A three-judge recount panel on Wednesday rejected Democrat Shelly Simonds’ efforts to overturn the tied result in a pivotal Virginia House of Delegates race, allowing Thursday’s random drawing to choose a winner to proceed as planned.
The recount court led by Newport News Circuit Judge Bryant L. Sugg issued an 11-page ruling refusing Simonds’ legal challenge and upholding its decision last month to review and count a disputed ballot for Republican Del. David E. Yancey in the 94th District.
Simonds’ lawyers had argued that it was too late for the judges to review the ballot because Republican observers didn’t officially dispute it during the Dec. 19 recount. The judges should not have been looking at the ballot at all during a Dec. 20 hearing to sign off on the recount results, Simonds’ team argued, but the judges said they saw no time restrictions on when they could and couldn’t consider written statements from recount officials disputing a ballot.
