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Polk County Board of Election completes canvassing of votes

COLUMBUS—Polk County’s municipal election numbers are now final after the Polk County Board of Election canvassed the votes last Friday. 

No races changed after the canvassing as well as hand-to-eye recounts. 

In Columbus, mayor-elect Patrick McCool won with 131 votes against 7 write-in votes. 

For Columbus council, the race was close with incumbent Margaret Metcalf losing by just two votes. Officially, Brent Jackson was the high vote getter with 92 votes, followed by incumbent Mark Phillips with 76 votes and incumbent Richard Hall with 73 votes. Metcalf had 71 votes, Steve E. Christopher had 69 votes and Ernie Kan had 62 votes. Columbus council had no write-in votes. 

In Saluda, newcomer Bob Ross was the high vote getter with 131 votes for a council seat. Incumbent Stanley Walker also won a seat with 91 votes. Incumbent and long-time councilman Leon Morgan lost the race this year with 67 votes. There were also 6 write-in votes for the Saluda council race. 

In Tryon, mayor Alan Peoples retained his seat with 240 votes against 15 write-in votes. For two council seats, incumbents Chrelle Booker and Crys Armbrust retained their seats against write-in challenger Heidi Selbee. Booker was the high vote getter and will likely be the first female mayor pro-tem in Tryon’s history with 235 votes compared to Armbrust’s 134 votes. Selbee gained 116 votes and there was one other write-in vote for council. 

The Saluda referendum on mixed beverages in the city was passed by 123 votes for and 35 votes against. 

Polk County Board of Election Director Cliff Marr said the board did hand-to-eye recounts for three of the four precincts. Saluda and Columbus 1 were selected for the county’s sample audit by the board of election. The board also recounted Tryon by hand because the county tested the newly certified equipment there and part of the testing was a hand recount to insure the test machines were accurate. 

The board of elections also did a discretionary recount of the Columbus 2 precinct results at the Nov. 15 canvass meeting. 

“Since the winning margin in the Columbus council race was two votes, the board voted to recount the Columbus 2 ballots to insure accuracy and confidence in the vote totals,” Marr said. “There were no discrepancies found.” 

Columbus, Saluda and Tryon Councils will all conduct the swearing in ceremonies for the newly elected officials during their December meetings. Columbus meets on the third Thursday at 6 p.m., Saluda meets on the second Monday at 7 p.m. and Tryon meets on the third Tuesday at 7 p.m.