TC sets runoff election for Place 5 on Board of Trustees

For more information please contact:

 Suzy Irwin
Director of Institutional Advancement, Texarkana College
(903) 823-3095
Suzanne.irwin@texarkanacollege.edu

A special runoff election for Texarkana College’s Board of Trustees Place 5 position, at-large, will be held Tuesday, December 9, 2014.  The runoff is between Kaye Ellison and Melvin Banks, who both ran on the general election ballot on Nov. 4 along with Dr. C. Jack Smith. The election results did not show one candidate earning more than 50 percent of the votes, which is required to show a clear winner. Complete but unofficial results from election night showed Kaye Ellison 7,749 votes (49.31 %), Melvin Banks 4,796 votes (30.52%), and Dr. C. Jack Smith 3,169 votes (20.17%).

As part of the commitment made to Bowie County citizens during the annexation election in 2012, the Texarkana College Board of Trustees restructured to provide better representation from the new college district which includes all of Bowie County.  Through the restructuring process, all trustee seats were put up for election and the number of board members was decreased from nine to seven, with four members to be elected from the four Bowie County commissioner precincts, and three members at large.  For six of the seven places, only one candidate filed for office and for Place 5 (at-large), three candidates filed for office. During the recent general election, the three candidates’ names were listed on all Bowie County ballots. Because no candidate received a majority of the votes, a special runoff election will be held. Once elected, the trustee will serve a six-year term of office.

Leading up to the runoff election, The TC Board met, to order the election and conduct a ballot position drawing. Once the ballot is set, early voting by personal appearance will take place at Bowie County Courthouse and Bi State Justice Building from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning on Monday, Dec. 1, 2014 and ending on Friday, Dec. 5, 2014.

On Election Day, Dec. 9, 2014, registered voters of the Texarkana College District in Bowie County, Texas can cast their ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at their appropriate precinct polling location. Polling locations have been consolidated for this special runoff election and are located as follows:

Polling Location	Precincts
Texarkana College Truman Arnold Student Center 2500 N. Robison Rd. Texarkana, TX 75599	1A / 1B / 2A / 2C / 2D / 3A / 3B / 4A / 4B / 4C / 4E / 5B
First Baptist Church 3015 Moores Lane Texarkana, TX 75501	5C / 6A / 6B / 10 / 11
Wake Village City Hall 624 Burma Road Wake Village, TX 75501	2B / 4D / 5A / 7 / 8A / 8B / 8C / 9 / 12 / 16
Bowie County Courthouse 710 James Bowie Drive New Boston, TX 75570	13 / 14 / 15 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 24 / 25 / 27 / 28 / 29

Anyone who previously applied for a mail-in ballot for the general election and checked “any resulting runoff” on the application for ballot by mail also will automatically receive a ballot to vote by mail. Applications for voting by mail must be submitted to Elections Administrator, 710 James Bowie Dr., New Boston, TX 75570-0248.  Applications for ballot by mail MUST BE received, not postmarked, by the Elections Administrator no later than 5 p.m., Wednesday, November 26, 2014.