Terry County votes with nation

Published November 07, 2012 2:58am by Brian Brisendine

Problems with Terry County’s lone vote counting machine led to a late night for poll watchers on Election Day 2012, but a trio of locally contested races were decided early Wednesday morning.
Polling totals provided by County Clerk Kim Carter showed 3,755 Terry County residents cast a ballot in this year’s election, highlighted by the race for the White House, which saw President Barack Obama (D) re-elected over challenger Mitt Romney (R) who conceded in a brief speech in the middle of the night Wednesday.
Terry County’s voter turnout amounted to more than 50 percent of registered voters.
Locally, Sheriff Larry Gilbreath was given another term by large margins over challenger Albert Flores.
In the race for County Attorney, political newcomer Jo’Shae Ferguson-Worley bested incumbent Ramon Gallegos by an almost 2-1 margin.
In the contest for Precinct 3 County Commissioner, another newcomer, Cecil Castilleja narrowly defeated former commissioner Don Robertson.
In all three local races, the election day tally confirmed the leader in early voting figures.
Results were delayed by several hours after the close of polls Tuesday by a faulty sensor on the county’s only vote counting machine.
Carter said she couldn’t explain the machine’s problem because it was tested and confirmed as working properly just last week.
"I don’t know why it messed up, but I do know that the election went well because of our hard working election judges and ballot board.”
Full results of all races on the ballot are listed below.