MUSCOGEE COUNTY, GA (WTVM) -
The polls are closed, but two men, Bill Thrower and Buddy Bryan, both vying to be the Muscogee County coroner, are still hard at work.
"We made a little simple mistake, and now, instead of just going straight Democrat, which I would have been that, I have to go out and collect these signatures," said Thrower.
Even though his name was on the ballot, votes for Thrower, the current coroner, did not count. After the ballots were already printed, he was disqualified from the race because of a bounced check for his qualifying fee.
Officials say by next Monday August 6, he has to collect 5,915 signatures from registered voters in Columbus to qualify as an independent candidate.
"I've talked with a lot of people today and have gotten signatures on my petition today from people who actually voted for me last night and told me why they voted for me," Thrower said. "That I have been doing a good job for 10 years and they saw no reason to change that."
Now, coroner candidate Buddy Bryan will represent the Democratic Party in November. Bryan says he is not focusing on what Thrower is doing.
"I was running my campaign for me. I was not running against him. I'm not going to comment on what he is doing," said Bryan.
He says he is only concentrating on his campaign and the general election in November.
"Well, I am the only qualified candidate that's going to be on the November ballot at this time. I'm unopposed. So, my campaign will continue to go in a positive manner and that's the way I've tried to keep it the whole time," said Bryan.
Thrower says he has at least 4,000 signatures so far. Officials say by August 3 at noon, he must pay a $1800 qualifying fee and turn in a declaration of intent to run as an independent candidate.
As for Bryan, he says he'll stay on track with his campaign even if Thrower goes back on the ballot.
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