City Councilman Peter Murphy will not get the run off election he asked for so he says he is taking it to court.
"There are a number of voters who are wanting to file a lawsuit and I will join them in seeking legal regress so the voters can elect their representative by a majority of the vote," said Murphy.
Hamilton County election commission's attorney Chris Clem responded to Murphy's demand for a run off in an email, saying the commission fully expected a lawsuit when they declared Yusuf Hakeem the district 9 winner.
"We knew there would be a lawsuit either way we voted, and we knew that Yusuf Hakeem would probably sue if we demanded a run off and we knew Peter Murphy would probably sue if we didn't," Clem said.
Murphy's argument is that the certified election results show there should have be a run off since nether candidate reached 50 percent of the vote.
It does not show the two write in votes that were thrown out because they were blank, which gave Hakeem enough percentage to win.
"The certified election result was in my favor. I don't know why I would contest a result that was in my favor. So when it became apparent they weren't going to follow their legally binding result that showed the seven write in votes then I raised the issue with them to give them a chance to correct their error and to actually hold the run off election," Murphy said.
In Clem's email to Murphy, he points out that it is not possible for the computer system to be manipulated to remove votes, even write ins. He wrote that it was explained during the Election Commission meeting.
"We certainly don't fault Peter Murphy for wanting to file suit. We just wish he would go ahead and do it or live with our decision, but threatening us when we've already asked him to please file suit, that seems a bit pointless," Clem said.
