THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605100482
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Election officials said Thursday that no law was violated Tuesday if some voters were not told to turn their ballots over to vote for Board of Education candidates.
Dare County Republican Party Chairman George Embrey had filed a protest letter on Election Day with the Board of Elections, complaining that early morning voters missed their chance to choose school board seats because they were not properly informed that the ballot was two-sided.
At a meeting Thursday afternoon with the board, Embrey said he was assured that the problem will not happen again.
``I said I would be perfectly satisfied that if from the very first one, the voters are told to turn the ballot over,'' he said.
But apparently plenty of voters had no problem at the polls, with a large majority of voters casting votes for candidates in one school board race.
The official final tally showed 5,105 Dare County residents voted Tuesday, said John Macomber, a member of Dare County Board of Elections.
``It's interesting to note that . . . in the election for the Board of Ed, the contest between Daniels and Walters attracted the highest vote of any other office,'' Macomber said.
In the District 2, nonpartisan race for the school board, in which Pamela ``Susie'' Walters beat incumbent David J. Daniels, 4,895 votes were cast. Walters won by 155 votes.
In an at-large race, the other contested race on the back of the Republican ballot, incumbent Sam Twiford easily turned back two challengers.
In his letter to the board, Embrey said numerous voters complained that they did not know that the one-page ballot had more candidates to choose from on the back.
But Board of Elections Director Linda Midgett said each of the 16 precincts was called immediately after she received a call at 7:42 a.m. about the confusion. She said the election workers were all reminded to inform voters to flip the ballot over.
``It sounds to me like they're going to make a good-faith effort - and that was good enough for me,'' Embrey said. ``But nothing can be done about those people who lost their vote.''
KEYWORDS: ELECTION BALLOT by CNB