Runoff set for Canton special election

The Special Election for Canton's Ward 5 Alderman seat is headed to a runoff after an extremely low turnout in Tuesday's initial vote.

Just 7.3 percent of the 3,102 registered voters in Ward 5 turned out to vote.

John Brown and Timothy Taylor, both Democrats, will be on the ballot again when voters go back to the polls, although it is unclear when the vote will take place.

Canton City Clerk John Carroll was not in the office Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.

A City Hall receptionist did not know when Carroll would return and did not know if a date had been set for the runoff.

Brown received 86 votes, the most of any of the four candidates. Taylor received 70, with Laura Elaine Blair garnering 54 votes and Terri Robinson-Rogers receiving 17.

The runoff will close the book on a dark chapter in Canton's history. The open seat was vacated by Vickie McNeil, who resigned as part of a plea deal after she was charged with witness intimidation stemming from a voter fraud case in the 2015 municipal elections that also forced the resignation of Ward 5 Alderman Andrew Grant.

Retired UMMC employee Lafayette Wales won the special election to fill Grant's seat earlier this month.