Court Date Set For Centreville’s Tight Mayoral Race Showdown
Incumbent Centreville Mayor Mike Oakley and his challenger Barry Cooner ended up municipal election night last month tied with 326 votes. The winner would come down to a recount adding provisional ballots the next week. On September 2nd the canvassing board found that only four of the eight provisional ballots qualified as lawful votes, adding one vote in favor of Oakley and three votes in favor of Cooner. The change put Cooner ahead by just two votes, 329 to Oakley’s 327.
Mayor Oakley then challenged the recount result results, claiming four of the eight provisional votes cast were unlawfully or illegally. Cooner has filed motions to dismiss the mayor’s complaint.
A court hearing on Oakley's claim and Cooner's motion to dismiss has been set in Bibb County Court for Monday, October 27th.
A further motion is expected soon from Oakley's attorney asking the court to examine all election materials connected to the election. That will include ballots and voter lists.
Oakley’s lawsuit argues that some illegal votes were counted and that some valid votes in his favor were missed.
He’s asking the court to throw out the certified results and name him the winner instead.
Oakley's attorney Joel Blankenship told media the lawsuit is not about a candidate being upset or making wild accusations.
Centreville is not the only municipality in Alabama where questions have been raised about election results. The ACLU of Alabama has raised concerns following multiple reports of restricted access to, "Fair, free, and safe elections during the Municipal Elections in the Cities of Dothan, Prichard, Mobile, Decatur, Tuskegee, Franklin, and Leeds."
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