Provisional votes could change outcome of 1 Andalusia race

The city councils in Andalusia, Opp and Florala will meet to today to certify results of last Tuesday’s municipal elections.

And while the meetings are generally formalities, the results of at least one race could change.

In Andalusia’s race for Board of Education District 4, Tommy Wright led longtime board member Bill King by four votes, 122 to 118. But 10 provisional votes were cast in Andalusia, and at least some of those were forwarded to the city clerk to be canvassed at today’s meeting.

Provisional votes are cast when a voter’s registration is in question, or if a voter has moved from one district to another and not updated his or her registration. The ballots are sealed, with voter information in an exterior envelope.

The board of registrars determines if the votes should be cast, and legitimate ballots are returned to the city to be counted.

City Clerk John Thompson said Monday afternoon he had received ballots from the registrars, but they are sealed, and he does not yet know whether the ballots were cast in the board of education race, or one of the council races on the ballot.

In the event the race was tied after the provisional votes were counted, a runoff election would have to be held.

The Andalusia City Council and Florala Town Council will canvas ballots at noon.

The Opp City Council meets at 10 a.m.

In River Falls, where only two votes separated Mayor Patricia Gunter from challenger James Longmire, there were no provisional votes cast.