Summit officials signed a $4,000 contract with the Pike County Election Commission to count the ballots for next Tuesday’s special election, bringing an end to prolonged negotiations about overseeing the vote.
Amelia Johnson, Jane Lawrence, J.R. McBeth and Pauline Monley are running to replace former Councilman Joe Lewis, who resigned last month citing his health.
The council met briefly in a special called meeting Tuesday to consider the commission’s latest offer, which was dropped from an initial proposal of $6,700. The council countered with a price not to exceed $3,600, and the commission arrived at its final figure after meeting earlier Tuesday.
“I think they’re giving us a fair price at this point in time,” Mayor Percy Robinson said. “They did cut some of the costs.”
But Councilman Julius Nash, who cast the lone opposing vote in accepting the contract and played a key role in the negotiations, said he still believed the cost was more than what the work called for.
“I just want to make sure we spend the money wisely for the Town of Summit,” he said.
Nash noted that the town would have to pay an additional $4,000 to the election commission in the event of a runoff election, which is possible with four candidates running.
The back-and-forth wrangling over an election in which officials expect a low turnout led to a county supervisor scolding some of the commissioners publicly.
It also has Summit officials reconsidering how to hold future elections.
The council used to have its own election commission to certify the election results, but that disbanded when the town handed over its elections to the county commission years ago, trading a long and often chaotic hand count for the efficiency of voting machines.
With the election just a week away, Councilman Chris Daniels said he believed the council should vote to accept the commission’s contract and consider reinstating its own election commission in the near future.
“We certainly don’t need to mess with the integrity of the election by doing something different at this juncture,” he said. “But certainly down the line at a later date we need to look at other options. I think we really need to get the election behind us and look at other options to save us money by getting our own election commission.”
