Municipal filing for 2015 election begins Monday

Published 10:30 pm Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Polk County’s towns will have municipal elections this year with the filing for mayors and town council members beginning on Monday, July 6.

The filing begins at 8 a.m. Monday, with filing being done at the Polk County Board of Elections Office.

In Columbus, the seats of Mayor Eric McIntyre are open as well as the seats of council members Richard Hall, Margaret Metcalf and Scott Hamby. Hamby was appointed last year to replace former councilman Ricky McCallister, who moved outside of Columbus. The only elected official not up for re-election in Columbus this year is councilman Josh Denton, who has served on the board since 2013.

In Saluda, city commissioners Lynn Cass and Leon Morgan are up for re-election.

Mayor Fred Baisden and commissioners Carolyn Ashburn and Mark Oxtoby will not be up for re-election until 2017.

In Tryon, Mayor Jim Wright and commissioners George Baker and Roy Miller are up for re-election. Commissioners Bill Ingham and Happy McLeod won’t be up for re-election until 2017.

Mayor Wright has already announced he is seeking re-election.

The filing for the municipal election will be from Monday until Friday, July 17 at noon. The election filing is different this year because of the July 4th holiday. Normally, municipal election filing begins on a Thursday at noon.

The Polk County Board of Elections office is located on the second floor of the Womack building in downtown Columbus.

This year’s election will be on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 9, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections. Early voting will begin this year on Oct. 22 and end on Oct. 31, according to the state board of elections office.