Saluda saw 46 percent turnout

Polk County’s municipalities had a 19 percent turnout with low turnouts in Columbus and Tryon but almost half of Saluda registered voters casting ballots.

Saluda saw a 46 percent turnout, while Tryon saw approximately 16 percent and Columbus seven percent.

Both Saluda and Tryon had races for council seats, with Lynn Cass receiving the most votes in Saluda at 158. Leon Morgan also retained his Saluda commissioner seat with 147 votes. John Morgan lost his seat with 106 votes.

Roy Miller in Tryon received the highest votes in the county with 168 to retain his council seat. George Baker also won a Tryon seat with 127 votes. Jim Scott lost the race with 95 votes.

Tryon Mayor Alan Peoples retained his seat with 170 votes.

There was no race in Columbus, with incumbent mayor Eric McIntyre retaining his seat with 33 votes, incumbent councilman Richard Hall retaining his seat with 38 votes, incumbent councilwoman Ernie Kan retaining her seat with 37 votes and Ricky McCallister gaining a seat with 32 votes.

The total turnout for Polk County’s municipal election of 19.2 percent is based on a total of 2,537 registered voters in the county’s three municipalities and 487 votes cast for both one-stop and on Election Day.

Saluda has 485 registered voters and had 224 of those vote this election.

Tryon has 1,346 registered voters and had 212 resident voting this election.  Columbus has 726 registered voters with 51 casting votes this election.

Tryon had the highest turnout for one-stop voting with a total of 56 early votes cast, compared to Saluda with 50 early votes and Columbus with 18 early votes.

Saluda had the most voters at the poll Tuesday, Nov. 8 with 174 on Election Day, compared to Tryon’s 156 and Columbus’ with 33 on Election Day.

The Polk County Board of Election will canvas the votes on Tuesday, Nov. 15 when the results will become official.

Municipality Total votes    registered voters    %turnout

Columbus 51       726     7%

Saluda 224     485     46%

Tryon 212     1,346  16%

Total: 487     2,537  19%

Polk voting results by municipality

Total votes    %    Election Day    One Stop
Columbus mayor
J. Eric McIntyre    33    91.67    24    9
Write-In    3    8.33    2    1
Columbus council
Richard E. Hall    38    34.86    23    15
Ernie Kan    37    33.94    23    14
Ricky L. McCallister    32    29.36    20    12
Write-In    2    1.83    2    0
Saluda commissioner
Lynn Cass    158    38.35    121    37
John H. Morgan    106    25.73    81    25
Leon Morgan    147    35.68    120    27
Write-In    1    24    1    0
Tryon mayor
J. Alan Peoples    170    94.44    120    50
Write-In    10    5.56    10    0
Tryon council
George B. Baker    127    32.73    103    24
Roy Miller    164    42.27    123    41
Jim Scott    95    24.48    62    33
Write-in    2    .52    2    0
Note: No absentee, provisional or curbside votes were cast Tuesday.