The fight for Hays County’s Pct. 3 Commissioner seat is now heading to court.
Jimmy Alan Hall, the Democratic candidate in the Nov. 6 Pct. 3 Commissioner race, submitted a petition to the Hays County District Court to fight the result of the election.
Hall, a Wimberley area attorney, was defeated by incumbent Pct. 3 Commissioner Lon Shell by a slim 37-vote margin on Nov. 6. Results remained the same after Hall petitioned and was granted a Nov. 28 recount.
According to the petition, Hall is contesting the race on numerous grounds, all of which will be heard by a district judge in the near future. Parties expected to be present at the hearing are representatives from Hays County and the Hall and the Shell campaigns. Hall cites alleged voting mishaps and communication errors on Election Day as his reason for the petition.
Hall alleges a number of eligible voters attempted to participate in the Nov. 6 Pct. 3 Commissioner race, but were not allowed to on “improper ground that these voters didn’t live in the proper voting district.”
Hall also said voters who reside and were registered in Hays County were given provisional ballots when they should have received regular ones. Hall alleged approximately 86 percent of those ballots were rejected, “disenfranchising those voters.”
Other allegations include voters who were registered in Precinct 3 were given ballots for Precinct 2, along with confusion among voters and officials over where Texas State University students in Pct. 334 were supposed to cast a ballot Nov. 6.
“I just want every vote that was entitled to be counted, counted,” Hall said. “Some students had to travel between precinct voting locations by election officials, some of which did not get the opportunity to vote because of time.”
Hall said his team currently has anecdotal information on the matter, but is gathering evidence for the case.
Hall said there were a number of voters who were given ballots for the wrong Hays County Commissioners election.
Hays County Elections Administrator Jennifer Anderson said she has not been in contact with the district court, but she assumes she will be called as a witness in the proceedings.
According to the petition, if the evidence shows that the outcome of the election cannot be determined because of the allegations, then the court could call a new election as provided by the Texas Election Code.
“I want to let all my supporters know I am working very hard to make sure all of their votes are properly counted,” Hall said.
