Nicholas LilliosCLEVELAND, Tenn. - Businessman Nicholas Lillios ultimately defeated Melvin "Teddy" Bryson in a neck-and-neck race for the Bradley County Board of Education District 3 seat.
The contest between Lillios and Bryson, a longtime educator, ended with a cliffhanger on last Thursday's election night: Lillios led Bryson by one vote, but three provisional ballots that affected this race remained to be tallied.
Those provisional ballots were issued because the voters did not present valid photo IDs at the time they cast their votes. The voters had until this evening to present proper identification to ensure their votes were counted.
Two of the three provisional ballots were discarded because of missing information, and the remaining one, which was validated, was cast for Lillios, according to the election coommission.
Lillios will replace David Kelley, who did not seek re-election to the District 3 seat.
Bradley County school board members earn $2,400 annually; the chairperson earns $3,600.
There were six total provisional ballots throughout Bradley County, but in no other race was the outcome affected.
For complete details, see tomorrow's Chattanooga Times Free Press.