DATE: Saturday, November 8, 1997            TAG: 9711080347

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:   39 lines

PENS AT FAULT FOR VOTE COUNT GLITCH

Faulty pens, not mechanical malfunction or human error, caused a delay in the vote count in Tuesday's Kill Devil Hills municipal elections, officials said Friday.

The faulty markers caused some 200 ballots to be kicked out of the counting machines. As a result, unofficial vote totals in Kill Devil Hills were not known until almost midnight Tuesday.

Real estate executive Sherry Rollason defeated Mayor Pro Tempore E.M. ``Coy'' Harbeson in the mayor's race. Defense consultant Bill Pitt and Commissioner Jeff Shields were elected to the five-member Board of Commissioners.

After testing the marking pens used at Kill Devil Hills Town Hall for voting, officials found that two of the 10 were faulty. However, fewer than 10 ballots were improperly marked, Dare County Board of Elections Chairman Carlisle Davis said.

The three-member election panel also certified the results in local town elections, and there were no significant changes in vote totals.

In Nags Head, Renee Cahoon was elected to another four-year term as mayor, defeating Commissioner Doug Remaley. Commissioner Robert Muller and businessman Brant Murray were elected to the board.

A record 54 percent of Nags Head voters went to the polls.

In Kitty Hawk, three incumbents - Leo Antonucci, Ken Hollowell and Paul Pruitt - were re-elected to that north beach community's governing board.

In Southern Shores, newcomer Paul Sutherland was the top vote-getter in the at-large field. Incumbent Carl Berntsen was also re-elected to the town council.

And in Manteo, incumbent commissioners Edward Etheridge and Dellerva ``Dell'' Collins were returned to office. First-time candidate David Farrow captured the third open seat.

Lee Tugwell was unopposed for another term as mayor. KEYWORDS: NORTH CAROLINA ELECTION RESULTS

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