Fayetteville, WV (WOAY) On Wednesday morning, the Fayette County Commission held a brief meeting to decide on the election contest of William Vest, one of three male candidates for two seats on the Fayette County Republican Executive Committee Plateau District.
“…And that decision is to order a new election and order that that election for all three candidates be placed on the November 3rd ballot for the general election this year, ” said Fayette County Commissioner Allison Taylor before voting on the official motion with Commissioner Chuck Miller.
The decision ultimately invalidated the victories of Robert Shirley Love and Austin Haynes due to 96 republican ballots that non-Republicans were allowed to cast in the closed primary, 37 of which participated in the contested election – more than enough to sway the results.
“With those votes, I would have surpassed the second person who actually they declared the winner,” said Republican candidate William Vest, who contested the election results after receiving notice of the voting irregularities.
It was noted in the official order that Commissioner John Brennaman recused himself from all proceedings on this decision, as his stepson, Austin Haynes, was a candidate in the affected race.
The order also states that the improper votes were not the result of meddling, but rather failures of poll workers in multiple districts to follow proper procedure.
No other races were significantly affected.
Vest touted the importance of free and fair elections:
“We just want to make sure that we got fair elections. The county commission made the correct decision. I’m very happy with that. I mean, we’ll go forward in November, and may the winners come out on top of that. I mean, that’s the only way it should be.”
