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Park County commissioners send disputed GOP central-committee slate to district court after recount finds counting errors
Summary
Park County commissioners voted to refer the Republican central committee’s contested ballot results to district court after a recount by party tellers uncovered under-votes, a missing tally entry and small changes to candidate totals that left a tie among the lowest vote-getters and procedural questions about a tie-break rule.
Park County commissioners voted Wednesday to ask a district court judge to resolve a dispute over the Park County Republican Central Committee’s selection of candidates after the committee’s on-site recount found counting errors and under-voted ballots.
The central committee recount was conducted at the Wapiti room of the Park County Public Library by party tellers Jody Thompson, Brandy Nelson and chairman Martin Kemet, who told the commissioners he had been asked to review the ballots after concerns were raised. “I will take full responsibility for this mistake, and I don't want anybody else to blame,” Kemet said, apologizing to applicants and to the commission.
The recount found two under-voted ballots that were discarded and one ballot that committee members believe was not included on a tally sheet during the original count. The tellers reported small changes in several candidate totals when they re-tallied the ballots: Dave Baker (original 69, recounted 67); Terry Call (55 and 55); Robert Ferguson (76 and 75); Alan Gilbert (79 and 77); Paul Lunchberry (56 and 55); and Don Shreve (82 and 81). The recount total, excluding the two under-votes and the missing tally entry, produced a total that was a multiple of five, the tellers said.
Kemet told the commission the committee discovered that the first-round totals should have been a multiple of five and “it’s something I did not anticipate,” and that the committee’s rules and procedures for handling ties and re-votes were not followed on the night of the selection. A central-committee member present at the recount said the group’s own rule number 12 requires a re-vote where a tie occurs on a given ballot round.
Commissioners said the irregularities left them with limited options because state law puts strict time limits on filling vacancies. Chairwoman Kelly Stewart noted the commissioners are “required to act on the central committee's recommendation within 5 days,” and that if they did not act, the matter could be taken to district court where a judge would have 30 days to act.
Given the uncertain record of the central-committee proceeding and the competing interpretations of the committee’s procedures, a commissioner moved to refer the matter to the district court for resolution under Wyoming statute (as cited during the meeting). The motion passed by voice vote; the commission did not record a roll-call tally.
What happens next: Under the statutory route discussed at the meeting, a qualified elector could file a petition with the clerk of the district court asking a judge to fill the vacancy if the commissioners fail to fill it in the required time. Commissioners said they would determine what documentation to send the court and notify applicants of the next steps.
The commissioners and the central committee members said they regret the situation and cited the need for clearer procedural guidance from state GOP authorities to handle future contests. Kemet told the panel he and the tellers had reviewed the ballots multiple times and said they had confidence in the re-tally, but that the committee “should have a procedural rule from the state GOP…because we don't do this every day.”
