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By Mike Barnhardt
Enterprise Record

As it turns out, it didn’t matter.
Chris Almond is the winner of a second seat on the Cooleemee Town Board.
Andy Reavis led the way with 33 votes for one of the two seats on the board, followed by Steve Corriher and Almond with 18 votes each.
A day after the Nov. 2 vote, Carolyn Overcash, James Overcash and Hellen Daywalt filed an election protest, claiming, among other things, that Corriher had sold his home in Cooleemee and no longer lives there.
At a protest hearing on Nov. 16, elections board members dismissed the protest by James Overcash, and dismissed the protest filed by Carolyn Overcash and Daywalt as to all matters other than the residency of Corriher.
The board ruled: the protest petitions failed to establish a probable cause that a violation of state elections laws or irregularity or misconduct had occurred, except to the issue of Corriher’s residency; and that probable cause does exist as to his residency, ordering a hearing.
The board flipped a coin, and Almond came out the winner, and at the subsequent hearing, it was determined the question was moot since Corriher had lost the coin flip.