Write-ins emerge to take on Foster, Coram in November

Two local residents have emerged as challengers in elections that seemed, after the March Democratic primary, to be all but over.

Wayne County Board of Elections officials confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Tina Arnder and Kenneth Coley have fulfilled the requirements necessary to run write-in campaigns for the Register of Deeds and County Commissioners District 3 races, respectively.

Arnder, who is currently an assistant in the Register of Deeds Office, will oppose Constance Coram, who defeated incumbent Judy Harrison in the primary.

Coley will run against former Goldsboro City Councilman and mayoral candidate Bevan Foster, who is coming off victories both in the primary and, most recently, in a protest filed against him after he won the Democratic race for the commissioners’ District 3 seat.

Anne Risku, the county’s director of elections, said Arnder and Coley both garnered enough signatures — and possessed the proper qualifications — to run in November, but as write-in candidates, their names won’t be on the ballot.

That means in order to cast a vote for one of them, voters will need to “fill in the oval” and the candidate’s name, she said.

“Write-in campaigns are all about voter education,” Risku said.

And what if the name isn’t spelled correctly? The Board of Elections will rule on the “intent” of the voter.

Because of that, however, after the votes are tallied on Election Day, the races are only over if the candidates on the ballot have the most votes. If the “write-in” line wins, the results won’t be known until the canvass two weeks later.

The deadline to file as a write-in candidate was Wednesday at noon.