Ed Lowery elected to Richmond County school board, succeeding A.K. Hasan

A complicated race to fill a school board seat has come to an end.

Community activist and former school system employee Ed Lowery was elected to the Richmond County Board of Education as the new representative of District 6, succeeding A.K. Hasan.

There was an incredibly low turnout of less than 1%, but Lowery still took the crown with 79 votes while Learning Tree Christian Academy owner Laura Green had 43.

Lowery gave thanks to his team, supporters and church family and expressed best wishes to Green and her team. He also promised to help improve the school system and said it's time to move forward with helping the school system's children.

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Hasan was initially supposed to give his seat to young newcomer Tyrique Robinson, 19, who won running unopposed last fall. But then, Robinson died unexpectedly before he could be sworn in, requiring this special election to take place.

Zoning changes prevented Hasan from running again, who has been on-and-off the board since 1981. But as this election comes to a close, so does Hasan's time on the board.

"I'm just excited to have had the opportunity to serve," he said. "I feel with our success in establishing a 1-to-1 technology and the learning strategies associated with Canvas, e-learning, expanding eSchool, etc. that those opportunities will create significant benefits for our school system going forward."

There were technical issues last night on the Richmond County Board of Elections website and the total results were not displayed. Richmond County Elections Director Travis Doss said Wednesday morning this was due to the low turnout and not having votes in every precinct. However, these issues have been resolved.

The results of the elections are unofficial until they are certified by the board of elections' during their 2 p.m. meeting Monday at the Richmond County Board of Elections warehouse at 2029 Lumpkin Rd.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Ed Lowery elected to Richmond County Board of Education