Advance voting for the April 5 general election starts today.
Allen County Clerk Sherrie Riebel said voters could vote in her office or request a ballot to carry home, vote and then return in person or by mail. Ballots taken out of the office must be returned no later than when polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day, April 5.
The election is a historic one for Iolans. They will select members of the city’s first eight-member council and a mayor.
Also, three Allen County Community College trustees will be selected — or ratified since there are just three candidates for three positions — as will school board members in several positions. Voters in towns other than Iola will pick representatives to govern their communities.
For traditionalists, the polls will open at 7 a.m. on Election Day and remain open for 12 hours.
The upcoming election has caused some confusion, Riebel said, with boundaries in Iola being different for council and school board seats. Riebel has maps in her courthouse office that are helpful for voters. The Register also will publish maps showing council districts with stories about the candidates.
ALL 17 candidates for Iola’s new city council, as well as the three mayoral candidates, will be on hand for a candidate forum open house at Iola HIgh School March 29.
Iolan Jim Talkington will moderate the event, which begins at 6:15 p.m. at the IHS Lecture Hall.
Those with specific questions of the candidates should contact Talkington at 365-2042 (e-mail jimtalk@cox.net) or the Allen County Farm Bureau Association at 365-2172 (allenfb@kfb.org).
Those participating are: mayoral candidates Bill Shirley, Linda Sigg and John Smith; from Ward 1, Kendall Callahan, Steffen Centlivre, Nancy Ford and Scott Stewart; from Ward 2, Beverly Franklin, Melinda Luttrell, Dana Moodie and Joel Wicoff; from Ward 3, Donald Becker, Jim Kilby and Eugene Myrick; and from Ward 4, Steve French, Richard Gilliland, Jerod Kelley, Ken Rowe, Gary Wells and Jim West.
