TULSA, Okla. — Mykey Arthrell, the incumbent Tulsa City Councilor for District 5, is asking the Court for a new election. His opponent, Grant Miller, who won the Nov. 8th election by a margin of 24 votes, says the law is not on his side.
Tulsa County District Judge Doug Drummond heard testimony from both parties and gave them until 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday to submit further case law that would justify granting or denying a new election.
Both Arthrell and Miller admit there isn’t a lot of case law that is an apples-to-apples comparison to this case.
Arthrell filed a petition in Tulsa County Court alleging irregularities after poll workers at that precinct did not hand out city ballots to the first 30 or so voters that walked in the door at Precinct 77 on Election Day.
Arthrell says those 33 votes that were not cast could have fallen to him and would have closed the 24-vote margin by which he lost.
He is asking for a new election.
“I feel confident the judge will rule in our favor tomorrow based on the evidence that we shared because it’s clear that the voters in Tulsa weren’t given their voice in that moment and they could have made the difference in the election. So, we need to, we need a do-over,” Arthrell said.
Miller says the voters who were silenced were the ones who were not allowed to testify on Tuesday that they did indeed receive a ballot, even though the poll register was marked that they did not.
Miller says that register contains markings from poll workers documenting which ballots they handed out.
Some of those poll workers were later dismissed for not handing out the ballots.
Miller says that makes the register unreliable.
“The markings aren’t reliable because the people making those markings weren’t reliable as evidenced by the fact that they were removed from the precinct,” Miller said, “Secondly, we know that the Supreme Court has stated unequivocally that those books cannot be relied on to make prima facie showing of uncertainty. We know that. It’s clear in Jackson,”
Arthrell is hoping for a ruling tomorrow.
Miller believes the judge will take his time deciding this case.
If the judge grants Arthrell a new election, Miller says he will appeal it.
If Arthrell’s request for a new election is denied, Miller will be sworn in on Dec. 5th.
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