The Macon County Board of Elections met Nov. 14 to certify the Franklin and Highlands municipal elections.
Of the 2,922 people registered to vote in the Franklin election, 573 ballots were cast for a turnout of 19.61%. The votes cast during early voting (286) and Election Day (284) were nearly equal. There were three provisional ballots.
The vote totals remain the same as previously reported with Stacy Guffey winning the Franklin mayor’s race, and Jeff Berry, Rita Salain and Travis Higdon taking the three seats up for election on the Town Council. The new mayor and council members will take office on Dec. 1.
There were two write-ins for the mayor’s race: Bob Scott (2 votes) and Paul Thatcher (1 vote).
In the Town Council race, Bob Scott received two write-in votes and the following each received one vote: Amy Spivey, David Millen, Keith Powell, Kim Leister, Phillip Wells, Rick Tarleton, Skip Asbury, Tom Harris and Will Watson.
Board of Elections Director Melanie Thibault said they still had some bills to pay, so she did not have a cost yet for each of the town elections.
Thibault said it would be helpful for the Board of Elections to have their own separate space so that they can hold early voting at the office rather than off site. She said she needs to be at the office but gets called away if she is needed at a polling site. Deputy Director Judy Fritts spent her time at the early voting location in Franklin while Election Specialist John Williams was in Highlands during early voting.
Thibault said they had all new people working the Highlands polling place. “He was there to train, he was there to make sure everything was going good, and that hopefully they could be on their own come the primary.”
All the Highlands races were uncontested, but there was a turnout of 34.28% (338 of the 986 registered voters).
As a whole, 911 people of the 3,908 registered to vote in the two town elections cast ballots for a turnout of 23.31%.
2026 elections
Filing for the 2026 primary opens on Dec. 1. Thibault said she expects next year to be busy and anticipates there will be more provisional ballots due to people not having their driver’s license or social security number for voter verification.
The local office and the state Board of Elections have sent mailings to people who need to update their voter registrations with the required information. You can look up your voter registration information on the state website at ncsbe.gov. If you are unsure about your voter registration, contact the Board of Elections at 828-349-2034.
Fritts said several of their long-time election workers had retired so they are looking for new precinct workers. Training will be provided. Early voting for the primary starts in February.
Anyone interested in learning more about being a precinct worker can call 828-349-2034 or email jfritts@maconnc.org.