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Powhatan, Virginia
The hometown paper of Wesley N. Sims, Jr.
Vol. XXVIII No. 7
February 12, 2014
DECISION 2014
THE RESULTS ARE OFFICIAL Special Elections overview with registrar
Dobbins, Frame and Hymel look ahead to taking office By Ben Orcutt News Editor
The results of last week’s special elections are official and Powhatan County now has a new Circuit Court clerk and two Dobbins new members of the School Board. In the eightcandidate field for Circuit Court clerk, voters appeared to favor the experience of Frame Teresa Hash Dobbins and elected her to the post, making her the first-elected female clerk in the history of Powhatan County. Hymel Dobbins, 46, is the principal clerk, judge’s chambers, for Chesterfield County Circuit Court and she also has worked as a deputy clerk for Powhatan County Circuit Court. Dobbins won by a margin of 168 votes over second place finisher Jason S. Tackett, a master detective sergeant with the Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office. She received 1,304 votes and, in the process, captured seven of 12 precincts, as well as the absentee vote, and tied Tackett, who finished with 1,136 votes, in two precincts. “If there was a turning point in the election, I feel that it would have been after the articles ran in Powhatan Today and the Community Journal with each candidate’s responses and qualifications,” Dobbins said. “I believe that the Candidate’s Night was a see Winners page 2A
By Ben Orcutt News Editor
PHOTOS BY ANJIE HENLEY
David Burns sports his “I Voted” sticker as he was leaving Flat Rock Precinct 103 at St. John Neumann Catholic Church. Top left, Bethesda Precinct poll workers, from left, Sharon Williams, Arvada Williams and Frank Flannagan check in Brooke and Clarence Key. Top right, Autumn and MacKenzie Bartlett show their support for clerk of Circuit Court candidate Jason S. Tackett.
It was no accident that last week’s special elections went off without a hitch and the unofficial results were tallied in less than 30 minutes after the polls closed at 7 p.m. Powhatan County General Registrar Karen B. Alexander said that the first precinct to report called in its results at 7:05 p.m. Alexander and within minutes all 12 precincts had reported. By 7:22 p.m., the total unofficial results had been posted. “Our voting machines tally all of the votes once the polls close,” she said. “Our poll workers, who are extensively trained, call us immediately and read off the tapes that come directly from the voting machines. It’s cut and dried and allows us to produce unofficial votes quickly.” The official results, which are listed in accompanying charts, were certified to the State Board of Elections the next day, with very minor changes in the vote totals. It takes about three months to prepare for an election and last week’s special elections were no exception, Alexander said, adding that 49 paid election officials were used. “This would be a minimum amount specific for an election of this scale,” she said. “We also had two staff, three Electoral Board members, two vendor consultants and three additional part-time volunteers who assisted at various stages of the election.” see Overview page 4A Flat Rock Precinct poll worker Wayne Sharpe, left, hands literature to voter Eric Childress. Left, first-time voter Jessica Mazza is surrounded by numerous signs of candidates she has to choose from.
Inside
Sports
Index
A3 S-U-C-C-E-S-S Adelaide Meade, a fifth grader at Pocahontas Middle School, is the division winner in Powhatan County Public Schools Spelling Bee
B1 Getting their kicks in Martial Arts World students show off what they have learned
Calendar Classified Crossword Horoscope Letters
A2 B7 A7 A7 A6
Obituaries Opinion Quotes TV Listings
A7 A6 A2 B4-5