BUCKHANNON — On June 15ᵗʰ, Councilman CJ Rylands won re-election, after a near defeat by his opponent Shelia Sines. After an Election Night tie, Rylands managed to win by just 6 votes. Councilman Rylands obtained 437 votes, while Sines received 431 votes.
Rylands actually had a mediocre performance with Election Day and Early Voters, but was able to garner most of his support from absentee ballot voters.
Sines placed first with Election Day voters and third with Early Voters. Rylands placed fourth with both groups. On Election Day, Rylands received 74 votes, while Sines received 135. With Early Voters, Rylands obtained just 59 voters, while Sines received 77.
Following the tie on Election Night, Upshur County Clerk Carol Smith confirmed to Mountaineer Journal that there were 8 provisional ballots, with 21 absentee ballots that were received by mail, postmarked by June 9ᵗʰ. These additional ballots were tabulated during the June 15ᵗʰ canvassing.
Rylands received 13 Election Day absentee ballot voters, while Sines received only 4 Election Day absentee ballot voters.
There were 15 total provisional ballots, with 8 being approved. Rylands gained only 1 provisional ballot voter, and Sines gained 4 provisional ballot voters.
Rylands managed to capture 303 absentee ballot voters, while Sines obtained 215. This strong performance with absentee ballot voters gave Rylands the significant boost that he needed to win the election.