Judge orders new election for Tulsa city council district 5 seat

A judge orders a new election in a Tulsa city council district. Voters in district 5 will go back to the polls in a couple of months to decide who will be their city councilor. <br/><br/>News on 6 reporter

Tuesday, April 18th 2006, 10:23 am

By: News On 6

A judge orders a new election in a Tulsa city council district. Voters in district 5 will go back to the polls in a couple of months to decide who will be their city councilor.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says the judge made the decision Tuesday morning, ruling for the losing candidate in the first election, who challenged the results because it was so close.

The first election was decided by just 21 votes - and a recount last Wednesday confirmed the outcome. But challenger Jon Kirby also raised questions about voters who had moved outside the district returning to cast ballots. That's prompted an order for a new election, on a date set by the Governor, but at least 60 days from now.

Tulsa County Election Board Secretary Gene Pace: "the cost of the election is probably going to be about $15,000 to $20,000."

The judge agreed with the argument that there were enough people who improperly voted in the election to cause the outcome to be in doubt. However, the same registration rules and checks on who is voting will apply to this new election, so the same situation could come up once again.