Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Atlantic Beach election protest to linger

The Atlantic Beach elections commission voted Saturday to put off a hearing on a protest by Town Council incumbents ousted last week by two write-in candidates because the commission's attorney could not attend the hearing.

Two of the three commission members voted to postpone the hearing until Wednesday, Veterans Day, at 10 a.m. The third commissioner, Nicole Kenion, abstained from the vote. Kenion wrote a letter to the commission Friday saying she believed that only one of the three filed protests from challenger Paul Curry had arrived by the 7 p.m. deadline Thursday. Kenion alleged that the board had not followed a uniform set of rules regarding the candidates.

Write-in candidates Windy Price and Carolyn Cole, whom the commission declared winners of the election Thursday after approving a number of challenged ballots, stayed behind Saturday morning to protest that they were ready for a hearing. They said state law requires a hearing within 48 hours of the finished vote count, so Cole said postponing it violates election law. State elections officials could not be reached Saturday morning to confirm whether the continuance was within the law.

Saturday's protests were the latest in a town election that has been protested by both the incumbents and challengers. Atlantic Beach held a hearing Thursday morning to decide whether a number of ballots contested for residency issues would be allowed. The results tipped the election in favor of Price and Cole, who received 64 and 52 votes respectively. Incumbents Charlene Taylor and Josephine Isom received 43 and 35 votes respectively. Curry, the only challenger on the ballot, received 5 votes.