Election write-in candidates accept positions in Dublin, East Arcadia and Tar Heel

ELIZABETHTOWN — Several write-in candidates in Bladen County have accepted the will of the voters from the November mid-year municipal elections.

Richard Sibbett, 52, garnered 19 votes as a write-in for the Dublin Board of Commissioners. Sibbett defeated incumbent Jeff Smith in a race where voters could only vote for one candidate on the ballot. Smith received 12 votes.

In East Arcadia, voters could vote for two commissioners on the ballot. Incumbent Pamela Graham received 46 votes to win overall; write-in Lillian Graham got 12 votes to earn the other seat.

In Tar Heel, voters could cast votes for three commissioners. However, only one person — Steve Dowless — was on the ballot.

Dowless earned 17 votes to finish first. Derek Druzak received 11 and Angie Hall, who had been on the board but decided not to run this time around, got 7 write-in votes.

Chris Williams, who is director of the Bladen County Board of Elections, said on Tuesday that all the successful write-in candidates have accepted the positions

“If you write in 5 or more votes,” he said, “that person has to be reported to the state. And of course, when you write in like that, if you’re voting for three, it’s the top three that get the most votes. There’s the offer of it and the acceptance of it.”

Should a write-in candidate decline to accept the position, Williams said, it reverts back to the town mayor to put somebody in place.

Usually the process is like taking applications, and the mayor and members of the board typically must make it by unanimous vote, he said. But each municipality may handle the process differently, and town leaders must refer to the town charter.