Court Opinion

ID: 9610005
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:35:27.098004+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:55.647448
License: Public Domain

HODGES, Vice Chief Justice,
concurring in part, dissenting in part:
Candidate Smith, the apparent loser in his bid for district judge, filed a petition in the trial court alleging irregularities which voided the election and in the alternative filed a petition for a recount.
Candidate Smith won a partial victory before the trial court who said because of irregularities in the election process he could not determine with mathematical certainty which candidate was entitled to a certificate of election and ordered a new election. Candidate Jackson, feeling aggrieved, appealed. Candidate Smith, as a victorious winner, had nothing to complain or appeal from the trial court’s judgment. He was satisfied with his partial victory.
The majority opinion correctly disapproves of the trial court’s decision, holding the irregularities alleged by Candidate Smith form no basis to void this election but then erroneously directs a certificate of election be issued to Candidate Jackson. I cannot agree with the later direction.
Candidate Smith has not abandoned his Petition for a Recount. With this Court’s reversal of the trial court judgment, the case should be returned to the trial court to conduct a statutory recount as requested.