By JOEL PHELPS | The Arkadelphian

It was a close call, but the victor in a contested race for justice of the peace was decided Friday.

Zach Bledsoe will represent Clark County as justice of the peace for District 1. Bledsoe’s 104 votes were made official Friday afternoon by the Clark County Election Commission. Unofficial votes announced during Election Day gave Bledsoe a razor-thin 103-99 victory over Matthew Taylor.

It would be too early for Bledsoe to celebrate the win, however, as seven provisional ballots could easily have swung the vote in Taylor’s favor. On Friday, Nov. 18, the commission tossed all but one of those provisional ballots as those voters were either not registered to vote, registered in a different county or were not registered at all.

The one vote that wasn’t tossed was awarded in Bledsoe’s favor.

Bledsoe congratulated Taylor on running a good race. “It was clearly very close,” Bledsoe told The Arkadelphian. “It could have gone either way. Every vote clearly does count.”

Bledsoe, a Democrat, will begin his two-year term on the quorum court beginning Jan. 1, 2023. He replaces Austin King, who did not seek re-election.