Hotly contested EMC race is quickly drawing to a close

Absentee ballots in the historic election of directors for Grady Electric Membership Corporation must be received by the third-party vendor conducting the tabulation of absentee ballots by Monday, Oct. 16.
For the first time in the co-op’s history, directors can be voted on by EMC members not present at the annual membership meeting, which will be held Friday, Oct. 20 at Family Worship Center in Cairo.
Absentee ballots must be received by Survey & Ballot Systems, Inc. in Eden Prairie, MN by Oct. 16 to be included in the tabulation.
Grady EMC will host its 79th annual meeting once again at Family Worship Center, 1760 U.S. 84, on Friday, Oct. 20. Registration gets underway at 8 a.m. and members who do not vote absentee will be allowed to vote in person on Oct. 20. The business meeting is tentatively scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., but could be delayed to allow all members present time to vote.
Candidates in the District 3 race are incumbent Lamar Carlton, B. Hestell Donaldson and Richard R. Smith, all of Thomas County. The District 6 race includes incumbent Robert E. Lee and challenger Gordon Clyatt, both of Grady County.
Last year, the bylaws of the EMC were amended by the membership to allow absentee voting.
SBS Inc. will transmit the results of the absentee balloting and an electronic list of all members who voted absentee to the EMC no later than 4 p.m. on Oct. 19.
According to EMC officials, the results will be locked away in a lock box along with ballots that are dropped off in advance to the EMC headquarters and unsealed by Election’s Committee Chairman Gus Mango at the conclusion of balloting on Friday, Oct. 20.