WINDSOR – Two more candidates made it just before the Monday noon deadline in filing to be on the November election ballot according the Bertie County Board of Elections.

Powellsville farmer and businessman Kendred Clay (Kent) Williams filed for one of the two seats up for election for county Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor.  Williams will be facing incumbent supervisors James Pugh of Lewiston-Woodville and Robert Hoggard of Windsor.

Current Bertie County Board of Education chairwoman and District-3 representative Emma Johnson went from no opposition five days ago to now facing a couple of challengers in a three-way race for her seat.

William P. (Bill) Harrell, Jr. of Colerain beat the deadline as a last-minute Monday filer for the District-3 seat.  In addition to incumbent Johnson, Niki Ruffin of Hexlena tossed her hat into the ring on Thursday July 3 for a chance at the seat.

All three Bertie County Board of Education seats up for election this November will be contested.

Incumbent Ricky Freeman, who had hinted that he might not seek another term on the school board, filed on July 1 to run again in November as the board’s representative for District-2.

Freeman, who resides on Cooper Hill Road, will be opposed for the District-2 seat by Carolyn “Jo” Davis Johnson, a former educator from Merry Hill.  Johnson filed to run one day prior to Freeman’s filing.

Earlier in June, three candidates filed for the school board seat for District 4, including incumbent Alton Parker.  The other two candidates who will oppose him are former Bertie High School football coach Clarence B. “Barry” McGlone and Bryan Akeem Ruffin.  Both the opposition candidates hail from Lewiston-Woodville while Parker is from Kelford.

There will also be a contested Board of Commissioners race in November.

Stewart White met the June 27 deadline to have his name printed on the November 3 General Election ballot as an unaffiliated candidate by submitting the required number of petitions to the county Board of Elections office.

This means White will oppose Democratic May primary winner, John H. “Johnny” Davis, for the District-2 seat currently held by Rick Harrell, who chose not to seek another term in office.

Back on May 6, Davis won over Democrat challenger, Rev. James Clemons in a three-way race with 1,604 votes to 1,227 for Clemons and incumbent Harrell receiving 536 votes.

According to Bertie County Board of Elections Director, Sheila Holloman, there is only one alternative left for anyone seeking county office to be included in the November election: a blank spot on the ballot for a write-in candidate.

A person seeking to become a write-in candidate must submit a petition signed by a number of qualified voters, depending on how many registered voters are eligible to vote for said county office. If there are 5,000 or more such voters, the requirement is 100 signatures. If there are fewer than 5,000 such voters, the requirement is signatures totaling one percent of the number of registered voters eligible to vote for the office. The petitions are submitted to the Board of Elections office for verification. The petition forms and a declaration of intent form are due at the Board of Elections office by noon on Wednesday, Aug. 6.

If the write-in candidate has complied and has timely submitted the required number of verified signatures, the candidate will be certified as a write-in candidate by elections office that is the final destination for the petition forms and other documents.