Photos courtesy of Botetourt Registrar’s Office
By Matt de Simone
Ben Cline (R) took over 75% of the vote in Botetourt County to retain his seat in the House of Representatives over Jennifer Lynn Lewis (D). The current U.S. Congressman wins his third term.
Tristan R. Harris received 153 write-in votes (53.5%) to become the new mayor of Buchanan. Current Mayor Craig Bryant did not run for re-election
James E. Eubank (232 votes) and James Manspile (186) each received a majority of the votes for Buchanan Town Council. Manspile returns for another term. This will be Eubank’s first term on Buchanan Town Council. Current council member Chris Petty did not run for re-election.
There was a bit of confusion last week when it came to Buchanan’s Town Council election results which weren’t finalized until Monday afternoon.
Numbers entered into the state database on election night are preliminary numbers until the Electoral Board certifies the results after the absentee deadline of noon on the Friday after an election (due to the holiday last week, deadline for this election was Monday at noon).
During canvass held on the day after the election by the Electoral Board, all numbers are verified by comparing the information entered into the state database, the numbers printed on the results tapes from the scanners in the precincts, and the numbers entered on the statement of results from the precincts.
Also, during canvass, any office with more than 10% of the total votes cast for that office being write-ins requires those votes be hand-tallied (such as the office of mayor for Buchanan). Canvass began at 1 p.m. last Wednesday afternoon and did not conclude until 4 p.m.
“I was not able to verify information or enter the mayor’s race totals until this morning,” County Registrar Traci Clark said in a recent email. “I performed an audit of the information entered into the state database on election night compared to the totals verified during canvass.
“At that time, I realized the number of votes cast at the Buchanan precinct on Election Day for James Edward Eubank was entered into the state database incorrectly on election night,” Clark continued. “Mr. Eubank received a total of 198 votes but the number entered was ‘98.’ There was not an error in tabulating the votes—it was a typographical error when inputting the totals into the state database. The information entered into the state database is what populates the totals on the Virginia Department of Elections (VDOE) website.
“I apologize for any confusion but after a 17-hour workday on Election Day, clerical errors do sometimes happen.”
Vickie S. Abbott won a seat on Troutville’s Town Council. The special election for Troutville Town Council was to fill Dean Paderick’s seat that was vacated when he recently passed away.
Councilman Richard Flora won the special election for a seat on Fincastle’s Town Council. The special election for Fincastle Town Council is to fill Tyler Flinchum’s seat that was vacated when he moved out of the town limits.
For more election results, visit results.elections.virginia.gov.