DATE: Thursday, November 13, 1997           TAG: 9711130512

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:   36 lines

CANDIDATE'S REQUEST FOR ELECTION RECOUNT DENIED BILL FRUIT, WHO LOST BY 13 VOTES, HAD NO GROUNDS, DARE BOARD SAYS.

The Dare County Board of Elections on Wednesday rejected a request by a Kitty Hawk Town Council candidate for a recount in the Nov. 4 election.

The candidate, retired banker Bill Fruit, had lost by 13 votes. Incumbents Ken Hollowell, Leo Antonucci and Paul Pruitt won in at-large voting in the north beach community.

Board member John Macomber praised Fruit for exercising his right to ask for an appeal but said the first-time candidate had no grounds for a new count. Fruit's request came after problems with markers in neighboring Kill Devil Hills caused some 200 ballots to be kicked out of the system.

``My wife and I had flounder for dinner last night at restaurant `A.' If I woke up this morning and saw in the paper that 13 people had been treated for food poisoning . . . because of flounder at restaurant `B,' I'd be concerned,'' Macomber said. ``I think a reasonable person could be concerned that what was happening in Kill Devil Hills could happen in Kitty Hawk.''

But Macomber later added that because there were no glitches in Kitty Hawk's tally, and because Fruit said he did not expect a recount to change the outcome, there was no reason for one. His colleagues agreed.

Fruit, however, raised concern about instructions on the ballot that read, ``You may vote for three.'' Three seats were contested on the ballot. The 63-year-old was not surprised by the board's action.

``They took the action I anticipated,'' Fruit said. ``I'm satisfied that I was able to make the most important point related to language on the ballot. I had a lot of supporters who were going to take one shot for me, and that would be it. The feeling that they had to vote for three candidates affected the outcome.'' KEYWORDS: ELECTION RESULTS RECOUNT

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