Enloe requests recount in close 52nd State House District race

By Carey Phillips

Friday's canvass by election boards throughout the district showed Sylva attorney Phil Haire, a Democrat, being re-elected with 24,978 votes. Marge Carpenter, a Haywood County Republican, was second with 23,224 votes. Enloe, a Democrat, was just behind with 23,062 votes. Madison County Republican Jesse Sigmon finished fourth with 19,092 votes.

Jackson County vote totals showed Haire leading the way with 5,724 votes, followed by Enloe (5,409), Carpenter (4,184) and Sigmon (3,244).

Candidates are eligible to file for recounts, expected to take place Monday, if they come within 1 percent of their opponent. The deadline for making a request was noon Wednesday. A few state races, especially commissioner of labor, could also result in a recount.

Locally, the main part of the recount will be for absentee, provisional and curbside ballots. Election officials will also check totals recorded on voting machines.

The canvass by the Jackson County Board of Elections showed little change from the unofficial totals reported last week.

Most of the adjustments were due to the counting of 73 provisional ballots. Another 63 provisional ballots were rejected.

Lisa Lovedahl-Lehman, county director of elections, said provisional ballots are for voters who have moved to a different precinct, registered somewhere other than the Board of Elections office and their records have not been received, or for those who had been previously purged from the voting rolls.

No-excuse voting proved popular in the county. For the first time voters were allowed to cast absentee ballots even if they planned to be in the county on Election Day. While no breakdown was available for no-excuse voting, 1,721 absentee ballots were cast. That's three times as many as in similar elections in the past, according to Lovedahl-Lehman.

"I think it helped turnout some, but most of those people would have either voted absentee or at the precincts," she said.

Jackson County had 12,436 voters go to the polls, or 56.3 percent of the 22,091 registered. That's down from the nearly 58 percent who voted in the last presidential election.

However, the number of voters was up more than 1,300 from 1996. Percentages may continue to go down since election boards can no longer purge voters from the rolls if they don't vote in two consecutive presidential elections.

"The precinct workers did an excellent job," Lovedahl-Lehman said. "They surpassed my expectations considering the space and time limitations they have. We probably have the best precinct workers in North Carolina."

Lovedahl-Lehman was also pleased with how the new voting machines worked. They were used in the May primary, but this was the first test for the machines with a high voter turnout.

The only problem occurred in Qualla, she said, where one machine was about to lock down. A warning light alerted poll workers to the problem, and the machine was shut down. Technicians had the situation corrected within an hour.

Lovedahl-Lehman called the machines "foolproof." She said they contain places for two back-up vote counts in case the main cartridge fails.

Official returns showed a proposal to change the county form of government from an elected to an appointed county manager system passed 6,606-4,068 for a 61.9 percent approval. The measure is non-binding, but commissioners are expected to follow results of the vote. The issue could be taken up at the next board meeting Thursday, Nov. 29.

Receiving even more approval from voters was the higher education improvement bond for state-supported universities and community colleges. The measure won easily statewide and passed here 6,606-4,068.

Western Carolina University Chancellor John Bardo called approval of the $3.1 billion bond package a significant event in the history of the state and a monumental milestone for Western North Carolina.

"It's a proud day to be a North Carolinian," he said. "This is wonderful, and I want to publicly thank the people of this state, and especially those in Western North Carolina, for their support of higher education."

Western will receive $98.4 million from the bond issue, with funds to modernize antiquated science laboratories, build a 300-bed residence hall, renovate several older classroom buildings, provide space for students in the humanities and fine arts, and begin to prepare for an anticipated enrollment boom.

The measure is expected to bring $10.4 million to Southwestern Community College.

Bonds to finance the projects are expected to be sold beginning in December or January and to be issued over the next six years. Work on some of the construction and renovation at WCU could begin as early as spring 2001.

"While approval of the bond issue is key for all the people of North Carolina, it is especially critical to improving the quality of life here in the mountain region," Bardo said. "This will enable the community colleges and the universities of the west to enhance their role in the economic and community development of this region, which will help keep our sons and daughters from moving away from homes and families to find meaningful work that pays a living wage."

Dan Robinson of Cullowhee, a retired football coach and educator at Western Carolina University and former chairman of the Jackson County Commissioners, was re-elected to the State Senate from District 29. The Democrat had 6,531 votes in Jackson County to 4,427 for Waynesville attorney Judith Fraser.

Democrats led for all offices except president. Texas Gov. George Bush, a Republican, had 6,237 votes here, while Vice President Al Gore, a Democrat, had 5,722. Libertarian Harry Browne had 88 votes, and Reformist Pat Buchanan polled 74. There were 28 write-in votes. While Bush won North Carolina, the race was still too close to call at Herald press time due to voting problems in Florida.

Attorney General Mike Easley, the Democratic candidate for governor, had the most votes in the county for any candidate in a contested race with 6,695. The Republican nominee, former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot, had 5,258. Libertarian Barbara Howe netted 250 votes, and Douglas Schell of the Reform Party had 48.

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