GORDON, Ga. – Kyle Swicord is baffled.
First, he was told he had been elected to a seat on Gordon City Council last Tuesday night. Less than 24 hours later, he discovered such wasn’t the case and he had finished fourth in the vote count.
What he can’t figure out is how his closest challenger ended up with 16 more votes than what were supposedly counted on election night.
Cliff Worthy received 222 votes while the second highest number of votes were cast for Dawn Beck with 221 votes. Swicord was originally told he placed third in the vote tabulation with 201 votes.
Such is subject to change later today (Tuesday) when a recount takes place at the Wilkinson County Courthouse regarding the city election in Gordon a week ago. Swicord said he would definitely be among those in attendance.
“I was told last Tuesday evening, somewhere between the 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. range, that I was one of the top three successful candidates,” Swicord told The Union-Recorder.
The votes from the city election were tallied at the Wilkinson County Courthouse in Irwinton.
Swicord, who works with Georgia Power Company, said he assumed right then and there that he had been elected to Gordon City Council.
Kelly Chatman, who serves as elections supervisor with the Wilkinson County Board of Elections, reportedly announced the names of the top three vote getters in the city election via live-stream on social media.
“She stated that all votes had been counted and these were the unofficial results,” Swicord said.
He recalled that he had garnered a total of 201 votes.
Swicord said he, Worthy and Beck were thought to be the winners outright because they had the highest number of votes cast for them in the city council race.
It all changed dramatically the day after the election.
“I was contacted by an individual around…
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