Jay W. Julian is officially the new Place 1 City Council member. Sulphur Springs City Council during a special meeting Thursday afternoon canvassed the Dec. 15 Runoff Election for Place 1.
City Secretary/Election Office Gale Roberts reported eight additional ballots in the total presented Dec. 17 to the City Council. They were not enough to change the outcome of the election. Mail ballots that were properly date stamped came in after the unofficial results were tallied Tuesday night and were added to the totals.
Overall, 227 votes were counted in the Place 1 Runoff Election. Mark Bradley received 102 votes and Julian 125 votes, giving Julian the seat with 55.07 percent of the ballots cast and Bradley 44.93 percent.
Only one vote separated the two candidates when the early voting numbers were in, with Bradley receiving 45 votes to Julian’s 46 votes.
On Election night, Bradley was reported to have 38 absentee votes; he picked up four of the additional absentee ballots that were marked with the proper time stamp but arrived after Tuesday. Julian was reported to have 54 absentee votes on Tuesday; the final count was 57 absentee ballots for Julian.
On Election Day, voters cast 15 ballots for Bradley and 22 for Julian. One additional vote was considered an “undervote.” This means a ballot was started but no choice was made in the race, according to the results released Thursday.
After the totals were approved by the council, Roberts administered the oath of office to Julian. He then attended a meeting at City Hall with J-B Weld officials regarding a planned expansion of the company and communication issues related to the business’ request for incentives from the EDC.
