The Linden City Council unanimously approved the official results of Linden’s Aug. 26 city elections. City administrator Cheryl C. Hall provided the council with final official results at its meeting yesterday.

The council decided to make its election certification meeting at 11 a.m. replace its usual council meeting and did not meet at 6 p.m. The next Linden City Council meeting will be on Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. at Linden City Hall.

Hall presented the council with resolutions authorizing the city elections. According to the resolution, the final official results from the Linden city election were:

Mayor: Mitzi Gates 436, Charles Moore 391.

Linden City Council District 1: Dennis Breckenridge 112, Melody Trice 27.

Linden City Council District 2: Mike Carlisle 80, Rex Vaughn 61.

Linden City Council District 3: Richard Lankster 94, William Curry 85.

Hall also presented the council with resolutions authorizing Neal Jackson, who ran unopposed, to represent District 4 on the council and for Jan Cannon, who ran unopposed, to represent District 5.

Hall said that the discrepancy between the totals given on election night and the official totals given yesterday were brought about by clerical errors. Also, four provisional ballots were not counted for various reasons dealing with the requirements for those ballots.

Hall said that this was her fourth municipal election, and it ran fairly smoothly.

“We start the process in November, she said, “in case the council wanted to propose a salary change. That has to take place at least six months prior to the election.”

One difference that stood out to Hall was the number of absentee ballots used this time.

“We had 130 absentee ballots for the City of Linden,” she said. “We only had 70 in the last election.”

Absentee ballots made the difference in the District 3 race, as Lankster received 26 absentee votes to Curry’s five. In the mayoral race, Moore also had an overwhelming absentee advantage, 94 to Gates’ 22, not deciding the race, but making it closer.

Mayor-elect Gates and the city council will be sworn in on Monday, Nov. 2, with their first official meeting taking place the following day, Nov. 3.

In other Linden City Council action:

The council approved a $2,400 benefit for city and utility retirees. Retirees will be given $12 for each year of service, and will receive the first payment during the second week of December.

The council decided to have a budget work session on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 6 p.m.

Demopolis election canvass

The Demopolis City Council held a specially-called meeting yesterday at 10 a.m. to certify last week’s election results.

According to Demopolis city clerk Paula Byrd, there were no changes from the numbers announced last week to the official result approved by the council. The final official tallies for the City of Demopolis elections were:

Mayor: Mike Grayson 1,515, Cecil P. Williamson 884.

Demopolis City Council District 1: Thomas O. Moore 277, Dexter Jones 127.

Demopolis City Council District 2: Charles E. Jones Jr. 183, Mitchell Congress 148, Alex J. Roberson 105. There will be a runoff election on Oct. 7 to determine the representative of District 2.

Demopolis City Council District 3: Melvin Yelverton 195, Ronnie L. Byrd 115.

Demopolis City Council District 4: Bill Meador Jr. 479, Jeremiah Dial 72.

Some 131 absentee ballots were cast in Demopolis, but did not make a difference in any race. In the mayoral race, Grayson had 71 absentee votes to Williamson’s 58, while in the City Council races, Moore had 18 to Dexter Jones’ one in District 1, Roberson had 15 absentee votes to Charles Jones Jr.’s five and Congress’s four in District 2, Byrd had 27 absentee votes o Yelverton’s nine in District 3, and Meador had 19 absentee votes to Dial’s 1 in District 4.

Mayor-elect Grayson and Demopolis City Council members will be sworn in on Tuesday, Nov. 3, in a specially-called meeting.

In other Demopolis city action, the Demopolis board of adjustments postponed its meeting last night after a quorum was not reached. The board will meet today (Wednesday) at 5:15 p.m. at Rooster Hall.

According to state law, the council must canvass the election results before Sept. 2 at noon. If a candidate receives a majority of the votes cast for office, the council issues a certificate of election. If no candidate receives a majority, the council must order a runoff election, as in the case with Demopolis’s District 2 or the Myrtlewood mayoral election.

The runoff election will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 7. The councils will then canvass that election before Tuesday, Oct. 14, at noon.