After the August municipal elections one seat remained undecided. Tommy Ryan edged current District 3 Councilman Otto Duke by a count of 69 votes to 61 forcing a runoff on Tuesday Sept. 14.

The format for the runoff will be the same as for regular city elections except the only voters will be from District3.

Ryan and Duke have been pressed during the short period between the last election and the runoff. With limited time to prepare both candidates have had to use their time as best as they could to get ready.

Duke said he has dedicated his time to reaching out to the people door to door.

"I'm still working on it," said Duke. "I've got a few more places to go and it will probably be late Monday morning before I get done."

Duke said because of the compressed time frame he has had to work harder to get to the voters.

"We only had about three weeks to get out there so I have really had to beat the bushes," said Duke. "Everything has looked pretty good so far."

Challenger Tommy Ryan has also been hard on the campaign trail.

"I have made a lot of calls via phone and had a lot of well wishers," said Ryan. "I have a good feeling, but you never know."

Ryan said he was very grateful to all the people who had helped him along the way.

"There are some good people in my corner and I appreciate them," said Ryan. "I appreciate all the well wishers and everyone else who has helped."

The city had some concerns about possible effects of Hurricane Ivan. However, the current path of the storm appears as if there will be no problems in Greenville as far as the election is concerned.

"Everybody had been anticipating the arrival of Ivan," said Assistant City Clerk Sue Arnold. "But it looks like the weather should be pretty good Tuesday for everyone to come out and vote."

Getting people to the polls may be the biggest challenge for Tuesday's election.

Voter turnout was a problem during the August municipal elections. In District 3 only 187 voters out of 879 made their way to the polls. Arnold said she hopes people would answer the call to vote on Tuesday.

"We want them to all come out and vote," said Arnold. "It's very important that people understand they need to get out and vote."

The winner of the runoff will take office along with other members of the new administration at the Organizational Meeting on Oct. 4 at City Hall at 5:30 p.m.

The polling site for the runoff is the Butler County Health Department. Voters are reminded to use the rear entrance.

Polling hours are 7 am-7pm. Remember voter identification is now required before a voter can cast their ballot.

The city again suggests that voters stop by City Hall or either Fire Station to check the District Map if they are not sure which district they are in now.

There are quite a few voters who used to be in District 3 but are now in District 4 since the realignment of the districts occurred due to the 2000 Census.