Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 5, 1990 TAG: 9005070350
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
The two incumbents seeking re-election last Tuesday were unopposed for the third consecutive time. But a higher percentage of registered voters turned out for this election than the two previous times Sonny Tarpley and Mac Green ran without opposition.
If Salem residents really want to see some action at the polls, they ought to try free coffee and doughnuts. Or maybe contested races.
ON ELECTION Night in Radford, the unofficial tally in the City Council contest showed incumbent Polly Corn and challenger Jim Cox tied with 1,083 votes each. A recheck the next day showed Corn the winner by 13; absentee ballots from one precinct, it turned out, had been overlooked in the first count.
A single vote didn't make the difference, not this time. But it didn't take many votes to. And for all anybody knew on Election Day, the tie could've come after the recheck, not before. Will your single vote decide an election? It could.
ASKED last week for his reaction to Roanoke City results, Councilman David Bowers (who wasn't up for re-election) proffered this analysis: "Just say," he said, "that David Bowers is in the catbird's seat."
OK, we said it. But wasn't there more to the election than that?
by CNB