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Legal Defense Fund:
Lawsuit Filed Contesting Results
of Fredericksburg Charter Amendment Election
Did the November 5, 2019 measure to stop adding commercial grade fluoride chemicals to Fredericksburg’s public water supply really fail by 63%? Many in Fredericksburg didn't think so and as a result signed a petition for a manual recount.
After questions arose about the legality of the November 22 recount, two voters filed suit against Mayor Langerhans contesting the City of Fredericksburg Charter Amendment election result.
Jeannette Hormuth, Treasurer of the PAC that supported the measure to end fluoridation, and Jerry Farley, an election judge of Precinct 2, filed an election contest on December 31st asserting that the outcome of the Charter Amendment election, as shown by the official recount results and canvass, cannot be known because the election appears to be tainted by material illegalities, irregularities and/or potential fraud.
As cited in an 18-page election contest, supplemented with over 900 pages of evidence, they contend election officials recounted votes that were legally insufficient, failed to recount legal votes, made mistakes and/or engaged in illegal conduct.
According to Texas law, ballots must be signed by the presiding judge of the precinct where votes were cast and if ballots are not pre-signed by the election judge, the ballots shall not be given to voters. In the petition, Ms. Hormuth and Mr. Farley assert that over 400 Election Day ballots used in the recount from Precinct 4 did not contain the signature of the election judge. They claim the ballots were legally insufficient and should not have been used in the recount because they could not be authenticated as original ballots cast.
Moreover, the petition cites that over 120 absentee, early vote and Election Day ballots appear to be missing. Further discrepancies were found in the recount of the results.
Finally, during the computer tabulations of ballots on Election Day and during the recount, notarized affidavits report that obstructions of official central counting station watchers and recount watchers had occurred.
While the petition cites that the sum of the ballot and tabulation issues are enough to potentially invalidate the official results, the lawsuit also raises that the City of Fredericksburg’s and Gillespie County’s sign ordinances are overly restrictive, are unconstitutional, and violated free speech laws.
The voting provisions of the Texas Constitution and Texas Election Code are important safeguards to ensuring honest and verifiable elections. What happens when officials ignore mandatory election laws dealing with tabulations, recounts, and free speech?
In this case, if the judge finds that so many material illegalities occurred and the election results cannot be ascertained or validated, the court has the authority to declare the election void and a new election could be ordered.
Original Petition Initiating Election Contest
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