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John "JD" England Will Take Mitchell Mayoral Oath Of Office Before Jan. 1

Last updated on Thursday, December 17, 2015

(MITCHELL) - John “JD” England will take the Mitchell Mayoral Oath of Office before January 1.

Because the recount commission never commenced, however, there were no final numbers issued to say which side came out on top in the recount.

According to Lawrence County Clerk Myron Rainey, a final certification of the election results will be sent to the state.

But that doesn't mean there won't be a special election held at a later date.

"The possibility remains for the court to order a special election," Rainey added. "But that is still remains to be seen. The court still must address the issues filed in candidate Dan Terrell's petition."

Mitchell mayoral candidate Dan Terrell asked to dismiss the recount portion of his court case contesting the mayoral race and Special Judge E. Michael Hoff granted that request.

In the November election Independent candidate John "JD" England defeated former Republican Mayor Dan Terrell 499-495. Democrat Eugene "Pud" Terrell received 229 votes with William H. "Bill the Truck Driver" Conley received 8 votes.

However Rainey says there are issues still to be settled.

"Mr. Terrell has filed paperwork contesting parts of the election that need to be settled," Rainey says.

Terrell's claim that some of those votes were cast by residents that did not live within the Mitchell city limits.

The court paperwork requesting the dismissal states: "During the course of the review of election materials, (it was uncovered), among other things, a multitude of illegal votes cast (far in excess of the margin of votes between Petitioner and Mr. England), a substantial number of voters who were illegally denied the opportunity to vote (also far in excess of the margin of votes ...), numerous instances of legal irregularities with 'remade' ballots (again far in excess of the margin of votes ...) and a vast amount of election materials that were not properly impounded pursuant to this Court's Order Impounding Election Materials (creating the possibility of tampering with election materials prior to the recount)."

The cause also goes on to cite that "the majority of illegal votes cast ... cannot be identified and removed from any count" made by the recount commission. "It would be impossible for the recount commission to determine which candidate received the highest number of legally cast votes," the motion noted.

Terrell's petition also states:

It will now be up to Terrell and his attorney to present their case and a judge to decide if Terrell's petition has merit.

No court date has been set at this time.

"It probably will not happen until after the first of the year," Rainey added.

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