After he was tossed off the ballot for filing improper paperwork, Richmond County Commonwealth's Attorney Wayne L. Emery's write-in campaign might have earned him a victory.
Based on preliminary results, it would appear that Emery, a 16-year-incumbent, narrowly bested challenger James Monroe, a defense attorney, with 1,142 write-in votes to Monroe's 1,087 — a 55-vote difference.
But registrar Charlotte M. Pierson said the electoral board is still in the process of determining exactly how many of the write-ins are Emery's.
"They're still working on it," she said late Wednesday afternoon, noting that they also had to verify how many of the write-ins are valid.
Emery failed to qualify for the ballot after it was determined that his voter petitions were improperly circulated on single-sided sheets of paper. A new State Board of Elections regulation requires candidates to circulate a double-sided form.
Many of Emery's forms were stapled together, but some lacked signatures. After initial acceptance by the registrar, an anonymous caller brought the issue with Emery's forms to the attention of a local newspaper shortly before the filing deadline on Aug. 23.
Emery's opponent, Monroe, had asked to review the forms weeks before and made copies of them, according to the registrar.
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