A Wichita State University mathematician suing Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman isn’t optimistic that she’ll win her case. Beth Clarkson, a WSU mathematician, says she has identified anomalies with election results in Sedgwick County in the 2014 election and wants an opportunity to perform an audit. To that end, she is suing the county and the state’s top election officers. Clarkson, who filed an unsuccessful suit in 2013, told supporters in an Aug. 19 newsletter that she was not optimistic about her chances of winning in court this time.
“I have spoken with several lawyers, who nearly unanimously concur that I will lose. Those who aren’t so definitive don’t seem particularly optimistic. So far, I’ve been of the opinion that I can lose just as easily all by myself, so I’m still acting as my own attorney,” Clarkson wrote in the newsletter, which was forwarded to The Eagle.
Kobach said in an interview with The Eagle earlier this month that two statutes prevent the county from releasing the ballots to Clarkson for an audit. “It’s a felony to disclose or expose the contents of any ballot … and that’s even if the voters’ names are redacted,” Kobach said.
Full Article: WSU mathematician seeking to audit election results isn’t optimistic | The Wichita Eagle.