A West Virginia state senator who lost his seat in last month’s primary election has filed a complaint challenging the election results.
Sen. Chandler Swope (R-Mercer) filed the appeal with the Mingo County Commission. In a notice filed Wednesday, Swope said he intends to challenge all votes cast in seven precincts and will audit voter rolls throughout the county. He reserves the right to amend the appeal to include additional precincts if irregularities are found.
According to the West Virginia Department of State, Swope’s opponent Craig Hart won 75%, or 2,152 votes, in Mingo County, while Swope received 364 and former state delegate Eric Porterfield received 344 votes.
Statewide, Hart won the election with 4,847 votes, or about 40%, while Swope received 4,384 votes, or about 37%. Porterfield received 2,633 votes, or 22% of the vote.
Swope’s appeal includes four affidavits and a sworn letter from Mingo County voters alleging irregularities in the primary election. One said he, a registered Democrat, was allowed to vote in the Republican primary; another Democratic voter said they received a ballot that listed Republican candidates for county assessor and commissioner.
Two other independent voters said that a poll worker watched them vote, thus violating their privacy. In another case, the voter claimed that he was denied the choice of which primary to vote in, despite his party affiliation.
“Based on the information and assumptions available, these do not appear to be isolated cases,” the lawsuit states. “In fact, the turnout figures across Mingo County indicate statewide discrepancies that may affect every precinct in the county.”
Swope retired from the construction industry and was first elected in 2016. He was one of the four incumbent state senators to lose their seat in the primaries.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, 5,072 voters, or about 30 percent of Mingo County voters, participated in the primary election, compared to 30 percent of registered voters statewide.
According to the complaint, 3,554 votes were cast in Mingo County in the Republican primary, representing a turnout of about 69 percent. In the Democratic primary, 1,440 votes were cast, representing a turnout of 19 percent, the complaint states.
Swope, whom we reached on Wednesday afternoon, said the election challenge is not about bitterness over the election results, but about ensuring fair elections.
“I think there was enough suspicion to warrant a follow-up,” Swope said. “It’s not that I’m jealous of the election, but whether you win or lose, you want a fair election. Everyone wants a fair election, and that’s my motivation.”
