Thirty candidates have qualified to run for office in the upcoming city election, including three last-day entries yesterday.

Candidates had to qualify yesterday before 5 p.m. in order to run for city office.

Qualifying started two weeks prior, on July 6. According to Selma City Clerk Lois Williams, most of the candidates qualified on the first day.

“The first day, I believe we had 10,” she said. “They just kind of (trickled) in in between.”

The thirty candidates qualified for 10 different offices: Mayor, Council President, and council member for one of the eight different wards in Selma.

The biggest number of candidates for a single office is Ward 8, where five different candidates declared their intention to run.

Williams and the assistant city clerk, Ivy Harrison, were responsible for orientating

and registering all the candidates for city office during the qualifying period.

“Everybody was very pleased with the information we provided,” Williams said.

Williams will be responsible for reviewing the ballots cast in the upcoming election.

According to Williams, the council is considered the election body, but she is charged with canvassing the ballots the day after the August 24 election and the potential September 14 runoff.

There’s still a lot to do before then.

“Our next step is to get the ballots printed and get one of our voting machines on display,” Williams said.

Williams also said that unregistered voters must be registered at least 10 days before the election. For more information on registering or the city’s election, call the City Clerk’s office at 874-2102.

City Candidates:

Mayor:

Mayor James Perkins Jr.

Rev. Glenn King

Gene Hisel

Rep. Yusef Salaam

Council President:

President George Evans

Frank Chestnut

Robert “Wolf” Walker

Ward 1:

Dr. Cecil Williamson

John T. Towers

Carolyn S. Powell

Ward 2:

Anthony J. Smith

Reid Cain

Ward 3:

Councilwoman Jean T. Martin

Felicia M. Owens-“Dixon”

Michael F. Hayes

Juanita B. Lister

Ward 4:

Velma Crawford-Brewer

Geraldine Allen

Ward 5:

Councilman Samuel L. Randolph

Herman Watts

Ward 6:

Councilman B.L. Tucker

Johnnie M. Leashore

Ward 7:

Councilwoman Bennie Ruth Crenshaw

Stanley L. Jordan

Lola Sewell

Ward 8:

Councilman James “Jim” Durry

Jannie M. Venter

Anthony R. Rutledge

Corey D. Bowie

Bruce L. Holmes