Young County sees a drop in early voting totals

The March 6 primary election had a slow start with early voting totals numbering 1,305 in Young County, an 11.19 percent turnout from among 11,658 registered voters, according to Young County Elections Administrator Lauren Sullivan. In the March primary election in 2016, Young County had a total of 1,814 voters during early voting, an 15.66 percent turnout from among the 11,581 registered voters. Icy weather conditions during the first days of early voting this year led Sullivan to close the polls on Wednesday, Feb. 21 and reopen them on Thursday, Feb. 22. Due to press time for The Graham Leader being early on Election Day, the results from the election won’t be available until the Weekend edition. Local candidates Contested positions in the March primary were Young County Judge, Commissioner Pct. 2, Justice of the Peace Pct. 1 and 3, and Constable Pct. 3. Two Republican candidates are running for Young County Justice of the Peace Pct. 3, Becky Perez and incumbent Stan Mahler. Two Republican candidates are running for the seat of Young County Judge, Paul Hemphill and incumbent John Bullock. Only the incumbents filed for the positions of Young County Clerk (Kay Hardin), Treasurer (Ann Daily), District Clerk (Jamie Land) and Commissioner Pct. 4 (Jimmy Wiley). Commissioner Pct. 2 incumbent Matt Pruitt is running against candidates Larry Pratt and Les Remington. Two Republican candidates, Larry Thacker and Cliff Blackstock, are seeking to fill the unexpired term of the late Freddie Page as Constable of Pct. 3. The position of Justice of the Peace Pct. 1 is being sought by Jabe Underwood, Jason Hearne, Norman B. Carpenter and Randy Saylor. For the rest of this story, subscribe to our print or online edition.