CHIPLEY — Of all the races on the ballot in Washington County Tuesday night, none were closer than the race for the County Commissioner District 3 position, which ended the evening with a 39-vote difference — a difference that could disappear Thursday when the Canvassing Board reconvenes to count provisional ballots.
Charles Brock, the incumbent in the District 3 seat, had 5,319 votes (50.18 percent) to Tray Hawkins’ 5,280 (49.81 percent) Tuesday night when the precincts were all tallied.
That is a close margin, and even with 100 percent of the precincts reporting in, the final count won’t be available until 5 p.m. Thursday due to the large number of provisional ballots the Supervisor of Elections office has to review, said Washington County Judge Colby Peel on Tuesday.
“The Canvass Board will meet Thursday to count the provisional ballots,” Peel told the crowd at the Washington County Annex building that had turned out to watch election results come in. “Due to the amount of provisional ballots, we won’t be able to count them all tonight.”
Voters will have until 5 p.m. Thursday to bring proof to the elections office that their votes are valid, Peel said.
Peel explained that provisional ballots can be caused by voters having expired driver’s licenses when they come to the poll, or having if the voter had moved recently. If a voter has moved, the supervisor of elections’ office has to verify that the person hasn’t voted in their old precinct.
“If it were just a matter of signatures, we could resolve it tonight, but it isn’t,” Peel said.
The county had 11,035 registered voters turn out for Tuesday’s election — a whopping 75.23 percent of the 14,705 registered voters in the county. “That is a fantastic turnout as far as I am concerned,” Peel said.
Washington County election results:
CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
(Total Precincts 100%)
Malcolm Gainey 3,241(30.15%)
Linda Hayes Cook 7,506(69.84%)
SHERIFF
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,879
Chris Ellis 4,703(43.23%)
Bobby Haddock 5,487(50.43%)
John Pettis 689(6.333%)
TAX COLLECTOR
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,509
Dell Corbin 4,140(39.39%)
Ken Naker 6,369(60.60%)
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,592
Joe Taylor 5,570(52.58%)
Pat Aukema Dickson 5,022(47.41%)
SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,613
Latrelle Reno Williams 3,616(34.07%)
Carol Finch Griffin 6,997(65.92%)
COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 1
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,515
Alan T. Bush 7,197(68.44%)
Ross Pritchard 3,318(31.55%)
COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 3
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,599
Tray Hawkins 5,280(49.81%)
Charles Brock 5,319(50.18%)
COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 5
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,518
Lynn West Gothard 3,913(37.20%)
John Harmon 3,389(32.22%)
James E. Guy 3,216(30.57%)
Washington County national, state election results
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
(Total Precincts 100%)
Mitt Romney 7,978(73.09%)
Barack Obama 2,797(25.62%)
Thomas Robert Stevens 18(0.164%)
Gary Johnson 56(0.513%)
Virgil H. Goode, Jr. 5(0.045%)
Jill Stein 9(0.082%)
Andre Barnett 6(0.054%)
Stewart Alexander 4(0.036%)
Peta Lindsay 0(0%)
Roseanne Barr 38(0.348%)
Tom Hoefling 1(0.009%)
Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson 3(0.027%)
UNITED STATES SENATOR
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,794
Connie Mack 6,305(58.41%)
Bill Nelson 4,120(38.16%)
Bill Gaylor 256(2.371%)
Chris Borgia 113(1.046%)
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS DISTRICT 2
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,791
Steve Southerland 7,772(72.02%)
Al Lawson 3,019(27.97%)
STATE SENATOR DISTRICT 1
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,138
Don Gaetz 7,273(71.73%)
Don Gaetz 7,273(71.73%)
Richard Harrison 2,865(28.26%)
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 5
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,507
Marti Coley 6,640(63.19%)
Travis W. Pitts 3,867(36.80%)
Retain Justice R. Fred Lewis
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 9,891
YES 4,459(45.08%)
NO 5,432(54.91%)
Retain Justice Barbara J. Pariente
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 9,760
YES 4,332(44.38%)
NO 5,428(55.61%)
Retain Justice Peggy A. Quince
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 9,836
YES 4,385(44.58%)
YES 4,385(44.58%)
NO 5,451(55.41%)
Retain Judge Simone Marstiller
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 9,871
YES 4,594(46.54%)
NO 5,277(53.45%)
Retain Judge Stephanie Ray
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 9,823
YES 4,914(50.02%)
NO 4,909(49.97%)
Retain Judge Ron Swanson
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 9,905
YES 4,919(49.66%)
NO 4,986(50.33%)
Retain Judge Brad Thomas
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 9,682
YES 4,800 (49.57%)
NO 4,882(50.42%)
NO. 1 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,228
YES 6,088(59.52%)
NO 4,140(40.47%)
NO. 2 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,426
YES 6,868(65.87%)
NO 3,558(34.12%)
NO. 3 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,185
YES 4,611(45.27%)
NO 5,574(54.72%)
NO. 4 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 9,978
YES 4,165(41.74%)
NO 5,813(58.25%)
NO. 5 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 9,768
YES 3,852(39.43%)
NO 5,916(60.56%)
NO. 6 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 9,967
YES 6,055(60.75%)
NO 3,912(39.24%)
NO. 8 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,098
YES 4,452 (44.08%)
NO 5,646 (44.08%)
NO. 9 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,160
YES 6,450 (63.48%)
NO 3,710 (36.51%)
NO. 10 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 9,987
YES 5,146 (51.52%)
NO 4,841 (48.47%)
NO. 11 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 10,111
YES 6,636 (65.63%)
NO 3,475 (34.36%)
NO. 12 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
(Total Precincts 100%) Total: 9,858
YES 3,783 (38.37%)
NO 6,075 (61.62%)
