Andrew Julow. Courtesy photo.
A candidate in the Democratic primary for the House seats representing Grand Isle County will contest the results of the Aug. 9 election.
Andrew Julow announced Monday that he will contest the election after a recount found that there were 35 ballots in South Hero that were not accounted for on the voter checklist.
Julow initially appeared to have won one of the two Democratic nominations for the November election.
Incumbent Rep. Mitzi Johnson was the clear leader in the four-candidate field. According to election night count, Julow won the second nomination by a margin of 10 votes over retired superior court judge Ben Joseph. Julow is a former North Hero school and Grand Isle Supervisory Union board member, and an owner of a software design company.
However, results from a recount reversed the results, putting Joseph ahead of Julow by 19 votes.
The recount found that there were a total of 772 voters on the South Hero voter checklist across all three party primaries in the Aug. 9 election. However, there were 807 ballots cast, according to notes Julow provided from the recount report.
Representatives of both candidates and the county clerk signed a statement from the recount team that the 35 ballots “cannot be explained by the recount team’s investigation,” according to a statement Julow released Monday.
He decided not to contest the certification of the recount because he agrees with the statement, he said. However, he finds the difference between the voter checklist and the number of ballots troubling.
“Having 35 ballots that are unaccounted for to me just calls the entire election into question,” Julow said.
His ideal solution would be to find a way to represent the voters in the Aug. 9 primary, he said.
“At present, I don’t think we can do that,” Julow said.
Joseph was unavailable for comment Monday.
William Senning, director of elections and campaign finance at the Secretary of State’s Office, said that while recounts in elections are not unusual, the situation in the Grand Isle House Democratic race is.
“The best case scenario is that we find the actual result, one way or another,” Senning said.
To contest the election, Julow will need to take his case to court and argue that either error or fraud occurred in the election process and was significant enough to change the result, or that the result is invalid for another reason, according to state statute.
If the judge determines that Julow’s argument is compelling to believe that the primary election results are invalid, there could be a second recount or another election.
The recount in the Grand Isle House Democratic race was one of two recounts statewide.
Last week, after a recount in the Washington County Senate Democratic primary, a judge ruled that former sergeant-at-arms Francis Brooks won that contest over deputy state’s attorney Ashley Hill by one vote.
Julow feels “conflicted” about the situation in the Grand Isle House race. He would prefer that the election was resolved with a clear result, he said.
“It’s hard for me personally to continue to drag this on but I think it’s the right thing to do,” Julow said.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Grand Isle House candidate to contest primary election.