The Friendswood City Council on May 14 canvassed and certified the results of the May 3 general election and administered the oath of office to Michael P. Ross, who won the race for Council Member Position 6.

The canvass, presented through the city secretary, showed an overall voter turnout of 8.31%. The city reported 50 absentee votes, 2,938 early votes and 1,587 election-day votes for a total of 2,540 ballots cast from 30,550 registered voters. For Council Member Position 4, Robert J. Grafon ran unopposed and received 2,035 votes (100%). For Position 6, Michael P. Ross received 1,458 votes (57.4%) and Thomas Hinckley received 1,082 votes (42.6%). The council voted to approve an ordinance declaring those results; the city secretary was directed to preserve the canvass documents as the official election record.

Judge Woltz administered the oath of office to Michael P. Ross at the conclusion of the canvass. After taking the oath, Councilmember Michael P. Ross spoke briefly about priorities he identified on the campaign trail, including support for families and local schools and continuing regional work on stormwater and drainage. Ross also urged higher turnout in future local elections, saying, “That number has to go up.” He closed his remarks with, “Let’s get to work.”

The mayor read the official tabulation aloud during the canvass and the council made the canvass record available to the city secretary, the custodian of election records, noting that precinct-level reports are available on request.

The canvass and the ordinance declaring results concluded the council’s formal election business for the evening; the newly sworn councilmember will assume full duties upon completion of the swearing-in process.