Lawsuit filed to rerun JC election after ballot mistake and alleged irregularities

Four candidates in Johnson City’s recent local election with a mistake that allowed non-residents to vote have now sued the Washington County Election Commission and are requesting a rerun of the election. The lawsuit alleges “there are at least 50 illegal ballots cast in the Johnson City Commission race, thereby calling the election’s integrity into question,”. The suit alleges one count of violation of election integrity and a second count of negligence. State law requires that the trial of an election contest be held within 50 days of the complaint’s filing. The primary discrepancy at issue actually occurred in Carter County, which includes several areas that are inside Johnson City limits and that’s where at least some of the 44 voters from Heather Lane — which is not inside the city — were provided city ballots. The lawsuit also says that during early voting “there was a discrepancy where machine totals did not align with the voter count. And it cites “documentation” indicating at least four voters should have received provisional ballots in the Washington County election but were instead given regular ballots