The Idaho Supreme Court heard arguments today in a challenge to the outcome of a Coeur d’Alene City Council election from November 2009. Jim Brannon, who narrowly lost a council seat to Mike Kennedy, pressed his lawsuit against the city to the state’s high court after losing in district court nearly two years ago. Coeur d’Alene lawyer Starr Kelso, arguing Brannon’s appeal, raised nearly two dozen issues in the case in filings with the Supreme Court.
In oral arguments today in Coeur d’Alene, Kelso focused on the legitimacy of several absentee ballots cast by voters living out of state, as well as a disparity in the total number of absentee ballots cast and counted in the Nov. 3, 2009, election. Either point, he argued, is reason to void the election results. Kelso also argued the city did not have the legal authority to contract with Kootenai County to conduct the election, and he alleged misconduct on the part of the county’s elections department.
Full Article: Idaho justices hear Coeur d’Alene election challenge – Spokesman.com – Sept. 19, 2012.