Newton tax collector's race: Back to the drawing board'

By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Nov. 13, 2003
Plans to recount votes cast last week in the Newton County tax assessor/collector's race were put off until today, according to L.D. Rigdon, chairman of the Newton County Election Commission.
With no incumbent running, the election was between Democrat Nancy Darlene Kidd and Republican Geraldine Seal.
Rigdon said the commission had planned to have one more recount, and then set a date for another election. But election commissioners found Wednesday that they do not have the authority to hold another election.
The unofficial results in the race have changed several times. On election night, totals showed Kidd with 3,782 votes to Seal's 3,766 votes.
Next, election commissioners received an opinion on Sunday from the state attorney general's office about what to do with more than 60 absentee ballots with printing errors. The error concerned the coroner's race, Rigdon said, and did not affect its outcome.
Once those ballots were counted on Monday, Seal was ahead 3,814 to Kidd's 3,803.
It was then discovered that 11 affidavit ballots, cast by people who were not on the pollbooks, were put into ballot boxes by pollworkers instead of being placed in envelopes so that the voters' eligibility could be verified.
Taking 11 votes away from Seal meant the candidates were tied with 3,803 votes each.
Rigdon said the candidate who loses the election would have to challenge the certified results in court before another election could be set.
He said absentee ballots and affidavit ballots in question earlier would be included in the count.