Franklin Circuit Court Race
No articles up yet, but I have it from a good source that the judge (Robert Reinke) considering the challenge to the primary election race for circuit court judge in Franklin County heard evidence and rendered a decision this afternoon. Despite some reported irregularities (like 30 more ballots than signatures on the rolls in 1 precinct), the judge accepted the report from the election commission and denied challenger Troy Warner’s motion for a new election. I have not heard the specific legal argument Troy was employing in his challenge, but the standard for a special election is that some type of error or malfeasance makes it impossible to determine the winner.
I guess we’ll here if there will be an appeal.
UPDATE: The Pal-Item has the story up now: Link. Apparently, Troy’s petition for a special election was filed 52 days after the election, long past the 14 day cutoff in the statute, so the judge denied the petition on that ground. The election is not decided yet though, as the judge must consider the fate of 111 challenged ballots.
