Election turnout hits 695 with 45 minutes left in the day

By CHARLES RICHARDS

eParisExtra.com

In the final hour of voting Saturday, the voter turnout for the runoff election between Dr. AJ Hashmi and Rhonda Rogers surpassed the vote total for the District 7  primary race on May 14.

By 6:15 p.m. Saturday, 195 people had voted, sending the election total to 795. That compares to 793 people who voted in May when Hashmi led with 283 votes (41.2 percent) to 242 (35.2 percent) for Rogers and 162 (23.6 percent) for Kenneth Kohls.

Forty-five minutes remained before the polls were to close at 7 p.m.

The early vote results will be released shortly after 7 p.m., followed by the complete results about 30 minutes later.

Election Day Update: 145 votes cast by 2:30 p.m. today, raising total to 645

By CHARLES RICHARDS

eParisExtra.com

With four and a half hours remaining before the polls close at 7 p.m., the voter turnout for the runoff election between Dr. AJ Hashmi and Rhonda Rogers for the District 7 seat on the Paris City Council stands at 645.

That’s just 47 votes short of the number of votes in the May 14 primary, so it appears likely that more people will vote in the runoff than in the primary.

Election administrator Russ Tower said this afternoon that 22 ballots had been received by mail, raising the early vote for today’s election to an even 500.  There were 403 early votes in the May primary.

About 20 voters an hour are showing up for Hashmi-Rogers runoff

Election Day is here — Hashmi and Rogers await verdict in District 7 city council seat

By CHARLES RICHARDS

eParisExtra.com

About halfway through the day, turnout is averaging about 20 voters an hour in the runoff election between Dr. AJ Hashmi and Rhonda Rogers for the District 7 seat on the Paris City Council.

After a campaign that began more than four months ago, the District 7 seat on the Paris City Council will be decided today.

By 9:30 a.m. Saturday — two and a half hours into Election — 33 people had voted. Today’s total had risen to 60 by 10:30 a.m., to 86 by 11:30 a.m., and to 97 by noon.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. at Ramseur Baptist Church, 3400 Lamar Road, and were to remain open until 7 p.m. Anyone in line at 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote. Any registered voter of District 7 is eligible, whether or not they voted in the May 14 primary.

In the May primary, there were 379 people voting during the seven days of early voting; 24 voting by mail; and 289 voting on Election Day, for a total of 692 votes from voters in District 7.

In the runoff, there were 99 more participating in early voting (478). The results of the early vote plus the results of any mail-in votes will be released immediately after the polls at Ramseur Baptist close at 7 p.m.

The runoff was necessitated because no one got a clear majority in the May 14 primary that also involved former councilman Kenneth Kohls.

Hashmi led the May 14 voting with 283 (41.2 percent), followed by Rogers with 242 (35.2 percent) and Kohls 162 (23.6 percent).

Rogers argued that she has done a good job and should be returned to office to complete several matters of unfinished business – headed by the need to select a city manager – where she says her experience is crucial.

Hashmi said the purpose of his campaign was to empower the citizens and involve them in the community and in city government affairs.

Rogers came to Paris with her family when she was 9. Hashmi was brought here in 2006 to improve cardiology care at Paris Regional Medical Center.

New councilmen for two other districts already have been sworn into office – Dr. Richard Grossnickle, who defeated Jeff Higgins for the District 4 seat vacated by Steve Brown; and Matt Frierson, who ran unopposed for the District 5 seat given up by Will Biard.

The city council will meet in special session on Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m. to canvass the results and declare the District 7 winner.

The winner won’t be sworn in until the next regular council meeting, which is scheduled for Monday, June 27. That’s also the night that the full council will elect from its members a mayor and mayor pro-tem for the 2011-2012 term.

Both sides were trying to get “their” voters out – plus woo Kohl’s supporters. Kohl threw his support to Hashmi a couple of weeks into the runoff and urged those who voted for him to vote for Hashmi.

On election day, May 14, 289 votes were cast, and another 24 votes were received by mail.

Saturday night, elections administrator Russ Towers will announce the result of the early vote shortly after polls close at 7 p.m. That tally will be reported immediately on www.eParisExtra.com.

Towers will also release the results of any ballots completed by mail.

After polls close at Ramseur Baptist Church, District 7 election officials will extract an electronic chip from the voting machine and will deliver it to Towers at the Lamar County Courthouse Annex, in the 200 block of Lamar Avenue.

Towers will have the final election results within moments after that. Again, go to www.eParisExtra.com to get the final returns as soon as they are available.

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Paris Municipal Band plays on … even without lights … for awhile

Texas’ oldest continuous municipal band entertains residents Friday night

The Paris Municipal Band played a concert shortened by about 15 minutes because of diminished light at the Pavilion adjacent to the Love Civic Center. The first 25 minutes, there was no light at all and the sun had just gone down, and band director Tom Neugent said the band would play as long as they had light to see. Then a City of Paris truck arrived and a city employee did whatever it took, and the lights suddenly were on. Because it takes a while for the lights to reach full intensity, the band still had to cut their performance short. The band closed with its traditional closing song, “I Love Paris” — just earlier than usual.  (Photo by Charles Richards, eParisExtra.com)