(Memphis) Kenneth Whalum Jr., Kevin Woods and the Shelby County Election Commission are waiting on a judge`s opinion.
They’re trying to get a ruling on who actually won the school board seat after claims of rampant voting mistakes.
Kenneth Whalum and Kevin Woods are serving side by side on the merged board, but in September that board drops down to only seven unified board members.
Last August Woods beat Whalum for one of those spots.
“It doesn`t matter what I think about Kevin. What matters is what I think about the children who have been suffering because of what this school board has been doing and failing to do,” said Whalum.
Whalum is suing saying nearly 600 votes were improperly cast with just over 100 votes separating the two.
“It`s disheartening for children who think of politics in their future, for candidates, for past candidates and for election commissioners who want to do the right thing,” said Whalum.
Whalum`s attorney says people inside and outside the district got the wrong ballots which lead to the errors.
The election commission says there is no doubt there were mistakes, but when you take the wrong ballots out Woods is still the winner.
“We think at the end of the day regardless the numbers will speak for themselves and we will wind this case,” agrees Woods.
Wood`s attorneys also argues it`s the voters responsibility and obligation to know what district they`re in and who their candidates are. Even if they get a wrong ballot they need to know to ask for a new one.
“This is part of the process and he had every right to dispute the election. For the last nine months we always knew this would be something we had to deal with and we are getting close to putting it behind us,” said Woods.
Tuesday’s trial is done and the judge will now write an opinion with his decision in it.
That’s expected to take about a week.
In that opinion he will make one of three decisions.
He can decide Woods won out right, he can decide Whalum actually won, or he can throw the results out and hold another election between the two.