ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. — Voters in Halifax County are heading back to the polls, thanks to a mistake in the

July 20

primary.

More than 100 voters were given ballots for the District 3 County Commissioner race when they should have been voting for the District 1 candidate.

"We made a tremendous mistake," said Andy Howard, of the Halifax County Board of Elections. "We will address it. We will correct it."

The balloting gave frontrunner Rachel Hux a lead of 48 votes over second-place finisher Vernon Bryant. Jack Moore finished third.

Officials had to throw out the results and order a new election.

"It's obvious there were sufficient irregularities to affect the outcome in the election, and, therefore, the law requires it," said Larry Leake, chairman of the state Board of Elections.

For the candidates, it meant a return to square one.

"I thought we had a good one," Hux said. "We campaigned hard, and everybody worked hard, spent a lot of money, and we are going to have to go back and do that again."

Said Bryant: "(It's) just unfortunate that mistake happened. You know in life things happen and you just have to accept it and move on."

The new election with all three candidates for District 3 Commissioner is scheduled for Sept. 14. The election is scheduled the same day as a county referendum on water bonds, so there will be no extra election costs involved.