CENTRE — Three candidates for municipal office in Cedar Bluff sued the town and their election opponents last week in Cherokee County Circuit Court to stop next month's scheduled run-off election. In their lawsuit they cite concerns over the possible mishandling of absentee ballots.

Centre attorney J. Shane Givens is representing Jimmy Wallace, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor, and town council candidates Billie Burkhalter and Lenora McWhorter. Burkhalter ran for reelection to her seat as the District 1 representative. McWhorter faced Donald Sanders for the District 2 spot.

As required by law in an election challenge, the lawsuit names the town of Cedar Bluff, along with mayoral candidates Ethel Sprouse and Steve Lay, District 1 candidates Evan Smith and Tim Miller, and District 2 candidate Sanders as defendants.

Givens filed the suit after the town certified the results of the Aug. 28 municipal election on Tuesday.

Specifically, the plaintiffs claim that “38 absentee ballots were cast in the General Election,” of which four “were spoiled and not counted.” Another ballot was not counted “for reasons that are presently unknown.” Three other ballots were allegedly cast by non-residents of Cedar Bluff.

Of the remaining absentee ballots, a majority was “picked up from the town clerk's office by agents of certain candidates,” instead of being mailed or hand-delivered to individuals wishing to vote absentee, the plaintiffs charge. Such actions would violate the state of Alabama's election laws.

According to the lawsuit, former Cedar Bluff Town Clerk Mary Shaner, who currently works as a secretary for District 1 candidate Smith, and Glenda Smith, the candidate's wife, witnessed multiple ballots. Becky Sanders, wife of District 2 candidate Donald Sanders, also handled over a dozen absentee ballots in the weeks before the election.

Others who witnessed multiple ballots were town clerk DeLana Martin and local notary publics Debbie Shaw and Penny Scott.

Because of the possibility that state law was not properly followed, the plaintiffs are asking that the election results either be annulled or the absentee ballots be thrown out. They also ask for an injunction to prevent the town from holding the Oct. 7 runoff until a decision is reached.

The plaintiffs assert that if the 27 votes they consider illegal are thrown out,  Burkhalter would win her District 1 race. As the vote count stands now, she will face Smith in a runoff. Smith received all eight of the absentee votes cast in District 1.

In District 2, McWhorter and Sanders are scheduled to face each other in the runoff. The 15 absentee votes Sanders received gave him a nine-vote edge over McWhorter (43-34), who only received three absentee votes. If the absentee ballots are disallowed, McWhorter would win the council seat by three votes (31-28).

In the race for mayor, the runoff will be between Lay and Sprouse. With the absentee votes removed, however, Wallace would move into second place by three votes and face Sprouse on in the runoff election.

Givens said his clients are tired of Election Day irregularities in the small town on the shores of Weiss Lake.

“There have been complaints about absentee ballots in Cedar Bluff for years,” he said. “My clients just want to make sure everything was done legally this time. It seems to be a recurring scene that something is wrong with these votes and they are just hoping if something is done this time, then future elections can go forward with no questions about legitimacy.”

Givens confirmed that all three circuit judges who operate in Cherokee County have recused themselves from the case because of the involvement of Smith, who practices in Centre. Givens said their recusal almost surely means the runoff election will be delayed.

“A judge will have to be appointed, which means the runoff election is probably not going to happen on time,” he said. “Everyone wants this resolved as quickly as possible, but the wheels of justice turn slowly.”

A lawyer for Cedar Bluff said officials there are primarily concerned with ensuring that the General Election was conducted fairly for all candidates.

“The town is interested in making sure all votes that were properly cast be counted, and that any that were not be excluded, if there were any,” said Bill Hawkins of Buttram, Hawkins and Hopper. “We want to make sure the runoff occurs in a timely fashion with duly-elected and qualified candidates, whoever they may be.”