Franklin residents have begun casting their votes in the 2019 municipal elections to fill three seats on Franklin Town Council and elect a mayor.
Early one-stop voting begins today, Oct. 16 and continues through Friday, Nov. 1.
Barbara McRae is challenging incumbent Bob Scott for mayor.
Eight candidates are on the ballot for three seats on the town council: Daniel Coates, Joe Collins, Jack Horton, Kevin Klatt, Mike Lewis, Brandon McMahan, Peter Mosco and T.J. Wright.
Also on the ballot is Dinah Mashburn, who is running unopposed to fill out the remainder of a two-year term of the seat occupied by her late husband, Billy Mashburn, who was elected posthumously in 2017.
Two town council candidates – Kevin Klatt and Daniel Coates – have told the Macon County Board of Elections that they wish to withdraw from the race, but it’s too late to have their names removed from the ballot.
“It’s too late to withdraw,” said Macon elections director Melanie Thibault. “Their names are on the ballot.”
Thibault said some recent changes at the federal and state levels have caused some confusion headed into this year’s municipal election.
The state’s new voter ID law will not be in effect for this election. That will apply for the 2020 general election.
Voters in the 2019 elections are not required to have a photo ID.
Also, the N.C. REAL ID, a new driver license or ID card designed to provide federal identification, won’t begin until Oct. 1 2020. It will be optional and will not be required to vote.
“The voter ID law doesn’t not begun until 2020,” Thibault said. “And you do not have to have the REAL ID. There have been some rumors about that.”
A total of 377 voters out of a possible 2,655 cast votes in the 2017 municipal elections, for a 14.2 percent turnout rate. The number of voters was split almost evenly between one-stop early voting (183) and Election Day ballots cast (194).
“I hope to be a little busier than normal odd years,” Thibault said.
The two candidates who dropped out of the town council election offered different reasons for their withdrawal.
“I was initially running because I kept hearing that nobody else was willing to run,” Coates said. “I went in to file and it was the last day, and then sure enough right behind me four more people came in. Now I’m seeing a lot of other people who are qualified to do the job and I don’t think that I really need to be in this.”
Klatt cited health issues.
“I don’t think that I’m going to be up to the challenge of fulfilling the duties of a council member for awhile,” he said.
During early voting, eligible voters can cast ballots at the Robert C. Carpenter Community Building on Georgia Road. Early voting is not available at the elections office.
For more information, call the Macon County Board of Elections at 828-349-2034.