Hartwell Council calls for special election to fill Ethridge’s seat

The Hartwell Mayor and Council have called for an election to fill the seat vacated due to the untimely death of Councilman Billy Ethridge. The election will be held March 19. Qualifying will take place Jan. 28-30 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, and 9 a.m. until noon on Wednesday at the Hart County Board of Elections Office located at 182 Cade St.

City Manager David Aldrich talks about the city calling for the election.

“We are following state election law. When you lose a council member, there are four times a year you can hold special elections. The first one up for us now ends up being in March. We have approved a resolution so now we are moving forward with a March election,” said Aldrich.

Alrdich said the city uses the county’s election office for their elections as well.

“We will be utilizing the Hart County Board of Elections to handle that for us. Robin Webb and her group does a great job,” said Aldrich.

Aldrich then talks about the process mandated by the state to hold an election.

“Most people do not realize these dates and times and all the things we do with that are not just arbitrarily chosen. Basically, state law prescribes when you do it. They won’t necessarily say a date but it will be ’30 days prior to so-and-so’ you do something or it might be 60 days prior, so there are a lot of pieces of the puzzle that have to be put in place,” said Aldrich.

Two candidates, Erin Fleming Gaines and Patrick Cuarnella have announced their intentions to run for the vacant seat.

The deadline to register to vote in the municipal election will be Feb. 19.