RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) -- Richmond City Councilman Bruce Tyler filed a lawsuit in Richmond Circuit Court contesting the outcome of the November election. Tyler lost the 1st District race by 22 votes to challenger Jon Baliles. The civil lawsuit named Baliles as the lawsuit's contestee.
According to court documents obtained by CBS 6, Tyler claimed some Richmond voters were disenfranchised during the election. He cited several "irregularities" that happened during the election that impacted vote totals.
The irregularities Tyler cited include:
- 10 or more voters who applied for absentee ballots, but never received one
- Seven or more voters who received absentee ballots "too late to timely cast them"
- 15 voters whose absentee ballots were rejected without prior notice
- One voter who was allowed to vote for president, but not Richmond City Council
- One precinct reported 12 more votes than voters recorded in the pollbook
- One precinct reported nine more votes than voters recorded in the pollbook
In the lawsuit, Tyler asked the court declare him the winner of the election. He said if the court did not do so, it should conclude there was no winner and call a special election to resolve the race.
The election is currently under a recount scheduled to take place Dec. 19.
