Stephens Co. Finalizes Election Results

Stephens County election officials say they have settled the question of the three provisional ballots cast in Tuesday’s Martin Town Council election.

Election officials say they will not count the final two provisional ballots after ruling that those voters were not eligible to vote in the election.

One of the three provisional ballots was deemed to have counted.

Those rulings left incumbents Harold Alexander and Mark Gearhart as the top two vote-getters in the election, meaning they were both re-elected.

Alexander had 35 votes and Gearhart had 23 votes in the election.

Challenger Diane Yow Cole had 20 votes.

Mayor Don Foster was re-elected without opposition.

Meanwhile, Stephens County election officials say that the final certification of the election results in Toccoa added five votes to the “Yes” count in the city’s referendum on Sunday sales of alcohol by the drink.

According to county election officials, the five “Yes” votes were originally counted among 13 or so votes that the machine reading the ballots listed as empty ballots.

That makes the final vote tally being sent to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office in the Toccoa Sunday sales referendum as 221 “Yes” votes to 198 “No” votes.