Serving Barnwell County and its neighbors since 1852
Are you prepared to vote in the Nov. 4 Municipal General Election?
All seven municipalities in Barnwell County and three of the four in Allendale County have town council seats up for grabs while the towns of Snelling, Sycamore, Ulmer, and Williston also have mayoral seats on the ballot. A total of 22 people are vying for 20 seats.
While most seats are uncontested, many with just the incumbents running, there are some seats that have opposition.
The following municipal races have opposition:
• Town of Blackville – (1 unexpired term): Shellie Bumgarner Khatod & Richard Olsen are the two candidates vying for the seat previously held by the late Kelvin Isaac. Both have become active in the town after moving to Blackville in recent years.
• Town of Fairfax – (3 seats): Ken Ready (incumbent), Phyllis Smart (in- cumbent) and Shaquetta Wright are the candidates who officially filed for the three seats. However, Melinda Green and Sarah Brooker Burgess are write-in candidates, according to the Allendale County Elections & Voter Registration Office.
• Town of Snelling (1 unexpired term): Janet M. Creighton and Charles B. Parker are running for the seat previously held by Wiley Moore, who resigned in August after moving his primary residence to Edisto Island.
• Town of Williston (3 at-large council seats): Eric Moody, Kurt Odermatt, Annie Smalls Tyler and Brandon Widener are vying for three seats. All are incumbents except for Widener.
The other municipal races have no opposition, including:
• City of Barnwell (3 district council seats)
District 1 - Ricky Dixon (incumbent)
District 3 - Alicia Davis (incumbent)
District 5 - Louis T. Claytor III (incumbent)
• Town of Blackville – (3 full-term council seats): Alan Harrison, Bruce Johnson and Enterick Lee (all 3 are incumbents)
• Town of Elko (2 council seats): George Carrie & Jerry H. Greene (both are incumbents)
• Town of Kline (2 council seats): Randy Rimes and Wayne R. Still (both are incumbents).
• Town of Hilda (2 council seats): Timothy B. Black (incumbent) and Amy M. Roberts.
• Town of Snelling (1 mayor and 2 at-large council seats): Mayor Paul Moore (incumbent); Town Council - Carl S. Brookie Anderson Jr. and Annette G. Moore (both are incumbents)
• Town of Sycamore (4 council seats): Mayor - Michael Allen; Council – Tammi P. Bowers, Jonathan Brabham, Allen Brown and Ernie Williams.
• Town of Ulmer (4 council seats): Mayor – Ervin Mathias; Council – Mark Connelly, James Deer, Joanne S. Deer and Ervin M. Tripp Mathias III
• Town of Williston (1 mayoral seat): Mayor – Billy A. Brett Williams III (incumbent)
Candidate profiles can be found on pages 1-5B of the October 22 edition.
Early Voting Polls across both counties will be open Tuesday, Nov. 4 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the municipal election; however, you don’t have to wait until election day to vote.
Early voting opened Monday, October 20 and closes Friday, October 31.
Stop by your local voter registration office Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Absentee voting is also an option.
To verify your voter registration information, stop by the election office or visit www.scvotes.gov.
