Municipal Elections Held, Recount Possible | Eastern North Carolina Now

    It was all over before 8:00 pm at the Beaufort County Board of Election this off-year Municipal election. With an anemically low turnout, and the new and improved equipment for processing votes, the Beaufort County Board of Elections finished up in time where one could still make their supper date, then get home and watch prime time TV.

    Washington's City Council had one change: Councilman Gil Davis was defeated, and former Councilman Richard Brooks was elected in his place. Newcomers Loyd May and Rick Gagliano ran strong races, but did not prevail in this election with so little electorate participation.

    As per Beaufort County Board of Elections Supervisor Kellie Hopkins made mention that the election was so close that Councilman Davis could petition for a recount. His vote total was within the tolerance of 1%. Lloyd May, at 13 votes shy of victory, may possibly have cause to request for the "recount," depending on the official vote totals due by Tuesday, November 15, 2011. As of this publication, no recount had been called by either party.
Beaufort County Board of Elections Supervisor Kellie Hopkins calculates the possibility of a recount.     photo by Stan Deatherage     The other election of consequence this day was the challenge that Belhaven Mayor Adam O'Neal faced from challenger Ronald Winfield. Mayor O'neal won in a political landslide by attaining nearly 61% of the vote. Also on the ballot for the citizens of Belhaven was the Town of Belhaven Town Charter Amendment Referendum, which is a recent "local bill" passed in the General Assembly to allow the citizens of Belhaven to collectively petition for a recall election. To request the recall election, certain conditional provisions will need to be cleared, and the Town of Belhaven will be responsible for paying for the entire cost of the election.

    The results of the election here below: