Petitions for Tea City election may begin circulating Jan. 29

Besides voting for a new president in 2016, Tea area residents can vote for a mayor, three city councilmen, two county commissioners, state’s attorney, county coroner and treasurer.

Petitions for the city council and mayor may begin circulating Jan. 29. Petitions may be picked up from Tea Finance Officer Dawn Murphy at City Hall between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Petitions need to be turned in no later than 5 p.m. Feb. 26.

This year ward one, occupied by Brian Fowlds, ward two, occupied by Joe Weis, and ward three, occupied by Todd Boots, are up for election. Mayor John Lawler’s position is also up for election. Each spot is a two-year term.

Candidates seeking signatures in ward one need 20 valid signatures. Ward two needs 16 and ward three needs 17. The mayor will need 50.

The city election in Tea is April 12.

In Lincoln County, two county commission positions are open – district two and district four. Currently David Gillespie holds the job in district two and Michael Poppens occupies the district four spot.

District four covers Delapre and Perry townships, as well as the cities of Lennox and Tea. District two covers the cities of Beresford, Hudson, Fairview, Canton and Worthing, along with Brooklyn, Pleasant, Norway, Eden, Fairview, Highland, Lincoln, Delaware, Grant, Lynn, Canton, Dayton and LaValley townships.

Petitions are open and are due to the Lincoln County auditor’s office by 5 p.m. March 29. The amount of signatures needed depends on what political ticket they are running. Contact the auditor’s office at 605-764-2581 with questions on how many signatures are needed in each district for a particular political party.

Petitions may be picked up at the Lincoln County auditor’s office or they can get it online from the Secretary of State’s website at www.sdsos.gov.

County commissioner terms are four years and begin Jan. 1, 2017.

If they are on the ballot, the primary election is June 7. The general election is Nov. 8. Lincoln County auditor Marlene Sweeter said if a candidate has no competition, they will not be on any ballot.

Also up for election in 2016 is the state’s attorney, the coroner and the treasurer.

Sweeter said some candidates have started circulating petitions. For those interested in the county commission seats, they need to make sure to gather signatures from their specific district.

The Tea Area School District board of education election is June 21. According to the school district’s website, the board is made up of five members who must reside in the boundaries of the district. All members are at-large. Board members serve a three-year term.