Andalusia City Council certifies August election after counting provisional ballots

The Andalusia City Council on Sept. 2 voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 2025-29, canvassing and certifying the results of the August municipal election after opening and counting 22 provisional ballots.

City Administrator said the council would unseal the provisional ballot box and follow instructions from the registrar about which provisional ballots to count. “We are going to unseal the provisional ballot box,” the city administrator said, and recognized Ginny Pitts, the chief inspector, for her work at the polls.

The registrar instructed the council to count two provisional ballots that had been missing voter update cards; the registrar confirmed the voters lived inside the city limits and that their ballots should be included. After counting, the administrator reported the provisional totals: Don Cotton received 8 provisional votes and Earl Johnson received 13 provisional votes; the administrator reported the updated grand totals in the resolution as Cotton 808, Craig 52 and Johnson 1,056. The administrator also provided district-level changes (examples: District 2 totals for Mount 194 and Winkler 90; District 3 totals for Craig 129 and Taylor 93; District 4 changes included provisional votes for Boswell and Odom).

The certification did not change the overall outcome of the election, the administrator said, but confirmed runoffs remain required in District 1 (between Nixon Woods and another candidate) and in District 4 (between Basel and Palmer). A council member moved to approve the resolution; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

The council recorded thanks to poll workers and to Chief Inspector Ginny Pitts for administering the election. The certification completes the city’s canvass process for the August election.

The council then proceeded to other business on the agenda.