Sunday, June 4, 2023
By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice on May 18, 2022
Aside from being Primary Election Day, Tuesday May 17 was also the deadline for two unaffiliated Dare County Board of Education hopefuls to submit enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. It may take several weeks before we know the answer.
Kitty Hawk resident Marie Russell is seeking to run for the District 3 seat on the Dare Board of Education while Colington resident Jessica Fearns is hoping to compete for the District 2 seat. The two have also combined forces and campaigned as a team.
In order to get on the November ballot, Russell and Fearns each had to collect the signatures of about 1,200 registered voters. Fearns told the Voice that she has turned in 210 signatures more than the 1,223 she needed, and Russell reported that she has submitted about 80 more signatures than the 1,215 she needed.
Now the matter is in the hands of Dare County elections officials and according to Elections Director Jackie Tillett, they officially have until June 20 to complete the verification of signatures and reveal the fate of the Russell and Fearns candidacies. In a brief interview with the Voice, Tillett suggested the process might be over before June 20, but would not begin until after the May 27 canvass of primary election results.
SEE ASLO: Dare Ed Board hopefuls battle for the ballot
Comments
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Justin
Just throwing this out there, but they struggled to get signatures and I know more than a few that signed, but will never vote for them. They’re wasting their time.
Breynn
Well Justin, it’s not your time they are waiting and kudos to them! People need to learn how leveraged politics is. The only way is for them to go through the process. I would have signed but they never asked me. 🤷♀️ Some where along the line leaders need to be picked because of their qualifications. Not their last name, heritage, who their married to or how much money they have. Leaders need to be put in because people respect them and want to follow them. The problem is most good leaders would never run and would never be restricted by the politics.