Betty and Una Pollard were among those who examined each vote in the recount of the election for sheriff and tax collector. (Times photo/Ryan Rogers) [Click to enlarge]

The outcome of the May 20 election for the position of Clay County sheriff and tax collector will not change following a requested recount held Thursday, May 29, at the Clay County Courthouse in Corning. Gerald McClung was declared the winner following a nearly five hour process.

The recount was requested by incumbent sheriff Ronnie Cole. In a letter asking for the recount, Cole said he had spoken with over 400 voters who said they were surprised with the May 20 outcome. Cole also cited voting machine malfunctions leading to overturned decisions in other counties as a determining factor in his request.

Dana Brown, chair of the election committee, said there had been no reports of malfunctions with Clay County's voting machines during the election.

There were some small differences from the initial results. The recount included seven more votes than were listed in the previous certified totals. Final tallies listed McClung with 2,026 votes, while Cole received 1,740. The differences from the initial results were five more votes for McClung and two additional votes for Cole.

In order for the recount to be granted, Cole was required to pay a fee of 25 cents per vote. This rate was applied to the initial total number of votes, listed as 3,759, which comes to an amount of $939.75. The fee was paid prior to the recount, and would have been returned had the outcome changed. The money was used to compensate the eight poll workers who checked each individual vote in the recount. There was no charge assessed to Cole for the additional seven votes uncovered in the recount.

Those working at the recount were Bill and Barbara Martin of Rector, Una Pollard of Piggott, Betty Pollard of Pollard, Joyce Kirby and Peggy Archer of Corning, Sue Gazaway of Knobel and Lisa Jett of Success.

Each candidate chose two representatives to monitor the recount. Delmer and Betty Foster represented McClung, while Cole chose Betty Ort and Cindy Roberts. The four kept a watchful eye on the four different tables being used for the recount. Neither side reported any grievances with the procedure.

There were some hiccups in the recount. While checking the results of early voting returns, a single roll of tape which held 59 votes was not located with the others from its group and, at first, could not be found. Eventually, the roll was recovered and included in the results.

Though the outcome was not to his advantage, Cole expressed his appreciation for the effort put forth in making the recount possible.

"I just want to say thank you," Cole told those assembled for the recount. "This was a lot of hard work on your part."

According to Brown, this was the first time, to her knowledge, a recount has been held in Clay County.

With the results remaining in his favor, McClung is keeping an eye to the future.

"The election's been held and the recount was done, now I think it's time for us to get this behind us and work together and move forward," McClung said. "That's what we intend to do. I want to thank the people for their support."