Newton County voters in District 1 will see an extra race on their voting ballots come November as the Newton County Election Commissioner District 1 seat is up for grabs.
Previously, the Board of Supervisors appointed Union resident Sherry Harrison as interim election commissioner to fill the vacancy left by Merita Cherry, who passed away in June. Harrison will serve until a special election can be held.
“It’s a special election coinciding with the election,” Circuit Clerk Mike Butler said.
Butler said candidates have until 60 days prior to the Nov. 5 election to qualify for the seat. Already he said two candidates had qualified. Sherry Harrison, currently serving as interim election commissioner, has qualified for the election, as well as challenger Lisa Taylor.
As this will be a special election, Butler said candidates will not run on Republican or Democrat tickets. Instead all candidates will be considered independents.
“They all have to run independent,” he said.
While currently only two candidates have qualified, a third candidate would create the potential for a runoff election should no candidate receive 51 percent of the vote. If that happens, the runoff will be held three weeks from the date of the special election.
