Vote for 'mayor' before deadline Friday

The end is near.

For candidates and voters alike, the deadline is approaching for votes to be cast, and cast again, and again, in the race for "mayor" of Evans.

As of noon Friday, we'll quit counting the votes cast at www.newstimesonline.com. This isn't Palm Beach County, Fla., either, so there won't be any hanging chads, no recounts, no "undervotes," no provisional ballots waiting for an appeal.

The techies who run The News-Times' site will simply push a button, and all the campaigning will come to an end. And strangely enough, for a purely tongue-in-cheek "election" to a make-believe title, some of the candidates sure are taking it seriously.

They're even worrying about voter fraud - as if such a thing is even possible in an entirely unscientific online election in which voters are encouraged to actually do what everyone jokes about in real races: Vote early and often.

Alas, the fun will end Friday. Janet Hicks, Michael Kelehan, Andy Kingery, Gene Sullivan or Jeri Whitworth will then soon be declared "mayor" of Evans, one of the best places in the country to live - even if just about no one knows exactly where it is.

In the meantime, go to the home page of www.newstimesonline.com, scroll down and click on the vote button to choose from among the five candidates. Early, and often.