Travis Chance, Will Britt and Gary Lewis can now officially be declared the winners in the city council election now that the challenges have been added to the totals from election day. The officials were finally able to count the challenged ballots since the Statesboro Citizens for Good Government withdrew the challenges Wednesday afternoon.
In District 5, Chance received 413 total votes while incumbent John Morris received 369. He was the only challenger to unseat his opponent.
"I haven't had a chance to enjoy it because I just got off work," said Chance. "It really hasn't sunk in yet."
Though it was thought the challenges would put him over the top, Chance said he didn't want to be overly optimistic.
"I heard several people, who weren't college students, were challenged. I was not going to put the cart before the horse," said Chance. "I'm glad I won. I'm happy I won. I ran a clean race, and I feel like I worked hard. It was a tough race and a tight race. I just hope I can do as good a job as the people who voted for me have confidence that I can do."
Morris feels he ran a good race.
"I'm proud that we ran a very honest race," said Morris.
Morris would not comment further on whether he plans to pursue additional actions.
In District 3, incumbent Britt received 335 votes while his challenger, Harry "Bubba" Propes got 210 votes.
In District 2 incumbent Lewis received 368 votes while challenger Nathan Queen gathered 312 votes.
City Election Supervisor Judy McCorkle said officials will be working hard on Friday to finish the paper necessary to certify the election with the secretary of states office.
The citizens group brought the challenges to the Bulloch County Registrar’s office Oct. 22 after about 2,200 new voters registered in Statesboro between Sept. 1 and Oct. 9. Around 85 percent were between 18 and 24 years old and are Georgia Southern students. Until the hearings were withdrawn, races for Statesboro City Council seats in District 3 and District 5 were unable to be officially certified.
Phil Boyum may be reached at 489-9454.
In District 5, Chance received 413 total votes while incumbent John Morris received 369. He was the only challenger to unseat his opponent.
"I haven't had a chance to enjoy it because I just got off work," said Chance. "It really hasn't sunk in yet."
Though it was thought the challenges would put him over the top, Chance said he didn't want to be overly optimistic.
"I heard several people, who weren't college students, were challenged. I was not going to put the cart before the horse," said Chance. "I'm glad I won. I'm happy I won. I ran a clean race, and I feel like I worked hard. It was a tough race and a tight race. I just hope I can do as good a job as the people who voted for me have confidence that I can do."
Morris feels he ran a good race.
"I'm proud that we ran a very honest race," said Morris.
Morris would not comment further on whether he plans to pursue additional actions.
In District 3, incumbent Britt received 335 votes while his challenger, Harry "Bubba" Propes got 210 votes.
In District 2 incumbent Lewis received 368 votes while challenger Nathan Queen gathered 312 votes.
City Election Supervisor Judy McCorkle said officials will be working hard on Friday to finish the paper necessary to certify the election with the secretary of states office.
The citizens group brought the challenges to the Bulloch County Registrar’s office Oct. 22 after about 2,200 new voters registered in Statesboro between Sept. 1 and Oct. 9. Around 85 percent were between 18 and 24 years old and are Georgia Southern students. Until the hearings were withdrawn, races for Statesboro City Council seats in District 3 and District 5 were unable to be officially certified.
Phil Boyum may be reached at 489-9454.