(June 2, 2016) In hand-counted paper ballots, George Tasker, incumbent District 1 city councilman, defeated challenger Sheila Nelson 98 votes to 91 in Tuesday’s election.
“I’m just happy it’s over. It’s been a long five months, and we both worked really hard,” Tasker said following the announcement of his victory by Board of Elections President John Haynie.
Nelson accepted the outcome of the election, and hinted she would be run again in three years.
“Thank you to each and every one of my supporters. I’m elated people turned out the way they did, and I may be back, because I believe I’m the better person,” she said.
The vote was a redo of the April 5 election, in which only 132 votes were cast — an increase of 43 percent. The results of that vote had been questioned because of a counting error, with 132 people confirmed by the election board to have voted, while the tally from the voting machines was 127.
Although the absentee and provisional ballots had decided one of the candidates was victorious beyond this margin of error, the results of the election were questioned.
Because the mechanical machines didn’t leave a paper trail, there was no option for a recount.
The Pocomoke City Charter didn’t foresee this kind of difficulty, and provided little direction for the council or board of elections on how to proceed.
According to the charter, “The candidate or candidates for Councilman with the highest number of votes in each general election shall be declared elected as Councilman,” and requires elections to be certified 12 hours from the time the polls are closed.
“I just need time to decompress,” Haynie said.