Pikeville ballot loaded for Saturday election

A volunteer hands out stickers to voters in Carson City, Nev., on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014. Nevada voters may be going to the polls in record low numbers. The Secretary of State reported that as of 3:30 p.m., almost 430,000 ballots had been cast in Tuesday's election. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)
A volunteer hands out stickers to voters in Carson City, Nev., on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014. Nevada voters may be going to the polls in record low numbers. The Secretary of State reported that as of 3:30 p.m., almost 430,000 ballots had been cast in Tuesday's election. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)

Pikeville's city election on Saturday will be a two-man showdown for mayor and a nine-way battle for four open alderman seats. It's also the first election in Bledsoe County to allow nonresident property rights voters to cast ballots.

Saturday's fair and sunny forecast might improve voter turnout, but early voting numbers were down from the last city election, according to Bledsoe County Administrator of Elections Lisa Wheeler.

Election day

Polls will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST on the ground floor of the Bledsoe County Courthouse on Main Street in Pikeville, Tenn.

"We had 156 that voted early this time, including paper ballots," Wheeler said. "We voted 200 last time."

Wheeler said the U.S. presidential race and terrorist attacks in France might be distracting voters.

Alderman Ray Evans is not running to keep his seat but incumbents Senia Anderson, now vice mayor, and Aldermen William A. "Bill" Swearengen and Walter Reed Sells are seeking to retain their seats, along with current Mayor Phillip W. Cagle.

Cagle was appointed to fulfill more than three years of former Mayor Greg Johnson's term in 2012, after Johnson was arrested by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on official misconduct and felony theft charges.

Challengers Rachel N. Bruning, Jerry D. Hankins, Jane R. Humble, Cynthia L. Nipper, Randy A. Sharp and Ronald Dale Wheeler are vying to take the seats held by Anderson, Sells and Swearengen.

In the mayor's race, Cagle, a local businessman, is challenged for the mayor's seat by architect Benjamin B. Farmer. Pikeville's mayor is a full-time position.

Cagle ran for alderman in the 2011 city election and was highest vote-getter. Under the city charter, the highest vote-getter can be appointed to fill vacancies, election officials said.

Wheeler said voters have a solid crop of candidates to choose from Saturday.

"One good thing about this election is whoever gets it is going to do a good job," Wheeler said. "They're all outstanding candidates. They all have something to bring to the table."

Saturday's election is the first since the Tennessee General Assembly approved an act allowing people who own property in Pikeville to cast ballots in city elections.

"People who are registered voters in the county can register in the city to vote if they own property in the city," Wheeler said. Anyone with questions should contact the Election Commission office at 423-447-2776.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben. benton1 or 423-757-6569.

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