STARKVILLE — Austin Check’s challenge to the Ward 4 alderman Republican primary appears to be over after the party’s municipal executive committee voted Monday to keep the results in place.
Kevin Daniels was declared the winner of the April 6 contest by a 94-92 margin. On April 26, Check filed a petition formally contesting those results with the Republican Municipal Election Committee, claiming at least two of the primary’s voters didn’t actually live in the ward.
The RMEC actually agreed with Check that two voters cast ballots in the wrong ward, according to the ward’s mapping, but committee chairman Jack Forbus said those voters were listed in the Ward 4 pollbook. Therefore, they did not know at the time they voted they were in the incorrect ward, he said.
“We voted to accept the election as is, even with these two people who don’t necessarily live in the ward but were told they did and voted in the ward,” Forbus said. “… (Kevin Daniels) won the primary, so now we move on to the general election.
“Nobody did anything wrong,” he added. “The people who voted were told that they were in (Ward) 4, and that’s where they voted. The fact that their residence is in another (ward) is not their fault. They did nothing wrong. The candidates did nothing wrong. The people at the polling place did nothing wrong. Nobody did anything wrong.”
Check told The Dispatch he did not intend to challenge the primary any farther.
“I’m fine with it,” Check said. “I really am. … (Monday) night, 30 seconds after it was over, we were shaking hands. I wished (Daniels) the best of luck and offered my support.”
Daniels faces Democrat Mike Brooks in the June 8 general election.
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