Derrick Miller
Today is election day for five school board seats in Stephens County. And all of the related precincts should be up and running.
Peggy Winton, Stephens County Election Board secretary, said, “Everything is just going to be normal.”
With the recent power outages, there was some concern electricity wouldn’t be on in time for the election. Winton said plans had already been made to offset the effect of the power outage.
The school board elections are for school districts including Central High, Bray-Doyle, Marlow and Velma-Alma.
Those running for the Seat 5 position for Central High Board of Education include incumbent Donald Sorrels, Tracy D. Cox and Clint Russel. For Bray Doyle Board of Education seat 5, Larry D. Osborne, Cris Sparks, Tony L. Stults and incumbent Kent Spivey will be running.
On the Velma-Alma Board of Education ballot, candidates include Dewayne Richardson and Wade Williams, both going for seat 2, and incumbent James Layn and Dawn McGuire, aiming for seat 5.
The Marlow Board of Education doesn’t have an incumbent running, but instead has four newcomers to the school board election scene. Those running are Terry Turner, Cody Bannister, Lisa Crawford and Steven D. Huddleston.
Many of Marlow’s precincts were going to use ballot boxes and the votes were going to be hand counted. Instead, precincts were given the opportunity to use the Scantron machines.
“Marlow will be all of its precincts,” Winton said. “Velma will be at its precincts. Central High will be at the community center. Bray will have all of its precincts open.”
Friday and Monday, in-person absentee voting took place in the Stephens County Courthouse. As of noon Monday, 13 people had voted in-person absentee. By Friday, the Election Board had received 14 mail-in absentee ballots.
“Those school districts are outlying,” Winton said. “I wasn’t expecting a big crowd (for in-person absentee).”
In addition to the school board elections, the City of Duncan has an election coming up April 6. The filing period for the two Duncan City Council seats came to a close Wednesday and the contest period ended Friday.
By the close, four people had filed for the seat. Incumbent Ricky Mayes will face former council member John Herdt. Incumbent Tommy Edwards will be running against outgoing Duncan City Manager Clyde Shaw.
Winton said if any of Tuesday’s school board elections need a runoff election to determine which candidate gets the seat, the runoff election will also take place April 6. This date has also been chosen for the Duncan Public Schools bond issue election.
— Derrick Miller is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 160, or via e-mail at derrick.miller@duncanbanner.com.
