Story by Brad McElhinny
State Senator Chandler Swope, who lost a Republican primary race, is withdrawing an election challenge.
Swope, through his lawyer, wrote that irregularities were discovered in some precincts in Mingo County but that the burden of proof necessary to have results in entire precincts discounted would have been difficult to achieve.
“Senator Swope stands by his contention that the irregularities in these precincts should lead them to be excluded entirely. However, he recognizes that the legal burden to exclude entire precincts from the vote total is extremely high,” Charleston attorney Danielle Waltz wrote in a statement for Swope.
Swope lost a primary re-election bid to Mingo County teacher Craig Hart in the district that includes Mingo, McDowell and Mercer counties along with part of Wayne. Swope got 4,384 votes. That put him behind Hart, a Lenore resident who got 4,847 votes. Another candidate, former Delegate Eric Porterfield, wound up with 2,633 votes.
Swope filed an official challenge, wanting to know more about what happened in Mingo County voting precincts where Hart received 2,152 votes, Swope got 364 votes and Porterfield got 344 votes. The Swope challenge suggested that unusually high Republican turnout in some precincts resulted from registered Democrats who voted with Republican ballots.
Monday’s statement on Swope’s behalf indicated the review wound up finding “numerous irregularities in the Mingo County primary election that resulted in an impossible number of Republican votes being cast.”
Precinct 75, for example, tallied 93 registered Republicans and 58 independent voters who received a Republican ballot, which should have totaled 151 Republican ballots submitted. But the county instead reported 187 Republican ballots submitted for the precinct.
The review also determined:
- that poll workers in some precincts did not indicate the voter’s party registration on poll books slips
- that in several precincts, election workers allowed voters to choose their own ballot, incorrectly believing they were not permitted to know the voter’s registration. “Thus, rather than preparing the correct ballot for the voter before the voter entered the voting booth, some Ballot Commissioners allowed voters to enter the booth and choose a party’s ballot themselves.”
“This led to many circumstances in which voters were not given the ballot of their party registration, but instead were allowed to choose whichever ballot they wanted. Many Democratic voters, unaware they should not have been given a choice at all, chose a Republican ballot primarily because there were no local Democrats running for any county races. The result was an election in which an impossible number of voters participated in the Republican primary.”
Swope’s challenge ultimately could have resulted in all the votes of some precincts being cast aside. However, his legal team determined that burden would have been very challenging. Swope and Hart jointly submitted a proposed order to dismiss the election challenge.
“More than winning this election, Senator Swope wants to ensure that these irregularities are corrected and that Mingo County’s future elections are free from any confusion or controversy in the future. The lessons learned from this election should be used to better train poll workers and officials, not just in Mingo County, but throughout the state,” lawyers for Swope wrote in a statement on the senator’s behalf.
Swope agreed to forego the election challenge, and the Secretary of State’s Office is working to better train poll workers in Mingo County while also making the enhanced training is available across the state.
The Secretary of State’s Office included its own statement, saying “a review of the election records indicates a lack of compliance with the election laws that pertain to the proper receipt and procedure for facilitating voting at the precinct level in a primary election. This lack of compliance existed in several precincts throughout Mingo County.
“Errors in a small number of precincts on a statewide scale is understandable. However, when numerous voters were able to cast a ballot for a political party with which they were not affiliated, such is against the law and falls below the election administration standards this Office expects of County elections.”
A statement filed for Hart by his attorneys acknowledged some voting irregularities but maintained the number is far less than the margin of victory, 463 votes.
“This election contest included an exhaustive review of Mingo County election records. Those records confirm the ultimate result of the primary election but identified irregularities in certain precincts,” wrote the lawyers for Hart, led by Charleston attorney Anthony Majestro.
“Mr. Hart believes that any irregularities were the result of good faith misunderstandings rather than any intentional fraud. Mr. Hart joins Senator Swope’s desire to have the lessons learned from this election contest implemented in poll worker training in Mingo County and throughout the State.”
Hart’s attorneys concluded, “Senator Swope’s withdrawal of his contest to the election confirms that Craig A. Hart will remain the Republican nominee for West Virginia Senate District 06.”