(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Last week in a race fraught with indications of scandal, a Republican sheriff candidate in Louisiana lost by a single vote, leading to calls for a recount or a new election altogether.
As it turns out, two individuals in Caddo Parish may have voted twice, which of course could radically alter the outcome of the race, State of the Union reported.
As seems to happen all-too-often, the declared victor in the race was a Democrat—Henry Whitehorn—and the declared loser was Republican John Nickelson.
The race was allegedly decided by one vote in an election in which over 43,000 people voted.
Last week after the race, Nickelson suggested that, because of the “extraordinarily narrow margin,” the parish should engage in “a hand recount to protect the integrity of our democratic process.”
In response, Clerk of Court Mike Spence, the Caddo Parish conducted a recount on Monday, but only of absentee ballots since the voting-day ballots were case via touchscreen and had no paper trail.
Both candidates picked up an additional three votes following the recount, which still put Whitehorn a single vote ahead.
But even before the outcome was announced, Nickelson—who is now suing to contest the result—had penned a letter to his opponent calling for a new election altogether.
“No matter what happens in any court battle following Monday’s machine recount of more than 7,700 absentee ballots many voters in our community would feel deeply disenfranchised and will question the legitimacy of this election,” he wrote.
According to the Republican candidate, a “special second runoff election” is particularly necessary because the “unique circumstances” cannot “withstand” judicial or public scrutiny.
“For that reason,” he added, “I invite you to join me in asking the district court to order a special second runoff election.”
As of the time of this writing, Whitehorn had not responded.
Spence insisted, that there was no serious case for election fraud, and that the two voters did not vote twice knowingly.
“It’s a sad situation because it’s two people who didn’t understand what they were doing,” he said. “This wasn’t malicious.”
