City, county election commissions certify results

With no opposition and no problems to address, the City of Gaffney Election Commission was able to breeze through the certification of Tuesday's election results in a mere three minutes. City Clerk LeighAnn Turner, at left, documents the commission votes as Charles Montgomery, Ruby Smith and Ray Clary, not in photo, make the results official. Results of Tuesday's election became official Thursday as the Cherokee County and City of Gaffney election commissions both met to certify the winners.

There were no surprises at either meeting, though the work of the Cherokee County Election Commission is not yet done.

Suzanne Turner, chairwoman of the Cherokee County Election Commission, said the board formally scheduled a runoff election for the still undecided Cherokee County School District's District 6 school board seat for Tuesday, Aug. 26.

A runoff election is needed because no candidate in the District 6 race achieved the "50 percent plus 1" majority required by state law to win a seat.

Three candidates had been seeking the seat formerly held by Sandra Greene. Two candidates, Jamie Martin and Joe Craig, will face each other in the runoff. Martin was six votes shy of winning the seat outright on Tuesday, bettering Craig 121 to 82. The third candidate, Marie Waters, garnered 49 votes. Only the top two are headed for the runoff.

Turner said four precincts will be open on Aug. 26 for the District 6 school board runoff. They include: Gaffney Ward 1, located at Mary Bramlett Elementary; Limestone, located at the Boys and Girls Club; Alma, located at Alma Elementary School; and Pleasant Grove, which is located at New Harvest Church of God.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. that day.

With no opposition, complaints or problems raised, the City Election Commission breezed through the certification of the races for city council, mayor and the Gaffney Board of Public Works in a mere three minutes Thursday evening.

Mayor Henry Jolly won a third term on Tuesday while District 4 councilman Dennis Ramsey won reelection to a second term. Council members Wayne Ramsey and Billy Love faced no opposition.

In the school board races, District 4 board member Donnie Lee Smith won reelection while board members Billy Blackwell, Willie Crosby and new board member Cheryll Smith faced no opposition in their respective districts.

- Tim Gulla