Lecompton council election ends in tie for final seat
Lecompton ? Voters Tuesday decided the outcome in two City Council seats, but there was a tie for the third seat.
Chuck Folks picked up the most votes of the four candidates vying for the council with 50, according to unofficial tallies from the Douglas County Clerk’s Office. Jennifer Jones was second with 44. Both will be on the Lecompton City Council for two-year terms.
The remaining two candidates, Ed Smith and Leah Ann Nichols, both tied with 31 votes.
There are five provisional ballots still to be counted, and they will be opened at 9 a.m. Friday in the Douglas County Commission chambers.
If the provisional ballots fail to produce a winner among Smith and Nichols, county commissioners will have to decide the outcome by drawing lots. That could mean flipping a coin or some other method of their choice, County Clerk Patty Jaimes said.
Folks and Jones will replace Cynthia Treaster and Marsha Paslay on the council. Paslay, who plans to leave the council, received two write-in votes, according to the clerk’s office. Another write-in vote went to Brad Colletta.
Smith was up for re-election after taking a vacant council position a year ago amid controversy.
In April 2003, Smith was defeated in the Lecompton mayoral race by Roy Paslay. Before Paslay could take office, Councilman Nick Fergus resigned, and Smith, still acting as mayor, appointed himself to replace Fergus. City Atty. Larry Hendricks determined that the move by Smith was legal.