During early voting, a total of 1,037 voters in Pike cast their ballots (982 in person and 55 via absentee ballots). The turnout for early voting was 6.4%.
Just over 15% of Pike County voters turned out for the Nov. 4 election which determined many local races as well as two races for Public Service Commissioners at the state level. A total of 982 voters cast ballots in person during early voting while 66 sent in absentee by mail votes and 1,453 voted on election day.
The city of Williamson had the closest races as one council seat was determined by only seven votes. A total of 196 votes were cast in Williamson out of 671 active registered voters – a 29.2% turnout.
Incumbent Bobby J. Harrison Jr. beat challenger Chris Gordon for the Williamson Council Post 2 seat by 52% of votes to 48%, with a total of 94 votes for Gordon and 101 votes for Harrison.
Challenger John Smithson beat incumbent Tom Brown for the Williamson Council Post 3 seat. Smithson got 115 votes (60%) to Brown’s 78 votes (40%).
In Zebulon, incumbent Rufus Clemmons Jr. received 81% of the votes for the Zebulon City Council District 1, Post 1 seat as challenger Sarah Beth Mohammed received 19% of votes.
There were three candidates for Zebulon City Council’s District 2, Post 2 seat and incumbent Mark Nalls was defeated by challenger Chad Morris who is currently a Zebulon Police Department officer. He will retire Dec. 31 and be sworn into office in January as a city council member. Morris received 44% of votes, Nalls received 34% and former council member Dewey Yarbrough received 22% of votes in the three-way race.
In the city of Molena, voters approved the removal of the city of Molena from the state’s Fluoridation Requirement by a total of 32 yes votes (58%) to 23 no votes (42%).
The question on the ballot was “Shall the city of Molena remove itself from the requirement to fluoridate the water supply for the City of Molena as required by OCGA Section 12-5-175?”
OCGA § 12-5-175 mandates the fluoridation of public water supplies in incorporated communities in Georgia, with a limit of one part per million of fluoride. However, a municipality can opt out of this mandate through a voter referendum if 10% of registered voters in the last general election sign a petition for the vote. The state must also provide funding for the fluoridation equipment, installation, and initial chemicals for communities to be required to comply.
For Public Service Commission District 2, Pike voters cast 77% of ballots for Tim Echols (R) while 23% cast ballots for Alicia Johnson (D). When state results were tallied, Johnson won the seat with 63% of votes in District 2.
For Public Service Commission District 3, Pike voters cast 76% of ballots for Fitz Johnson (R) while 24% cast ballots for Peter Hubbard (D). When state results were tallied, Hubbard also won the seat with 63% of votes in District 3.
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