Candidate seeks new vote after blunder

BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A week after the Parker Water and Sanitation District board of directors election where 96 registered voters did not receive mail-in ballots, candidate Kory Nelson is asking a Douglas County District Court to order a new election.

Following the preliminary election results, Nelson, who nished fourth, refused to concede “until every voter is given a fair opportunity to vote,” he said in a May 3 press release.

On May 2, Parker Water and Sanitation held a special district election to ll three board seats.

According to the uno cial results, Nelson 26 votes behind the thirdplace candidate one day after the election.

e election will be certi ed by May 16, and the top three candidates who received the most votes will be elected to the board, according to the Parker Water District.

On May 10, Nelson asked the district court to intervene, citing a botched elections process and the “disenfranchisement” of over 90 voters that changed the outcome of election results, he said in a press release.

Nelson said the election results should be deemed invalid because 48 hours before the May 2 election Parker Water discovered that ballots were not sent to nearly 100 residents. “ en (the district) scrambled haphazardly to try to remedy its mistake at the last minute,” Nelson said in the press release. “ e district placed a huge burden on the disenfranchised voters to nd information about the candidates and the election, obtain a ballot in person, mark the ballot and then submit the ballot in person — all within 24 hours.”

Ron Redd, the district manager of the Parker Water and Sanitation District, said the district had posted numerous public noti cations about the election a few weeks in advance.