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The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
After one race in the Johnson City Commission election came down to a 38-vote margin of victory, it was discovered that up to 44 residents in Carter County received ballots that included the Johnson City Commission race, allowing invalid votes to potentially determine some election results.
These irregular votes stemmed from a mistake when one street, Heather Lane, was “accidentally put in the city of [Johnson City],” when, though Heather Lane has a Johnson City mailing address, it is not actually in the city limits, but fully in Carter County jurisdiction.
According to a note from Election Administrator Tracy Tanner-Harris, some Heather Lane residents told early-election workers that they “pay J.C. City taxes,” and therefore should vote in the city elections, though the letter did not address whether any election officials conducted due diligence to confirm the street was inside city limits.
Tanner-Harris declined interview requests from other media outlets regarding the incident, and the Carter County Election Commission certified the election results. Because individual votes are protected and private, election officials have no way to single out the erroneous ballots and remove them from the final vote counts.
Now, four candidates have sued the Washington County Election Commission to request a rerun of the entire election as Washington County serves as the seat of Johnson City’s government, despite the illegal votes occurring in Carter County. Three of the plaintiffs are school board candidates Zaire Gary, Ryan Berkley, and Sam Pettyjohn, while the fourth is city commission candidate Jay Emberton.
One of the plaintiffs, school board candidate Ryan Berkley, believes the suit, “isn’t just a numbers game; it’s about fairness and trust in our elections,” and also cited Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s frequent comments on efforts, “to keep elections free, fair, and forthright.” Berkley stated, “when mistakes or negligence undermine those principles, we must act.”
The lawsuit states, “The plaintiffs believe there are at least 50 illegal ballots cast in the Johnson City Commission race, thereby calling the election’s integrity into question,” and also alleges negligence, claiming the election commission, “breached its duty to ensure accurate and lawful election administration.” Therefore, plaintiffs are seeking recourse by asking for a rerun of the election or “other remedy as deemed appropriate.”
It also requests that the Washington County Election Commission be ordered “to produce all relevant documentation and records pertaining to any errors identified in the 2024 Johnson City election,” as the suit also claims there was “a discrepancy where machine totals did not align with the voter count, accounting for a difference of 2 votes,” and several voters in the Washington County election were allegedly given regular ballots when they should have been issued provisional ones.
Another candidate plaintiff, Zaire Gary, offered his perspective on the necessity of challenging the election. “Honestly, our only choice as a community, not just one candidate, not just for myself our only choice, is to file a lawsuit with the proper authorities to get this election to be redone,” Gary said. “That’s the proper process to do this. And so, it’s not that we wanted to file a lawsuit. If the election commission could just redo it, I believe that they would. It’s more about having an integrity and trust in our elections. Mistakes happen. And no matter what, like I said, we have to follow a lawsuit in order to just rectify the mistakes that happened.”
State law requires the trial of an election contest be held within 50 days of the complainant’s filing, and the earliest this suit could be heard in a Chancellor’s court would be in approximately two weeks.
Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
