Ready or not, here they come! Candidates for Place 6 on the Port Aransas ISD Board of Trustees, Tanya Chambers and Rick Adams, enter the city council chambers at the start of Candidates’ Night on Thursday, April 29. The questions and their answers can be found on Page 9A. Place 5 candidates Rita Reed and Kelly Owens responded to questions in writing, and their answers are on Page 8A. Results of balloting in the Saturday, May 8, election for three positions, only two contested, on the Port Aransas ISD Board of Trustees will be available at the office and online.

Voting ends at 7 p.m., and returns are expected, at the earliest, by 7:30 p.m.

Voters may call the South Jetty office at 749-5131, stop by the office at 141 W. Cotter, or look to the Web site at www. portasouthjetty.com to access results free of charge.

“We’ll stay at the office until about 9 p.m. or until the calls stop coming,” said editor and co-publisher Mary Henkel Judson.

Voting Saturday will start at 7 a.m. at the Community Center, 408 N. Alister St.

On the ballot are Place 5 and 6 on the Port Aransas ISD Board of Trustees.

Place 5 incumbent Rita Reed has a challenger in Kelly Owens.

Place 6 incumbent Rick Adams is being challenged by Tanya Chambers.

Michele Lorette is unopposed in her bid for Place 4, being vacated by Ken Dunton.

At mid-day Tuesday, May 4, election judge Maudina Bomarito and her assistant, husband Joe Bomarito, said 282 had cast early ballots, which by the end of the early voting period was expected to put the total slightly ahead of last year when the ballot included one contested race for school board and one contested race for city council.

Elections for the city and water district were cancelled this year when all races were uncontested.

Last year, a total of 588 early voting and election-day ballots were cast. Of those, 283 voted early, 296 voted on election day, and nine ballots were returned by mail. The total voting amounted to 19 percent of the 3,075 registered voters.

By comparison, in 2008, the early voting tally was 563, and combined with election day ballots, a total of 981 voted. A contested mayoral race drew voters to the ballot box that year.

This year, voting Precinct 19 has 3,162 registered voters, most of whom are in the city limits of Port Aransas. The voting precinct extends outside the city limits and includes the school district boundary that goes as far south as Mustang Island State Park.