logo

Judge Tosses Primary Results in Missouri State House Race; New Election to be Held

image
Created: 06 September, 2016
Updated: 17 October, 2022
2 min read

A circuit judge in Missouri on Friday overturned a primary election result, citing irregularities with absentee ballots. The decision exposed haphazard election practices in St. Louis.

The August 2 Democratic primary for the 78th district of the Missouri House of Representatives resulted in a 90-vote victory for incumbent Penny Hubbard. She defeated challenger Bruce Franks Jr., an activist in Ferguson, Missouri.

On Election Day in the St. Louis area district, Franks appeared to win the election with 52% of the vote. However, Hubbard won 78% of the 530 absentee ballots cast. Consequently, on August 17, Franks filed a lawsuit on the grounds that irregularities in absentee ballots affected the outcome. He claimed absentee votes were "obtained illegally, were tampered with, or both."

Judge Rex Burlison's 22-page ruling did not assign blame to the Hubbard campaign. Rather, the City of St. Louis Board of Elections was responsible for spotting the oddities.

"Any error or irregularity that the Court finds therein, is solely the responsibility of the City of St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners," he wrote.

142 ballots not in sealed envelopes, which arrived at the Board of Elections, were key to the judge's decision. However, absentee ballots must arrive in sealed envelopes according to state election law. Judge Burlison noted:

"The number of votes called into question exceed the margin of the apparent victory and is of sufficient magnitude to cast doubt on the validity of the initial election."

Upon hearing the judge's decision, Franks said, "I'm so happy for the people. . . . This is huge."

An investigation later conducted by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch revealed numerous inconsistencies - all of them pertaining to absentee ballots. At least two registered voters reported Hubbard campaign workers asked for their signatures, but later completed the rest of the ballot for them. When shown their absentee ballots, these voters later said the ballots bore their own signature, but also others' handwriting. Additionally, many voters had duplicate absentee ballots cast in their names.

Hubbard is part of a St. Louis political family. Her daughter, Tammika, is a St. Louis alderman. Her husband, Rodney, is a former state representative who also won a Democratic primary for alderman on August 2. Like his wife, Rodney Hubbard finished second on Election Day, but prevailed when absentee ballots overwhelmingly favored him.

IVP Existence Banner

Franks' lawyer, David Roland, argued that absentee ballots typically consist of 2-10% of votes cast in a precinct. However, he claimed absentee ballots increase to 20% when one of the Hubbards runs for office, including 65% once. "Almost every single election you got these extraordinary amounts of ballots going in their favor," he said.

The new election is scheduled for Friday, September 16.

Latest articles

votes
Wyoming Purges Nearly 30% of Its Voters from Registration Rolls
It is not uncommon for a state to clean out its voter rolls every couple of years -- especially to r...
27 March, 2024
-
1 min read
ballot box
The Next Big Win in Better Election Reform Could Come Where Voters Least Expect
Idaho isn't a state that gets much attention when people talk about politics in the US. However, this could change in 2024 if Idahoans for Open Primaries and their allies are successful with their proposed initiative....
21 March, 2024
-
3 min read
Courts
Why Do We Accept Partisanship in Judicial Elections?
The AP headline reads, "Ohio primary: Open seat on state supreme court could flip partisan control." This immediately should raise a red flag for voters, and not because of who may benefit but over a question too often ignored....
19 March, 2024
-
9 min read
Nick Troiano
Virtual Discussion: The Primary Solution with Unite America's Nick Troiano
In the latest virtual discussion from Open Primaries, the group's president, John Opdycke, sat down ...
19 March, 2024
-
1 min read
Sinema
Sinema's Exit Could Be Bad News for Democrats -- Here's Why
To many, the 2024 presidential primary has been like the movie Titanic - overly long and ending in a disaster we all saw coming from the start. After months of campaigning and five televised primary debates, Americans are now faced with a rematch between two candidates polling shows a majority of them didn’t want....
19 March, 2024
-
7 min read