By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

Filing for elected town and city offices in Columbus County starts Friday.

Board of Elections Director Carla Strickland said Tuesday there has been some interest expressed in a few area offices, but off-year elections “are the ones with the lowest turnout.”

“Traditionally we get the fewest voters and the least participation in municipal elections,” she said. “The last time we had a town election in Cerro Gordo, only 100 people turned out.”

Filing starts at noon Friday and ends at noon July 20. Notices of candidacy must be filed at the elections office. Filing fee for town and city elections is $5.

The Municipal Election will be held Nov. 6, with early voting for some towns beginning Oct. 18. Bolton, Brunswick and Cerro Gordo will not participate in the early voting, although residents of Whiteville, Chadbourn, Fair Bluff, Lake Waccamaw, Sandyfield, and Tabor City can cast ballots before Election Day.

No satellite early voting polls will be set up this year, Strickland said, so to cast an early ballot, voters will have to visit the Board of Elections office.

Participation in the one-stop absentee voting program is voluntary, Strickland said, and some towns don’t have sufficient turnout to justify the cost.

That blasé attitude toward municipal elections is always a problem, Strickland said.

“Every election is as important as any other,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a general election of a single town board seat. Every race is important, and every vote is important.”
With every town in the county but one having seats on the ballot, Strickland said, the Board of Elections is hoping for a big turnout.

In Bolton, the mayor and three posts on the board of aldermen are on the ballot. The seats are currently held by Mayor Frank Wilson and Aldermen Mae Graham Neal, Pearl Mills and Geraldine Jenkins.

Brunswick voters will have two town commissioner seats open, those currently held by Everlene Davis and Jacqueline Williams-Rowland.

Cerro Gordo will fill a mayor and two town council seats. The terms of Mayor Rodney Hammond and Councilmembers Daniel “Jackie” Jenkins and Wilber Powell are up for election.

Chadbourn voters will have to choose a mayor and three council members. The seats on the fall ballot are held by Mayor Kenneth Waddell and Councilmen Fax Rector Jr., Larry R. Williamson, and Brian K. Edwards.

Fair Bluff will elect two town commissioners. The terms of Carl W. Meares Jr. and James H. Meares Jr. are on the ballot.

Lake Waccamaw will choose a mayor and two candidates to fill town commissioner seats. Those seats are currently held by Mayor Ivan Wilson, with seats held by West Ward Commissioner Bobby R. Tedder Jr and East Ward Commissioner Earl Harris.

In the tiny but growing town of Sandyfield, seats held by Mayor Perry Dixon and town council seats currently served by Azalie Graham, Annette D. Williams, and Joe Brown will be on the ballot.
Tabor City voters will get to vote for a mayor and two town council seats. Royce Harper is currently the town’s top official, and the board seats up for election are held by Miona Fonvielle and Mark Stocks.

Whiteville voters will choose a mayor and three council seats. Mayor Dial Gray, District One Councilmen Howard Jones and Jimmy Clarida, and District Two Councilman Robert Leder currently hold those posts.

Strickland said voters are encouraged to call or drop by the elections office to check on their voter registration information.

“It just takes a few minutes,” she said, “and if someone has moved, or there have been other changes, it could slow things down for everyone on Election Day. It’s always better to check it every few years or so to be sure nothing is out of date.”

For more information, call the Board of Elections at 640-6609, log onto columbuscounty.org, or go by the elections office at 50 Legion Dr., Whiteville.