appoint a poll watcher to observe voting procedures at the polling place, but the appointment must be made in writing, signed by the candidate and filed with the election officials at the polling place.
Prior to election day, the mayor must file a list of qualified voters with the town clerk by July 15, or if the mayor is a candidate then the council must appoint a qualified person to conduct this duty.
July 25 is the last day to display sample ballots, and July 27 is the last day to establish residency to vote in the municipal general election.
Absentee ballots and supplies must be delivered to the town clerk by July 29, and August 11 is the last day for the council to appoint election officials, as well as the last day to register to vote for the municipal general election.
Additionally, town clerks must hold an election school for the individuals chosen as election officials and must notify the official that they have been selected at least 48 hours before the election school is scheduled.
August 15 is the last day to publish the lists of election officers and voting places to which they are assigned.
August 21 is the last day to publish the list of qualified voters and also the last day to conduct a training school for officials who will conduct an election using electronic voting machines.
Following the election on August 26, the canvassing of election results will begin at 12 p.m. September 2. This is when election results become official, with any eligible provisional ballots being added to the totals.
At that time, if a candidate receives a majority of the votes cast for a particular office, then the council issues a certificate of election for that candidate. If no candidate receives a majority then the council will order a run-off election.
In the case that a municipal run-off election is needed, it will be held September 23.
September 11 is the last day for the town clerk to file certificates of general municipal election with the probate judge, secretary of state and Alabama League of Municipalities.
Finally, on November 3, newly elected municipal officials will take office, and the council meets for its organizational session.
