Robin Duncan Harper 136 Votes Only a handful of voters turned out, but local Realtor Robin Duncan Harper was still elected to the school board Tuesday by a convincing margin.

Harper defeated Joe Craig and Jerry Ruppe in a special election to decide who will replace Jamie Martin as the trustee in District 6.

Martin resigned in May after less than a year in office, citing personal reasons.

Harper received 136 votes in winning election to her first term. Craig received 40 votes while Ruppe got 18 votes.

"I'm very happy and thrilled," Harper said. "I want to thank all my supporters. I'm going to work hard for the community and schools."

Harper will officially be sworn in at the Aug. 10 school board meeting. She will finish out the remaining three years on Martin's term which began in August of 2008.

Voter turnout was light for the special election required to fill Martin's school board seat. Only 17 absentee ballots were cast since voting opened in early July at the Cherokee County Voter's Registration Office.

Overall, election officials said less than 10 percent of the 2,497 eligible voters cast ballots in the District 6 school board race.

Joe N. Craig Sr. 40 Votes The Cherokee County Election Commission will meet Thursday at 9 a.m. to certify the election results.

Jerry Ruppe 18 Votes