On Tuesday night, Dublin town board members solved the dilemma they learned about Friday when an error in counting Wayne County votes was discovered.
County Clerk Debra Berry announced late last week that the election for the fifth seat on the board had not been won by Pam Chaney, as announced on Election Night, but had resulted in a tie with Leonard Payne Sr. It turned out that the ballots that had been cast early were not included in the results announced on Nov. 5.
Payne and Chaney each received 45 votes in the new numbers. Voters could choose five of seven candidates who ran for the at-large seats.
After checking into the laws, officials announced that Dublin town council would break the tie before the end of the year.
The board members moved ahead Tuesday by taking a roll-call vote for who they believe should win the seat as their first item of business during the meeting.
Chaney, who joined the council earlier in the year, could not vote on Tuesday night, and member Emmett Webb abstained. That left members Larry Walters, Bruce Moles and Patricia Finley to vote. They all selected Chaney for the seat.
In a statement after the initial votes were announced, Chaney told the Western Wayne News, “Thank you to the residents of Dublin. I am honored by your vote of confidence and will work diligently to meet your expectations by finding new ways to communicate with you to continue to make our small home town a great place to live. God bless you!”
Read more about the election ballot counting issue in the Nov. 20 edition of Western Wayne News.