Hawkins Declared Unofficial Winner of Algood Council Race

Algood City Council Candidate Ruby Hawkins is now ahead of Justin Grant in the Algood City Council election.

According to Putnam County Election Administrator Debbie Steidl, Hawkins now leads Grant by a single vote following Thursday’s election.

A second provisional ballot gave Hawkins the lead Tuesday afternoon. A provisional ballot discovered Friday afternoon put the candidates at a tie with 300 votes each.

“One of them counted we knew would count, and one of them wouldn’t count because they hadn’t put paperwork in that was required,” Steidl said. “Lo and behold, when we were going through and looking at the precincts and pulling that paperwork, we found the paperwork that was needed to go with that ballot.”

Steidl said five votes still remain up in the air following an audit of the Algood Council election. Steidl said three voters should not have voted, while two others were given incorrect ballots and should have been able to vote for council.

Grant can still contest the race results within five days of the election commission certifying the results because of the voting errors.