Sunday's Internet Edition, July 20, 2008.
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According to Dismukes, Lee County has 8,779 registered voters this year, up from 8,647 in the last Presidential Election.
Since Lee County’s elections are held on paper ballots, the County Clerk’s Office is responsible for overseeing the sorting of each early voting ballot. As a consequence, the County Clerk’s office will be closed to all except Election-related duties starting at 1 pm on Monday, November 1, and extending through Tuesday, November 2.
A group of eight people are appointed as the Early Voting Ballot Board, four Republicans and four Democrats. Their responsibility is to sort the early ballots on Monday afternoon. They may begin tallying the early votes Tuesday morning when the polls open at 7 am, but cannot release the results until after 7 pm when the polls close.
An hour after the polls open next Tuesday, each of the 15 precincts in Lee County can begin counting their votes. Once the polls close, the precinct Chairman hand-carries the votes to the County Courthouse, giving a final tally of their precinct’s results. At this point, the final results in Lee County are gathered very quickly, and the results of the local race will be posted on the Lexington Leader website Tuesday night immediately following the County Clerk’s final tally.
In Lee County, the only contested local race is for County Commissioner, Precinct 3. Incumbent O.B. “Butch” Johnson, Democrat, is running against John Higgins, Jr., Republican. Uncontested races in Lee County are for County Attorney, Ted Weems; Sheriff Joe Goodson; Tax Assessor, Virginia Jackson; Commission Maurice Pitts, Precinct 1; Constables Terry Davis, Precinct 2, L.E. “Buster” Dussetschleger, Precinct 3, and Donald Whitsel, Precinct 4.