A Henry County judge has ordered a special election in Knightstown, Indiana, due to an electronic voting error that allowed people living outside the town to vote in the primary elections for clerk-treasurer and town council positions.

Election Error Discovered

Election officials were unable to determine the exact number of ineligible people who cast ballots. The error directly impacted the race for Knightstown clerk-treasurer, in which candidate Bart Whitesitt lost to Karla Gorman by a margin of 238 to 235.

Whitesitt and town council candidate Desiree Payton are suing the Henry County election board over the error. Gorman stated that Whitesitt has every right to ask for a special election, but she wouldn’t have challenged the results if the count were reversed.

The council at-large primary race was not as close, but the judge ordered a reset for both contests anyway. Party leaders believe a special election is the way to get an accurate result.

The county clerk now has over a week to come up with a plan for the special election, which will likely take place late July or early August.

Original reporting: 93.1 WIBC (Indianapolis) — read the source article.