A Union City Commissioner who wasn’t reelected to a second term in November filed a lawsuit on Dec. 4 against the Boone County clerk and several others over what he is calling a “botched election.”
The lawsuit, which attorney Steven Megerle filed on behalf of current Commissioner Douglas Bine, comes amidst concerns about the operations of the recent election in which some residents claim to have received wrong ballots at two Union polling places.
The local races affected include the races for the Union City Commission and the ballot question relating to medical cannabis in the city.
“The election held this past Nov. 5 was an absolute disaster for the registered voters in the city of Union,” Bine said in a statement released Wednesday. “This deeply flawed process and the gross irregularities that we experienced were at the hands of the chief election officer, Boone County Clerk Justin Crigler.”
The statement goes on to say that that Crigler has acknowledged issues on Election Day, he has refused to “present himself publicly in front of the City of Union commission to offer an explanation as to how and why this issue occurred.”
Crigler, who has attributed the problems to “human error,” said in an opinion piece he submitted to LINK nky that voters in two precincts were mistakenly given the wrong ballots by poll workers.
“While my office and other agencies -including the Boone County Attorney, The Boone County Board of Elections and the Kentucky Board of Elections – continue to investigate the situation, I feel confident that the integrity of the election was not compromised and no election fraud was committed or even attempted,” Crigler said in the opinion piece. “Unfortunately, the situation was caused unintentionally by human error. I regret that mistakes were made and am deeply concerned that this took place. But my investigation has revealed that this was a mistake and nothing more sinister, nefarious or devious.”
Crigler declined to comment Wednesday because he had not yet been served.
“The state Attorney General or Department of Justice civil rights division should immediately review how this happened so it will never happen again,” Megerle said.
Bine’s suit, which consulted a third-party investigator, Xavier University Professor of Political Science Mack Mariani, lays out the depth of the alleged disenfranchisement that may have occurred, although it admits that the exact number of affected voters and ballots is difficult to completely ascertain.
The suit alleges that “518 illegal voters cast somewhere between 890 and 984 illegal votes in the city commission race. Because the difference in votes from 2nd place and 5th place is only 348 votes, the tainted and illegally cast votes conclusively altered and effected the outcome of the election.”
Commissioner Brian Garner, who expressed skepticism about the depth of the problem when it first came before the city commission after Election Day, cast doubt on Bine and Megerle’s numerical assessments.
“I understand the concerns raised by Commissioner Bine,” Garner said in an email to LINK nky. “While a human error occurred with the distribution of ballots, I remain confident the election’s integrity is intact. Data confirms that the results would have been the same regardless. This situation has unnecessarily drained time and taxpayer resources. Boone County residents deserve better use of their funds, such as investing in parks or hiring a new deputy—not financing a costly redo election with likely only [have a] 20% turnout. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and asking a judge to discard over 4,000 lawful ballots and order a redo is not only wrong but also deeply undemocratic and un-American.”
Additionally, Union Commissioner Jeremy Ramage resigned from his post on Monday. He also relinquished his spot on the commission for the upcoming term, which begins Jan. 1.
Union Mayor Larry Solomon read from Ramage’s resignation letter at the commission meeting on Monday. Ramage did not attend the meeting, and it’s not clear if his resignation is connected to the election. He does not mention it in his letter.
“Recent increased responsibilities at work will no longer afford me the time required to serve on the commission,” Ramage’s letter reads. “It has been an honor to serve the residents of the City of Union, and I am especially proud of the work we have accomplished over the past several years.”
Typically, open commission spots are filed by mayoral appointment, which is then affirmed or denied with a vote from the rest of the commission. An electoral challenge in court, on the other hand, could lead to varying results depending on the actions of the judge assigned to the case.
What this means for the city government once the new year rolls around is unclear. LINK nky is performing its own investigation into the number of votes cast and what may happen to the city government. We will report more on this situation as it develops.
The lawsuit can be read in its entirety below.
Union lawsuit by Meghan Goth on Scribd