Opelika council approves resolution canvassing Aug. 26 municipal election, directs certificates of election

The Opelika City Council at a special meeting approved a resolution canvassing the Aug. 26 municipal election results and directed the mayor to issue certificates of election, the council said during a review of provisional ballots.

Council members reviewed provisional ballots in public, placing each provisional into a “count” or “don’t count” pile before matching accepted provisional ballots to the official vote boxes. A board of registrars representative summarized the provisional process: "Provisional votes are votes that [a] voter goes to the poll or the absentee ballot box and they — they're not on the list or whatever ... and the board of registrars determines whether they're actually entitled to vote," the representative said during the meeting.

The council confirmed 10 provisional ballots for inclusion in the official totals after staff opened sealed envelopes, examined secrecy envelopes and matched names in the sealed vote boxes. After reconciling the provisional ballots with the boxes, the council considered a written resolution that incorporated those provisional votes and declared the winners for mayor and council places.

The resolution, as read at the meeting, declares Eddie Smith the winner for mayor and directs the mayor to issue certificates of election. It also declares winners for council places and directs the mayor to issue certificates to them by name: George Allen (place not specified in the resolution text as read), Janotica Hughley Holmes (place 2), Lee Whatley (place 3), Chuck Beams (place 4) and Todd Rauch (place 5). The resolution further directs the city clerk to publish a copy of the resolution one time in the Opelika Observer.

A motion to approve the resolution carried on a roll call of "aye" votes. The meeting record shows the vote recorded as "Aye" by the council; the resolution was approved and the mayor was directed to issue certificates of election.

Council members had asked staff to mark provisionals as they were read and to keep the envelopes sealed except when needed for matching; staff opened only the accepted provisionals for tallying and then returned envelopes per the canvass procedure. The meeting concluded after the council approved the resolution and voted to adjourn.

The canvass was limited to the procedural review of provisional ballots and formal adoption of the written canvass resolution; no recount requests or bond postings were made at the meeting. A separate comment during the meeting noted that candidates have 48 hours from an official canvass to request a recount and that a bond must be posted to seek a recount, but no formal recount request was filed at this session.