The Columbia County Board of Elections has updated the results one more time to include the write-ins in the First and Third wards.
In the First Ward, Margaret Morris received 161 votes, beating out Gary Purnhagen for a seat on the Council. The final numbers were: Art Frick 163; Gary Purnhagen 137; Margaret Morris 161; and other 26.
In the Third Ward, among the write-in candidates, Amber Harris received the greater number of votes. The final numbers were: Calvin Lewis 131; Ryan Wallace 170; Amber Harris 84; Shershah Mizan 22; and other 22. Since Lewis resigned as Third Ward alderman in July as a consequence of taking a job with the Youth Department, it would seem that he would/should decline the office now, thus giving Harris the Council seat.
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| Photo: Sarah Sterling |
Congratulations to both these hardworking ladies on a job well done.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that write-in campaigns can succeed.
ReplyDeleteGood news re Margaret Morris and Amber Harris. Congratulations. I hope Calvin Lewis does the right thing and stays resigned.
ReplyDeleteGreat news! Congratulations to both Margaret and Amber. Hopefully this will set an example of what’s possible and lead more people in the future to get involved and not leave seats unchallenged
ReplyDeleteThe Council will decide who gets Calvin’s seat should he decline to accept it.
ReplyDeleteI though that may be the case on how the rules work. Hopefully they’ll honor the wishes of the 3rd Ward
DeleteCongrats Margaret!
ReplyDeleteThanks Art.
DeleteCongratulations to all of the winners. I think that write-in candidates faced a difficult uphill battle. I’ve been a regular voter since 1984 and this was the first election in my lifetime where I actually wrote in a few candidates instead of just voting for the official candidates on the ballot, and I just have to say that it felt very weird which is probably why many voters are reluctant to do so. As someone noted elsewhere, I think most voters do just show up and assume they should vote for whoever is on the ballot, and if a dead person had been running in the 3rd Ward they probably still would have won.
ReplyDeleteAlso: Is there a place where we can read all of the miscellaneous names of write-in votes? I’d love to see who received votes.
The answer to your last question is no. The Board of Elections does not bother to record random write-ins. It's too much trouble and serves no purpose.
DeleteSee, this is exactly why write in candidates face an uphill battle, it is just assumed that “random write-ins” don’t matter?!?!?! Every. Vote. Matters. This is not a horse race, voting is not about picking the winner, and everyone else be damned. Ugh.
DeleteThanks everyone for your good wishes and support
ReplyDeleteMargaret Morris
Recording write-ins serves the purpose of counting all votes. To erase write-ins by treating them as a generic is to erase each of those voters’ choices from the record.
ReplyDeleteAlso, since vote counters don’t know which names are “random” and which might amount to enough to win until they complete the tally, don’t they have to track them as they go?
Perhaps since you receive such a generous hourly stipend you might consider making amends to the City of Hudson for your indiscreet use of taxpayers money
ReplyDelete