FAIRMONT — Terry Evans isn’t ready to walk away in his race for town commissioner, not when he captured just 12 fewer votes than he needed to win one of the three seats up for grabs in Tuesday’s election.

Evans said early Wednesday that he plans to petition the county Board of Elections for a recount. He placed fourth in a five-way race with 436 votes, 12 votes behind third-place finisher Perry Tatum Ashley, who received 448 votes.

Evans finished with 20.56 percent of the votes cast. Ashley took 21.12 percent of the votes cast.

The other two winners for seats on the town board town were incumbents Bobby Charles Townsend, with 601 votes, and Wayland B. Lennon III, with 473 votes. Five people ran for three seats. Commissioner Jay Capps did not seek re-election.

Evans said Wednesday that he is asking for a recount because he believes some of the voters who cast ballots in Tuesday’s election actually reside outside of Fairmont.

Dock Locklear, director of the Robeson County Board of Elections, said that Evans has indicated to him that he plans to request a recount. As of Wednesday, however, an official petition to the Board of Elections had not been filed.

“I told him if he wants a recount he can make the request to the board when it meets on Monday,” Locklear said. “A recount is not automatic. It’s up to the board whether the request is granted.”

Evans has run unsuccessfully for office three times, twice for mayor and once for commissioner.

Votes from Tuesday’s elections are unofficial until they are all reviewed by the Board of Elections. Locklear said that the board will meet at 1:15 p.m. Monday to count 97 provisional votes.

Locklear said he also hopes that the results of write-in votes will be determined by Friday. Who will fill one seat on the town board in St. Pauls and two seats on the Orrum board hinge on those results.

In St. Pauls, the only candidates for District 3 write-ins. They included Howard Burke, Ron Smith and Jerry Weindel. There were 75 write-in ballots cast.

In Orrum, Wilton Caulder ran unopposed for mayor, replacing Gaston Bass. Four seats were up for grabs on the town board, but only Arthur Britt and Bonita Britt filed for re-election. Two seats will be determined by the 10 write-in votes that were cast.

The Elections Board is also slated to meet Tuesday to address six voter challenges filed by Patricia McRae, who was unsuccessful in her bid to unseat John Cantey in Precinct 5 in Lumberton. McRae is alleging that some voters registered illegally. She cites what she says are invalid addresses.

McRae had originally filed 13 voter challenges that were heard by the Elections Board on Monday. Seven of the challenges were dismissed because the voters had not cast ballots. It remains unclear whether the other six voted.

Her challenge cannot change the outcome of the race since unofficial totals show Cantey winning with 430 votes to McRae’s 276. Precinct 5 had the largest voter turnout in Lumberton.