Sheriff Ramsey Bennett ran unopposed in the general election last Tuesday, but for the first time in recent memory there was a sizable write-in vote.
Bennett received 8,325 votes in the general election and will begin serving a fourth term in office beginning in January.
But, there were 640 write in votes against the sheriff – or roughly seven percent of the total votes cast.
By contrast, the most write-ins for any other office on the ballot Tuesday was 48 for the seat held by State Senator Russ Goodman (R-Cogdell).
The write-ins were a symbolic protest vote since under state law they cannot be legally counted. No one qualified as an official write in candidate by the Sept. 3 deadline.
The Times has learned that the write in votes were not consolidated around any one candidate, but Blackshear Police Department Major Robby Boatright and former candidate and local private investigator Grady Wilson both received votes.
Bennett won the Republican nomination in the primary May 21, defeating Wilson.
Boatright had initially indicated he would seek the Republican nomination for sheriff in the May primary. Such a race would have set up a rematch of the Republican run-off election in 2020. Bennett won that race by only 141 votes out of 4,085 cast.
Forgoing the Republican primary, Boatright aimed to qualify as an Independent candidate in July to be placed on the general election ballot last Tuesday.
Boatright submitted enough signature petitions to qualify, but Elections Superintendent Leah Ritch and the Board of Elections determined Boatright’s petition had “material errors and defects” because electors who signed the petition in support of Boatright’s candidacy, also notarized the petition. Both are violations of state law. Boatright filed a lawsuit contending the notary issue did not constitute a material error and defect. In an August ruling, Waycross Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Kelly Brooks ruled in favor of Ritch and the Board of Elections and dismissed Boatright’s lawsuit.
Boatright then announced his intention to run as a write-in candidate.
However, Boatright missed the filing deadline to qualify to run as a write in candidate in September, ending his candidacy.
Bennett
Boatright
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