WILLIAMSON – The Mingo County Commission has scheduled a hearing for next month to consider challenges to last month’s primary election in the wake of alleged fraudulent voting activities.
Commission President Nathan Brown said the hearing is scheduled for July 18. The commission will hear evidence then. He also said the commission has approved the option to obtain outside counsel as well.
“We simply ask that the persons contesting and those responding to file any responses in a timely fashion,” said Brown, who also is an attorney.
Brown
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State Senator Chandler Swope (R-Mercer) filed a formal notice June 5 with the Mingo County Commission against Craig Hart challenging the primary election results. Hart won the GOP primary for Swope’s state Senate 6th District seat. Swope said he intends to challenge all votes cast in Precincts 9, 27, 28, 30, 57, 75 and 76. Swope also requests to examine the poll books for all of Mingo County.
Since then, two other candidates in other races have filed formal challenges with the county commission. They are Marty Fortner, who came in second for a commission seat against incumbent Diann Hannah in the GOP primary as well as John White, who came in second out of three candidates behind incumbent Mark Dean in a House of Delegates GOP race.
Because one of the challenges involves her election, Hannah will be recused from the July hearing.
“Once we get all of the responses and replies, they’ll all be considered and we’ll look at the what’s been filed and figure out what’s next,” Brown told The West Virginia Record. “We’re going to take a look at case law and challenges in preparation for the initial hearing.”
If the challengers aren’t satisfied with the outcome with the county commission, Brown said the next step would be for them to appeal the ruling first to the circuit court.
Brown previously said county officials will thoroughly investigate any claims of fraudulent voting activities.
“We take election integrity very seriously,” Brown told The Record. “Despite what some people think or have heard, no county official here would facilitate or advocate for cheating elections. If there is fraudulent activity, we’re going to consider everything brought to us. If anything seems out of line, we’ll consider it and take appropriate actions.
“Our poll workers are trained by the state. I think there were 62 challenged ballots when we did our canvassing. Some of them, quite a few, were about voting out of party. Every one of those were not counted.”
Brown said he didn’t think there were any fraudulent activities that happened.
“There were no local Democrats on the ballot,” he said. “Only Republicans and non-partisan races. So, I’m guessing that most independents requested a Republican ballot. Senator Swope and the others who have made complaints are within their constitutional and legal right to do so.
“We’re going through the process of looking at all of the information right now to give this the due process you would want. And we’ll meet to discuss timelines and going forward on this. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Another Mingo County official agreed with Brown about there being no evidence of fraud.
Chief Deputy Clerk Angie Browning told MetroNews’ “Talkline” host Hoppy Kercheval that the lack of Democrats on the primary ballot meant independent voters usually asked for a GOP ballot.
“Our poll workers are trained to do their job,” Browning told Kercheval. “They know what they’re doing. They know that when your independent voter comes in, they can select. So, just a shot in the dark, me being a voter, outside of my job, if I went in there as an independent voter I’m going to select a Republican ballot because most people here — you know, Mingo County’s got a reputation — they take their county politics serious.
“Most of my poll workers are veteran poll workers, and now after this I’ll be lucky to get 20 poll workers because they’re all calling in here scared because they don’t want to work anymore because we’re always being accused of something.”
Fortner, White and assessor candidate Audrey Smith met with election officials from the Secretary of State’s office days after the election to express concerns about potential fraud.
Swope’s notice filed with the county commission includes affidavits from four Mingo County voters and an unsworn letter from another alleging voting irregularities.
One registered Democrat says he was allowed to vote in the Republican primary at Precinct 9 in Williamson. Another registered Democrat in Precinct 57 in Red Jacket says he requested a Democratic ballot, but he says his ballot included Republican candidates.
Two independent voters at Precinct 27, 28 or 30 at Delbarton Carewood Center said a poll worker stood behind them and watched them vote, not providing privacy. Their letters also say they were not allowed to put their ballots in the box, and they say they didn’t see a poll worker put their ballots in the box.
The unsworn letter is similar to a social media post questioning the process.
“So this evening I went to vote,” Easton Fortner of Gilbert posted May 14 on Facebook. “As I’m signing in, I am told to choose what party I wanted to vote for, not asked what I am registered or told circle what I’m registered as. So I circled the R because I’m a Republican voter. I sit in line till it was my turn. Then when a voting booth is open, I’m told to go to it.
“As I’m standing there, I was given directions to once again choose what party I WANTED to vote for not the party I was REGISTERED in. Knowing that wasn’t correct, I asked to clarify what I heard. I asked, ‘So if I’m a Democrat, I can just pick Republican and vote Republican and vice versa” I can be Republican and vote Democrat?’ I was then told yes – this election I could vote however I wanted to.
“I then said I thought I could only vote for my party and once again told no that was in the general election. I could vote however I wanted this time. I have also heard this has happened to other people. This is how elections are stolen!”
Swope’s notice says these do not appear to have been isolated incidents.
“In fact, voter turnout numbers across Mingo County suggest county-wide discrepancies that potentially affect every precinct in the county,” Swope’s filing states.
It goes on to say that across the state, the West Virginia Secretary of State reports that of 1,181,437 registered voters, there were 360,175 ballots cast, for a voter turnout of 30.49%. In Mingo County, voter turnout was 29.62%. Of those, Democratic turnout in Mingo was 19.99%, and Republican turnout in Mingo was more than 70%.
That compares to the 2020 primary election that saw a 47.58% GOP turnout in Mingo County and a 31.26% Democratic turnout there.
“It appears that many Mingo County voters were improperly given a choice as to which primary they wanted to participate in, rather than simply being given the ballot of their respective party registration,” Swope’s filing states. “These issues span multiple precincts and, in all likelihood, explain the unusually high number of Republican ballots submitted.”
Swope believes the poll books will show “a significant number of Democratic voters cast Republican ballots” after improperly being given the option to do so, adding such ballots are unlawful and must be discounted.
“Unfortunately, it appears that the 2024 primary election, at least in part, in Mingo County may have been ‘irreversibly tainted,’” Swope’s motion states. “Accordingly, in each precinct wherein these irregularities are found to have occurred, all votes cast in the primary election for West Virginia’s 6th Senate District, should be excluded.”
Swope asks the county commission to hear the contest of the election and rule that ballots casts unlawfully be discounted as well as any votes were voters were not allowed to vote in secret.
Kercheval said election results show GOP voter turnout was “abnormally high” in some Mingo County precincts. Six precincts had more than 80 percent turnout for Republicans, and five others were above 70 percent. That accounts for almost half of Mingo’s 28 precincts.
Voters who are registered as independent can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary, but that likely wouldn’t account for such high turnout figures.
For example, Precinct 59 had 1,193 registered voters. Of those, 456 were registered as Democrats, 376 as Republicans and 360 as independents. But 79 percent of those who voted in the precinct used a Republican ballot. Precinct 47 showed similar numbers.
“We had several (precincts) that were in 80 and 70 percentile for Republican voting,” White told WOWK-TV. “There’s no way that many Republicans voted.”
Smith lost to Bethany Goad-Cisco in the GOP assessor primary 2,236 to 1,040. Fortner came in second out of four candidates behind Diann Hannah 1,501 to 1,270 in the GOP county commission race, and White came in second out of three candidates behind incumbent Mark Dean 1,098 to 867 in that House GOP primary.
“Different precincts are letting people vote whatever party they want,” Fortner told WOWK-TV. “That can definitely change an election.”
The Secretary of State’s office can’t discuss or share complaints filed about elections, but it seems likely some of the allegations would say Democrats were given Republican ballots. That could happen by mistake with poll workers giving voters whatever ballot they requested regardless of party affiliation. It also could mean there was a conspiracy to ensure Democrats received GOP ballots.
The Mingo County Commission, as the Board of Canvassers, already has certified the results of the election. State law says ballots not challenged before the canvas are grounds for a candidate to contest the election.
“Mingo County has the reputation of dirty politics,” Smith told WOWK-TV. “Until people step forward and say, ‘enough is enough,’ it’s going to continue on.
“So, enough is enough, and that’s why we are here. We really don’t want to be here, but somebody needs to step forward for people in the future that run.”
In his filing, Swope is being represented by Danielle Waltz and David Stone of Dinsmore & Shohl.