Three more votes.
On a night when only two of the eight contested Forrest County Primary races were forced into the Aug. 27 runoff, three more votes would have decided a winner. In that District 3 Supervisors race, the only two Republican candidates – incumbent Burkett Ross and challenger Steve Stringer – failed to win a majority of the total votes.
Ross had 2,205 votes of the 4,411 total for 49.99 percent of the vote. Stringer tallied 2,198 votes for 49.83 percent of the vote. However, the eight write-in votes accounted for .18 percent, sending the two-man race into the runoffs.
Three more votes.
To win the Primary Election outright and advance to the Nov. 5 General Election, a candidate needs 50 percent of the total, plus one vote.
If Ross had been able to get one more vote, he would have had 2,206 of the total 4,412 votes, or 50 percent, still not enough to win the primary. If there were seven write-in votes instead of eight, Ross would have counted 2,205 of the total 4,410 votes, or again exactly 50 percent – one vote short.
Three more votes for Ross would have pushed the incumbent to 2,208 of 4,414 votes, or 50 percent, plus the one vote over the majority.
The other hotly-contested race in Forrest County that will go to the Aug. 27 runoff is the Republican election for sheriff. In the three-man race, David Bassett will face Charlie Sims to advance to the General Election. Bassett won 5,786 votes of the 10,766 total for 49.52 percent, while Sims had 5,580 votes, or 47.91 percent.
Nick Calico finished third with 286 votes, or 2.46 percent.