Published: May 13, 2008 11:27 am            

Arrington wins Drainage District Precinct 2 seat

A discrepancy pertaining to the residence of an election race winner on Saturday was cause for concern for a brief period Monday.

An issue in the race for the Orange County Drainage District Precinct 2 seat arose early Monday, but has since been dismissed following J.B. Arrington’s victory over incumbent James “Pete” Bean by a vote of 418 to 399 on Saturday.

According to Arrington’s original voter registration information, his residence is located inside Precinct 4. A requirement to run for any drainage district office is the candidate must reside within the Precinct he wishes to oversee.

According Wilbert Duhon, Orange County Drainage District general manager, the matter was turned over for clarification early Monday but has since been resolved.

“From what we have been able to determine, everything is fine now,” Duhon said during a telephone interview Monday afternoon. “Mr. Arrington had previously signed an affidavit which stated his residence was now in Precinct 2, and our attorneys spoke with people in Austin (Monday) about this matter. Everything is OK as far as they are concerned, and, now, so are we.”

Duhon said the drainage district attorneys initially decided it was best to get clarification on this subject before canvassing the election results and making Arrington’s victory official.

“Although Mr. Arrington said he currently lives in Precinct 2, he was registered to vote at box 30 in Precinct 4, according to his voter registration information,” Duhon said. “He did tell the (election clerks) Saturday that he does now live at a different address than what was on his registration card, but that won’t officially change his registration information for 30 days.”

Duhon said Arrington has been registered in Precinct 4 since 2002, and the Orange Leader confirmed Arrington voted during Saturday’s election in Precinct 4, despite being a candidate in Precinct 2.

A regularly scheduled meeting will take place at 10 a.m., today, at the Orange County Drainage District office, which is located at 8081 Old Highway 90 near State Highway 62.



Reach this reporter at 409-883-3571, Ext. 2619 or tmann@orangeleader.com

        

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