UNION, Ky. — A lawsuit from one Northern Kentucky city commissioner claims hundreds of illegal votes in Boone County changed the outcome of his race.
Union City Commissioner Douglas Bine is contesting the results from a November race he lost. The 49-page lawsuit claims more than 500 people illegally voted in Union Precinct 1 and Union Precinct 4.
“This is real election irregularity that changed the outcome of an election,” said Steven Megerle, Bine’s attorney. “They had ran out of ballots at two of the precincts, and that people who were Union city voters were given the county ballot for unincorporated Boone County instead of their actual Union ballot.”
In a statement released by Boone County Clerk Justin Crigler last month, Crigler confirmed that “some voters in two precincts were mistakenly given the wrong ballot by poll workers … unintentionally by human error.”
Crigler said this happened at two “split precincts” where voters from inside and outside union city limits vote, and he and his office corrected it on election day as soon as they became aware of the issue.
He added that the situation is continuing to be investigated, but “the integrity of the election was not compromised.”
However, Bine and Megerle say it heavily impacted the Union City Commissioner race.
There were five candidates in the race, with four seats available. However, after the election, commissioner Jeremy Ramage resigned from his role. This now leaves four candidates with four open seats if there is a re-election.
“Commissioner Bine, when there were five candidates, he came in fifth ... (4 candidates won seats), and he only lost by a margin of 65 votes,” Megerle said.
Xavier University political science professor Mack Mariani independently reviewed the voting tallies for Union Precincts 1 and 4.
He concluded that the minimum number of voters affected is 518, resulting in a minimum of 891 to 1,010 incorrect votes.
I spoke with Crigler on the phone, who told me at this time he has not been served the lawsuit, so he will not make a comment yet. He did tell me that once he does receive the documents, he’ll talk.
The lawsuit also claims that the Boone County Board of Elections held an illegal meeting, not giving enough notice to the public. Megerle says at this meeting Crigler and the Board of Elections certified the election results despite the irregularities with votes.
In Crigler’s November statement, he addressed the questions of why he and the board of elections certified the election. He stated that the simple answer was they were required to by state law. But he added that certification does not stop an election contest from being filed.
So what is the next step now that the lawsuit has been filed?
“There will be a trial or hearing probably in the next 30 days,” Megerle said. “We think that it’s likely that the judge will set aside the election, and order a new election.”
Crigler filed a petition for a recount but the court denied his request stating that a recount would be “futile” according to Crigler’s statement.
