Provisional ballots to not affect Wilson County Primary Election

Abbey Nutter, The Lebanon Democrat, Tenn.
Updated ·2 min read

Mar. 13—Even after the polls closed on Super Tuesday, the Wilson County Election Commission still had work ahead of it.

On Monday, the 23 provisional ballots submitted during the election were reviewed by the provisional counting board.

"There were five that were counted," Wilson County Administrator of Elections Tammy Smith said. "There was one (that submitted a ballot) in the Lebanon Special School District (race) and the vote totals did not change."

Now, the election commission is waiting for the unofficial results to be certified on March 20, when they will become official.

The Lebanon Special School District Board of Education race was close, with 1,771 votes cast for Heather Sadler Gallaher (R) and 1,767 votes cast for Dusty Jones (R).

"There is no provision for recounts in Tennessee, so we'll certify on March 20," Smith said.

According to Smith, the reason behind most provisional ballots not counting was due to the voter not registering to vote in time for the election. Because of this, the provisional ballots will not affect the outcome of the primary election in Wilson County.

Out of the county's 102,192 registered voters, 18,759 cast ballots during the primary election. Of those, 12,452 voted for Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary. Joe Biden won the Democratic primary election, with 1,986 votes.

Outside of the presidential candidate primary elections, voters also cast ballots in Republican and Democrat races for the Wilson County School Board.

Gregory Hohman won the Zone 1 Republican candidate race with 1,608 votes. While no Democratic candidate qualified, when the school board race appears on the ballot in August, there will also be an independent candidate.

Melissa Walker Lynn won the Republican Zone 3 race with 1,435 votes. No Democratic candidate qualified.

Donnie Self won the Zone 5 Republican race with 1,512 votes and Brittany Ash won the Democratic race with 234 votes.

Jamie Farough won the Zone 7 Republican race with 1,329 votes. No Democratic candidate qualified for the election.

One Republican candidate and one Democrat candidate ran for Wilson County's Assessor of Property. Derrick Hammond (D) received 1,895 votes, and Stephen Goodall (R) received 13,966 votes. The two will face each other in the August election.