THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 10, 1995 TAG: 9511100460
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
It's official. Lee Tugwell of Manteo and Duncan Wright of Kill Devil Hills are Dare County's newest mayors.
The Dare County Board of Elections certified the results of Tuesday's voting in the five municipalities. A few vote totals changed, but the results didn't.
The deadline to contest election results is 6 p.m. Saturday.
Tugwell defeated former Mayor John Wilson IV by 26 votes, 254 to 228. Three absentee ballots cast for Wilson were challenged by former Mayor Harry Schiffman. However, the elections panel upheld those votes.
Totals for the three winning commission candidates in Manteo - Melvin Jackson, Stuart Wescott and former Mayor Bill Buell - were unchanged.
The Manteo race divided this Roanoke Island community, and was the most hotly contested municipal contest on the Outer Banks. However, at least one candidate said he would not challenge the results.
``I've had people approach me about doing that,'' Wilson said Wednesday. ``The town's been through enough.''
Some residents raised questions regarding the presence of out-of-state vehicles transporting voters to the Manteo polling place Tuesday.
Last month, six prospective registrants were disqualified when it was determined they were not residents of Manteo.
``We've not had any complaints,'' Dare County Elections Supervisor Lynda Midgett said Thursday. ``It could have been that someone was incapacitated and a relative or friend from out of town took them to the polls.''
Midgett said there have been some complaints about tents set up outside the polling place at Manteo Middle School.
The 1995 elections saw the advent of a new election tool - the provisional ballot. Under state law patterned after the federal motor voter legislation, citizens can register to vote at other state agencies, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles or the Department of Social Services. Those provisional votes would not be on record at the board of elections.
Provisional votes led to minor changes in the Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head results.
In Kill Devil Hills, Wright defeated incumbent Mayor Terry Gray, 486 to 428. In the commission race, Bill Morris finished with 394 votes and James ``Jimmy'' Dean Hanks garnered 327 to win the two contested board seats.
Dare County Fire Marshal Doug Remaley had three provisional ballots cast for him, bringing his total to 292. Fellow Commissioner-Elect George Farah's total was unchanged at 353 votes.
Southern Shores results in the town commission race and the mixed-drink referendum were unchanged. Incumbents Kern Pitts, Dick Wood and Gerald Beshens were re-elected to the five-member board. Liquor-by-the-drink was defeated 314-281.
Some well-known individuals received write-in votes Tuesday. In Kill Devil Hills, former Fire Chief Bill Gard received one vote for mayor. Charlie Brown of comic strip fame got one vote for the Southern Shores Town Council. Dare County Chief Deputy Rodney Midgett got a vote for mayor of Manteo.
And while most want to shoot the messenger, at least one Manteo resident wanted to vote for him. Virginian-Pilot North Carolina General Manager Ron Speer got one vote for mayor of the Roanoke Island town.
KEYWORDS: ELECTION RESULTS DARE COUNTY MAYOR'S RACE by CNB