OC Special Election certified

The Oconee County Election Commission certified the votes cast in this week’s special primary for Seat 3 on the County Council at a meeting Thursday. A handful of votes were added to each candidate’s total, but the outcome remains unchanged. It means that Andy Inabinet is now the official winner of Tuesday’s primary. Three votes were added to Inabinet’s tally, giving him 447 votes. The consideration of ten provisional ballots gave Inabinet’s opponent, Paul Cain, an additional six votes, giving him 415. A total of 32 votes officially separated the two candidates in what was one of Oconee County’s smallest voter turnout elections at 9.5%.  Now, Inabinet’s name will appear on the special election ballot next month to fill the remaining six-plus months of the late Archie Barron’s term. However, Inabinet will be the only ballot candidate on May 20, Oconee County Voter Registration and Elections director Joy Brook says write-in votes will be permitted. Inabinet and Cain are not through competing, however, as both men are signed up to run in the June Republican primary. That vote is to decide their party’s nominee in November for a full, four-year term on the Oconee County Council.