This week, the Union City Commission reckoned with the implications of city residents possibly receiving the wrong ballots on Election Day. After a lengthy discussion, no conclusion was reached.
Discussions took place at this week’s meeting of the Union City Commission on Monday night. It was the first meeting of the city government since Nov. 5 which saw reports from some Union city residents claiming to have received incorrect ballots at polling places in Union voting precincts 1 and 4.
Documents filed in the Boone County Circuit Court over the last two weeks indicate Boone County Clerk Justin Crigler, who did not attend Monday’s meeting, had received reports of incorrect ballot distribution from residents in the two precincts. Current City Commissioner Doug Bine, who lost according to the post-Election Day results, had also received reports from voters.
The local races affected include the races for the Union City Commission and the ballot question relating to medical cannabis in the city.
Union precinct 1 votes at the Union Firehouse, whereas precinct 4 votes at Ryle High School. In spite of their names, there are voters within the two precincts who reside in the city as well as voters who do not, living instead in unincorporated Boone County. Voters are thus assigned different ballots, depending on where they live, even if they vote at the same precinct.
Following reports from voters of possibly receiving the wrong ballots, the clerk filed a petition for a recount on Nov. 8, admitting that a recount alone would not provide insight into if and how many wrong ballots were cast. As such, Judge Richard Brueggemann, who had been assigned the case, rejected the petition, arguing it would be “futile.”
“It is undisputed that eligible voters within the City of Union limits voting at Union Precinct No. 1 and Union Precinct No. 4 were unintentionally disenfranchised,” Brueggemann writes.
Bine filed a motion to intervene–essentially asking permission from the court to challenge the election–which the court granted last week. He has thirty days to bring an official challenge before the court.
The clerk is required to certify the election results no later than the second Monday after Election Day (in this case, Nov. 18). Crigler confirmed with LINK nky that he’d certified the election results on Friday. Candidates can still challenge the results even after they’re certified.
There was uncertainty and disagreement among the commissioners, City Attorney Jeff Voss and Bine’s attorney, Steve Megerle, about what a successful challenge might entail.
Even though Bine wasn’t alleging any foul play on the part of the clerk or the poll workers, Megerle had sent settlement offers to the commissioners and the county, asking them to preemptively reject the election results and agree to a new round of voting sometime before Dec. 15. He argued this would be more expeditious than following the conventional process in court, which might lead to months of appeals and counter appeals.
The court has the power to nullify the election results, Voss said. What was less clear was what would happen if there was no new election before Jan. 1. Would the results stand until a new election took place? Or would the city be left with only one elected official, Mayor Larry Solomon, in the interim?
Voss didn’t know. The situation was highly unusual, and he had not yet been able to research the relevant case law and procedures.
“This issue is clear as mud,” Voss said. “It’s not something that comes up often, and when you read the statutes, the intent when you read them, they’re talking about fraud, intimidation, and things of that nature. Well, here there was nothing intentional.”
Bine stated that the other commissioners could ask Megerle questions, but Commissioner Brian Garner took issue with doing it at a public city meeting.
Tensions escalated.
“Ultimately, I think a commission meeting is for the elected members of the commission,” Garner said. “I don’t think that’s the appropriate venue–”
Bine and Garner started speaking over each other.
“I’m making you a personal offer to speak with my attorney about this in an open forum,” Bine said. “If you choose not to, that’s fine.”
“If you all authorize me, I could reach out to the Attorney General to see if they would give an opinion on this,” said Voss.
“I really think the city should stay neutral,” Bine said.
Garner took issue with Megerle’s settlement offer, characterizing it as hasty and deceptive.
“What I’m just a little disappointed in is just some misrepresentation, some misinformation that is deliberately being used to intimidate some of us and to accept an agreement,” Garner said.
Normal court proceedings would require a period of discovery, where evidence could be gathered and presented.
“In the meantime, while that happens, January 1, because the election has been certified, the four members of the commission would be the four leading vote-getters from the certified results,” Garner postulated.
“Greg, that’s not right,” Megerle interjected.
“Point of order,” Garner said. “Are we going to follow any kind of order? He’s not signed in as a guest. He’s not a part of this commission.”
“I can’t sit here and tell you with definitive authority at this point,” Voss said.
Officially, the City of Union had no position on the issue, said City Administrator Amy Safran.
The commissioners also sparred over the number of voters who might have been disenfranchised, which is currently unknown. Garner asked Safran about the number of the contacts the city had received about the issue. She replied that one county resident and one city resident had contacted the city. LINK spoke with three Union residents who said they received wrong ballots, and Bine’s petition names two more.
Bine called upon the other commissioners to condemn what he alleged was the county clerk’s negligence.
“There is hundreds of our residents that were disenfranchised,” Bine said, “and as residents of the city, we should all collectively stand up and say, ‘That’s not right. The clerk screwed up.'”
“That’s the part, though, is it’s a matter of interpretation as to how to get it right,” Garner said.
Commissioner John Mefford, who had been mostly quiet up to this point, said that doing nothing in the face of possible disenfranchisement was wrong.
“There’s not a winner here, there’s not a great solution, but in my opinion, doing nothing disrespects the democratic process,” Mefford said.
“If I lose fair and square, then I lose,” Bine said. “But it needs to be fair and square. Our voters need to have their voice, and we know for a fact, some didn’t.”
The commission took no official action on the matter. Megerle stayed and talked with the commissioners after the meeting had adjourned, attempting to persuade them to accept his offer. Garner didn’t stick around to hear Megerle’s full pitch, and no legal agreements were reached after they spoke.