Del. Kimble questions the election loss, saying the GOP vote exceeded the number of registered GOP voters

Citing possible “voting irregularities,” House Rep. Laura Kimble, R-Harrison, will formally challenge the results of the recent primary election after narrowly losing by six votes against Tim McNeely.

She wants to confirm whether any non-Republican voters cast a ballot in last month’s closed Republican primary. In your opinion submission, there are 28 in total Cases in which the number of Republican ballots cast in the contested election appears to exceed the number of registered Republicans who voted in the county in question.

Kimble’s challenge follows a recount completed that she had lost to McNeely in the 71st District.

“I realize this will change my election in the long run, but I hope that at least the information we have will help protect the integrity of future Republican primaries,” she said in a telephone interview Monday. “We’ll see what the weakness is in this whole process.”

The Republican primary was closed this yearMeaning Only registered Republicans could request a Republican ballot.

Kimble said her challenge was prompted by voting problems in Fayette County, where county clerk Michelle Holly said there were reports of independent voters receiving Republican ballots. As reported, Holly has since called for changes to West Virginia’s voting procedures and modern voting equipment from Lootpress.

“After that article, I thought, ‘Wait a minute, could this have happened here? Is that a possibility?'” Kimble said. She contacted her local county clerk, who told her it was “technically possible” that there were irregularities in the election Something like non-Republicans voting in the Republican primary could have happened in Harrison County.

Kimble filed the lawsuit June 5 with McNeely and the Harrison County Commission. According to the file “There are discrepancies between voter history and precinct results, suggesting that several precincts in the 71st District had more Republican ballots counted than the number of registered Republicans.

“Because I requested the recount … I still had time to ask those questions and then challenge the election,” Kimble said.

Kimble emphasized that she doesn’t blame poll workers for potential errors and said paper ballots could have prevented potential errors in ballot distribution.

There was In the May primary election, 688 votes were cast for McNeely and 682 votes for Kimble.

McNeely is the former athletic director at Fairmont State University. In the November general election, he will face Democratic challenger Robert Garcia, brother of current House Rep. Rick Garcia, D-Marion.

Kimble is currently chair of the House Legal Services Subcommittee.