Voting deadline approaching in Wythe

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Local voters will head to the polls soon to cast ballots in the Republican Presidential Primary and town council elections. As of this week, there were 18,589 registered voters in Wythe County.

The Republican Primary is set for Tuesday, March 6. Only two candidates seeking the GOP nomination for president – Ron Paul and Mitt Romney – are listed on Virginia ballots.

Wythe County Registrar Carolyn J. King noted GOP candidate hopefuls Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum failed to obtain the required 10,000 voters’ signatures in Virginia to be placed on the primary ballot. She also pointed out no write-in candidates are allowed in primary elections.

According to King, all of the county’s regular polling places will be open for the March 6 primary. They will be staffed only by the Republican poll workers.

Polls will open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

Deadline for accepting absentee ballot applications by mail is Tuesday, Feb. 28. The deadline for voting absentee ballot in person is Saturday, March 3, when the registrar’s office will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The deadline for filing as a candidate in the upcoming town council elections is the same day as the GOP primary – March 6. Council elections for Wytheville and Rural Retreat are set for Tuesday, May 1.

In the town of Wytheville, two council seats are up for election. Both incumbents, Jackie King and Judson Lambert, are seeking re-election.

King, a 20-year veteran of Wytheville Town Council, filed her petition earlier this week. She also serves as the town’s vice mayor.

Lambert is obtaining the required signatures to file as a candidate. He has served on town council for eight years.

Three seats on the Rural Retreat Town Council will be filled in the May election. They are now held by Scott Mecimore, Peggy Hash and Jerrell Hall.

Mecimore said earlier this week he has not decided whether or not he will seek re-election.

Hash noted she will seek re-election. Hall could not be reached for comment.

James Patrick Sean Viars has also filed as a council candidate.

Candidates for Rural Retreat Town Council are not required to obtain petition signatures to seek office. That requirement is based on a town’s population.

This Monday, Feb. 13, is the last day to register to vote in the upcoming elections. The registrar’s office will be open until 4:30 p.m.

Mary Ellen King of Rural Retreat is the new assistant registrar for Wythe County. She assumed duties Jan. 25.

King replaced Carolyn King, who was appointed by the Wythe County Electoral Board to serve the remainder of the term of former registrar Elizabeth C. Cook, who retired at the end of last year. The Kings are not related.

“Mary is doing a great job,” Carolyn King stated. “She fits right in.”

According to Mary King, she has held secretarial jobs at the Pulaski Police Department, Wythe County Community Hospital and the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office under a former administration. She took time off to take care of her two children until they entered school.

“I had been looking for something to get back into the workforce,” Mary King commented. “This job is part time and it worked good for me.”

She is married to Tim King Sr., a program engineer for General Dynamics. King is the volunteer secretary for Kimberling Christian Union Church in Rural Retreat where she is an active member.

Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or wquesenberry@wythenews.com.