Doug Wilcox will be the next city council member to represent Ward 7 on Hopkinsville City Council after Christian Circuit Judge John Atkins proclaimed him the winner of the contested Republican primary during a hearing Tuesday afternoon.
Initial results showed Wilcox defeating Mark Graham by a single vote, but the Christian County Clerk’s Office later said 109 voters in Ward 8 had voted in the Ward 7 race due to a technical issue with how Tenex programmed software in tablets used by poll workers at the G104 precinct.
James Adams III represents Wilcox and filed a motion to dismiss a petition for recount filed by Graham last month, contending that if all 36 eligible votes cast at G104 went to Graham, then Wilcox would win the election by 16 votes due to results from other precincts.
Tenex representatives Tina Mooney and Timothy Vlach testified Tuesday and told attorney Ben Fletcher, who represents Graham, that they rely upon the Kentucky Board of Elections for all data regarding registered voters’ names and addresses. Mooney says they simply take the data given to them and program tablets to instruct poll workers to hand out the correct ballot when an identification is scanned.
Fletcher wasn’t satisfied with only acknowledging there was an issue at the G104 precinct and asked for additional time to further investigate whether every Republican who voted in the G101 and E104 precincts were eligible to vote in Ward 7.
Adams contended the problem with the technology not properly recognizing the split precinct has been apparent since the ordeal began and said any further investigation of the numbers would be a “fishing expedition.”
Judge John Atkins ultimately ruled that information provided by the Christian County Clerk’s Office and Tenex has been sufficient for him to be sure Wilcox received the most eligible votes.
Judge Atkins did not impose any court costs to Graham, noting the proceedings have not been an actual recount of votes.
You can hear the entire hearing below: