Just when you think it's safe to go back in the water, there's trouble right here in River City. On March 7 I reported that 50 extra ballots were found beyond those counted by the machine in Ward 7 on March 4. The machine count was originally reported to be 971-958 in favor of Decelles, but is now reported by the city to have been 979-964. The recount March 10 was 979-965. That's not 50 more, but whatever.

Then suddenly The Free Press reports today:

O'Sullivan's lawsuit maintains the actions by Leopold and the aide were so egregious that the Ward 7 City Council contest results should be thrown out. The case will be the subject of a hearing in Chittenden Superior Court at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Leopold, who was served court papers in the case on Tuesday, did not respond to a request for an interview. Ben Pacy, the aide who allegedlyactually [sic] broke the ballot box seals, referred questions to City Attorney Ken Schatz, who said Pacy's actions were legal and justified.

It's Ken Schatz's job to say the actions were legal and justified, but that doesn't necessarily make it so. I wonder who is alleging Ben Pacy broke the seal? I guess we'll find out Wednesday. Philip Baruth has already blogged in support of O'Sullivan's lawsuit. I don't like the sound of seals being broken and all that sort of thing, so I'm very curious about what the heck is going on in my ward.

While I'm thinking about it- I heard IRV might be against the City Charter because it supposedly says votes are to be counted at the wards, and IRV forces the votes to be tabulated at one central location. Anybody know about that?

Labels: Jonathan Leopold, paper ballot paper trail