An incumbent St. Martins alderman's name may not have been on Tuesday's ballot, but voters put him back in the seat with sufficient write-in numbers at the polls.
Cole County Clerk Steve Korsmeyer posted write-in results Wednesday for Tuesday's municipal elections.
No one had filed to run for the North Alderman position in St. Martins that had been held by Scott Amos. So voters were left with the option of writing in a candidate for the open spot.
The person receiving the most write-in votes was Scott Amos with 16. Others receiving votes were: Eugene Strobel, three votes; Rick Brondel, three votes; Joshua Bond, two votes; Buster Schrage, two votes; Johnny Bell, two votes; Robert Epperson, one vote; Cody Hills, one vote; Darrell Walker, one vote; and Douglas Ruediger, one vote.
Centertown also had an alderman position that was decided by write-in votes. No one had filed for a one-year seat on the board. Based on write-in votes, Travis Lepage won the seats with two votes.
There were three trustee seats with two-year terms on the ballot in Centertown, and the candidates for those were uncontested.
Adam Brown, who is the chairman of the board, won re-election after getting 19 votes (35.19 percent). Also winning re-election was Heather Hunger who got 17 votes (31.48 percent). City Clerk Debra Baker got 17 votes (31.48 percent). She filed for the position that was held by Celine Whitaker, who did not run for re-election.
For mayor of St. Martins, the only candidate to file was Daryl Raithel who got 91 votes (94.79 percent). Eugene Strobel stepped down after serving two terms as mayor. Laura Boeckmann filed for the South Alderman position and received 20 votes (95.24 percent). Keith Kliethermes moved outside the city limits so he could no longer serve on the board.
Most candidates running for positions on other county municipal boards were running for re-election to their current posts and were unopposed.
In Russellville, two incumbent aldermen filed for re-election. Ken Bishop filed for the West alderman post and got 27 votes (100 percent), and Sharon Williams filed for the East alderman seat and got 36 votes (100 percent).
In Wardsville, current Aldermen Bill Gratz received 123 votes (53.48 percent) and Rick Taube received 104 votes (45.22 percent). Both won re-election to the village's two open seats.
There was only one candidate running for the Russellville-Lohman Fire District Board of Directors. Melvin Stubinger, 359 votes (98.63 percent), will serve a six-year term.
For the one position on the Regional West Fire Protection District Board of Directors, Barry Lindenbusch, with 440 votes (66.87 percent), beat Gren Logan, with 214 votes (32.52 percent).
Lohman, St. Thomas and Taos did not hold municipal elections for openings on their respective boards because communities with a population of 2,000 or fewer can forgo non-partisan elections when the number of people who have filed is equal to the number of positions up for election if voters in those communities have adopted that practice.
Taos and Lohman will have to go back to their voters next year to see if they want to continue the practice. St. Thomas voters would have to decide in 2024.
In Lohman, incumbent Aldermen Patti Duncan and Shawn Higgins will serve again on the board. In St. Thomas, Debbie Buschjost and Darrel Buechter will serve again as aldermen.
In Taos, Wayne Thoenen will again serve in the Ward 1 alderman seat. Ronald Walker filed to serve in the Ward 2 post that was held by Travis Schaefer, who did not file for re-election.