Fayetteville, WV (WOAY) – The Fayette County Commission held an evidentiary hearing Wednesday in the ongoing dispute over the Male Plateau District race for the Fayette County Republican Executive Committee, a race in which voters cast two votes and two seats are awarded.
William Vest, who first raised the issue after the May primary, sparked the proceedings after the commission notified him that illegal votes had been cast in the race. Certified results show Robert Shirley Love finishing first with 400 votes, Austin Haynes second with 377, and Vest third with 349. The margin separating Haynes from Vest is 28 votes with thirty-seven ballots having been confirmed as illegally cast.
For Vest, the dispute goes beyond his own standing in the race.
“It’s not about the candidates. It’s about voter integrity. That’s what it’s all about. And my hope is to see that it will be put on the election in November. And then that way it can be resolved,” Vest said.
Wednesday’s hearing called two witnesses: Fayette County Clerk Michelle Holly and Vest. Holly testified that there is no way to identify which ballots were illegally cast, determine for whom they were cast, or remove them from the pool.
Love, who currently holds the most votes in the race, said he is prepared for whatever outcome the commission reaches, including the possibility of running again.
“You’ve got to be comfortable if you’re going to get into politics and do elections. You got to be willing to run whenever you have to run. So if we have to go back to this again in November, we can go do it. I’d like to see myself go ahead and be instated. But there’s a question of can we tally the exact vote versus can we realize that I do land in one of the top two spots,” Love said.
The commission left Wednesday without a decision. Each party has been asked to submit a brief for consideration. Vest said he is confident in the process.
“It’s in the county commissioners hands. They know what is right and what is wrong. And hopefully they’ll make the correct decision.”
A decision is expected at the July 22nd commission meeting. There is no word yet on how the vacant seats will be handled in the interim. Newswatch 4 will continue following this story.
