Mayor Says He May Contest Vote

Thursday, April 5th 2007, 6:37 am

By: News On 6

BARNSDALL, Okla. (AP) _ The mayor of Barnsdall says he is considering contesting the results of an election he lost by a 90-vote margin earlier this week. Mayor Rick Parker was defeated Tuesday by Jay Cole by a margin of 274 to 184.

Parker says he knows a lot of people who voted who either do not live in Barnsdall or are convicted felons. He says that his goal is to make sure that the only people who voted in the election were those eligible to case a ballot.

Parker and Police Chief Tony Gates looked through the voter roll book at the election board office Wednesday morning.

Election officials say Parker needs to come up with enough names to convince a district judge that the results of the election could change, or he will be forced to pay the costs associated with the process.

Parker says he has found 46 names so far of people who should not have voted, including about a dozen convicted felons.

Barnsdall has about 13-hundred residents.