They say every vote matters; in some places, this is more true than others.
In fact, if you’ve always dreamed of serving your community as a member of town council or even mayor, but you don’t want to actually go through the work and expense of a long election campaign, consider moving to Clinchport, Va.
As has been the case for the past few Clinchport elections, the Nov. 5 ballot holds blank write-in spaces for all available two-year town posts — mayor, town recorder and five town council positions.
Scott County Registrar Mike Edwards confirmed that a Clinchport resident could wake up on Election Day, write themself in for a position and feasibly win with just their own vote.
However, election results show that Clinchport has not elected any officials on a single vote. It has taken at least two. In 2020, the total votes cast in the town of Clinchport was six. In 2022, that number increased to 9. With 51 registered voters, that’s a voter turnout of about 18 percent. Because Virginia accepts properly postmarked mail ballots through noon on Friday, and because there may be provisional ballots, we won’t know who won for a while.
Clinchport Town Council member Andy Meade has served Clinchport for more than 10 years and, if elected, he said he would continue to do so because he’s one of the few people to do the job.
“The only reason it’s still a town is to keep the street lights and keep Scott County from taking over,” Meade said. He added that the town once had its own water system, but it’s now run by Scott County. “I like keeping things the way they are.”
With a population of 64 residents as of the 2020 census, Clinchport, originally incorporated in 1894, is close to being the smallest town in Virginia, beaten only by Mappsburg in Accomack County with 51 residents as of the last census. Their similarities seem to end there, as Mappsburg is almost as far east in Virginia as you can get and Clinchport is almost as far west.
In Lee County, St. Charles, population 72 in the 2020 census, was a small town whose charter was terminated by the Virginia General Assembly in 2022 because no one was elected to town office, write-in or otherwise, for the previous two elections.
Andy Meade, whose wife Tammy is the town recorder, and other town council members meet monthly to vote on town business. They are paid positions, $35 per monthly meeting for council members and town recorder, $100 for mayor.
“I was once mayor for less than 24 hours,” Andy Meade said. He explained that some council members at the time, more than 15 years ago, informally decided to write him in as mayor. He said he didn’t want the job, but he won anyway. “So I was put in as mayor just so I could resign,” he said. He joined town council later when his wife became town recorder.
The position of town recorder is unusual in Virginia. According to the Virginia Elections database, there are currently only about five serving in the state. Andy Meade said that Tammy Meade serves an administrative role for town council, taking minutes at meetings, for example.
Although the town doesn’t offer many services, council stays active for other reasons such as maintenance, decision-making and grant applications.
For example, the town recently deliberated the installation of a cellphone tower, making it possible to get cell coverage in some of the more rural parts of Scott County. Initially, some council members were concerned about radiation emanating from the tower and voted against it.
Meade said that later, the county fire chief, related to Mayor Sherry Carter, told her that he hoped council voted for the cell tower because it would aid them in emergency services. Meade said the mayor called a special council meeting with this information, and the cell tower was installed.
The town also works with state agencies for upkeep of local landmarks like a swinging bridge spanning the neighboring river Clinchport was named for. 
The Virginia Department of Transportation maintains the Clinch River Highway bridge, one of the few in the county still safe to walk across. Historically, suspension bridges were often the only means to cross rivers when flooded. They are known as swinging bridges because the bridge sways beneath your feet as you walk.
Meade said he has used the bridge many times, since he has family members who once lived on the other side.
“It’s okay until you get right in the middle,” he said. “Then it moves up and down and makes you feel like you’re on a roller coaster.”
After Hurricane Helene, town council was in charge of fixing the storm damage to town hall before Election Day. Along with housing town council meetings, town hall serves as a voting site for a larger swath of Scott County.
Meade said that town hall took the town’s main hurricane damage. Clinchport avoided the recent flooding because the river had been dry due to drought conditions, said Junior Summey, who has lived in Clinchport for more than 40 years because “you have to live somewhere, I reckon.”
Historically, Clinchport has been plagued by floods.
In 2013, it crested at over 24 feet, with flooding when the water rose above 18 feet. The roads into the original town of Clinchport were flooded, and at that time, it was the highest flood stage since 1977, when the record flood level of 36 feet was met.
It was then that a flash flood destroyed most of Clinchport and inspired the Tennessee Valley Authority to move the town out of the Clinch River’s path.
According to the New York Times, this was the first time the TVA moved a town. Moving the town, then with a pre-flood population of 300, was considered more cost-effective than putting a dam on the Clinch River.
Clinchport’s mayor at the time, Ray Russell, told the New York Times that the flood had already displaced a third of the town’s residents. He said that in 1977 most of the people living in Clinchport were retired and working in industries in neighboring Kingsport, Tenn.
Originally they hoped to move the town 10 miles down the road to Duffield, but Duffield refused to allow access to the town’s sewer system. 
The November 1977 article explained that the resulting program involved offering up to $15,000 per owner for reclamation costs in addition to the value of the property. Lee Boggs, executive director of the Scott County Redevelopment Housing Authority, told the New York Times that most of the 55 homeowners they had spoken with had signed or said they would sign. “Most of the houses cost less than $20,000,” he added, “and most of them have been flooded three or four times.”
“The town peaked in the horse and buggy days,” Russell said to the newspaper. “We had a freight station then, and I’ve seen horses and wagons lined up for a mile in each direction to unload product. We’ve gone through four major floods in a 20-year period.” 
Today, Summey is retired from working on truck tires in Kingsport. He remembers the 1977 flood but already lived on high enough ground that the water only inundated his basement and front porch.
Andy Meade said the town now has at least 25 children. He figured this by pointing around to the different homes where he knew they lived and counting.
He also pointed out that, although his small motor repair shop is currently the only business in Clinchport, he is excited about the new blacksmith shop set to open within the next few months. He said the blacksmith moved to Clinchport from North Carolina and had stopped by with some motor work. Meade said he decided not to charge him for the work and that they would operate on trade.
Here’s what the sample ballot for Clinchport looked like. Scroll to the second page for the local offices.
