Etowah Primary Election: Here's what happened and where things stand
No election is official until votes are certified, but not many have the uncertainty of Etowah County's 2022 primary vote.
In a redistricting-related issue, election officials know some voters got ballots with the wrong House race listed, and they are checking to see if two Etowah County Commission races were affected, too.
Related: Primary questions: Officials say redistricting error impacted House, commission races
Read this: Can a primary plagued by ballot questions be made right? Reagan says it will take re-vote
Here's what we know about the situation thus far.
In April, House District 28 candidate Mack Butler's sister went to vote absentee and found that the District 28 race for the Republican nomination — with Butler challenging incumbent Gil Isbell — was not on the ballot. When she brought it to election officials' attention, they found that some voters were not assigned to the proper district, that information had not been updated. With assistance from the Secretary of State's office, the Board of Registrars set to work to make sure voters were assigned to the proper districts after the redistricting. Updating the information, it now appears, was not completed.
On May 24, Myra Reagan and her husband Steve were among voters who noticed the District 29 race, with candidates Mark Gidley and Jamie Grant vying for the House seat, was on their ballot, even though they'd been told they were now in District 28. Myra Reagan knew something was wrong. Her husband qualified to run for the District 29 seat but was told he couldn't because they were assigned to District 28 after redistricting. She alerted election officials. Steve Reagan called Secretary of State John Merrill.
On May 25, Merrill and Etowah County Probate Judge/Election Manager Scott Hassell issued a joint statement saying they'd determined that the problem had not been corrected, and it negatively impacted candidates and voters in District 28 and 29. They don't know how many ballots were affected, the statement said. Hassell said the Etowah County Commission District 4 and 5 races would be reviewed, too. Incumbent Tim Ramsey received more votes than challenger Jeff Overstreet in the District 4 race, based on the May 24 votes as counted, and incumbent Jeffery Washington won the District 5 race over Carolyn Parker. The ballot issues didn't affect any of the state races — only those that involved district lines.
As election officials explained it would be up to the political parties to determine whether or not to certify the election results on May 31, candidates in the possibly affected commission races were already weighing their options. Parker said she expects to contest the election if the Democrats certify Washington as the winner. Overstreet said his "gut feeling" is that he, too, will contest the vote if the Republican Party certifies Ramsey as winner. In both races, there is no opposing-party candidate; the party nominees will win the office.
On Tuesday, party officials and election officials will meet at noon — as they routinely do after every vote — to count provisional ballots that should be added to vote totals and to certify the election. At that point, Merrill and Hassell said in the statement last week, their duties are completed. It's up to political parties to determine whether they certify the apparent winners as their nominees. The state GOP Chairman John Wahl issued a statement saying Republican leaders are "incredibly upset" about the situation. "We will do the best we can in order to find a solution to this terrible situation we're facing," he said.
Contact Gadsden Times reporter Donna Thornton at 256-393-3284 or donna.thornton@gadsdentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Etowah County primary vote in question; here's what happened
