Lawsuit Seeks Special Election in West Virginia County After Candidate Left Off Ballot
A voter in Mingo County, West Virginia filed a lawsuit after the wrong Democratic candidate for state Senate was mistakenly printed on ballots for early in-person voting.
Jeff Disibbio became the Democratic state senate nominee for West Virginia’s 6th District in August after the primary winner, Randy Fowler, did not file required campaign finance reports and was disqualified. According to the lawsuit, during West Virginia’s early voting period Oct. 23-28, Fowler was still listed as the candidate on the ballot in Mingo County — leading to 678 voters casting incorrect ballots.
The error was discovered Oct. 28 by the ballot printing vendor and the county issued corrected ballots for the rest of the early voting period and Election Day. The lawsuit alleges that Mingo County Clerk Larry Croaff never told voters who might have been impacted by the error, but told local press that voters could vote again with a provisional ballot. West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner (R) later clarified that this solution wouldn’t work, since in-person voting is anonymous in the state and therefore there’s no way to identify affected ballots and replace them with new, corrected ballots.
Because of the error, the plaintiff alleges that Croaff’s mistake is part of a pattern of disenfranchising Democratic voters in Mingo County. The lawsuit asks the court to order Mingo County to hold a special election for constituents to cast their vote for the sixth state Senate district.
Learn more about the case here.
Original article, Oct. 29:
A Democratic candidate for the West Virginia Senate was mistakenly left off ballots in Mingo County for the 2024 election.
Jeff Disibbio, the Democratic state senate nominee for West Virginia’s 6th District, wrote on his campaign’s Facebook page that he was informed Monday that “the Mingo County Clerk’s office has been using a general election ballot that did not include my name as the Democratic nominee for State Senate.”
Because of the error, Disibbio said that “nearly 700 voters” who cast an early ballot weren’t able to vote for Disibbio, who was chosen by the state Democratic Party in August to fill the candidacy.
Randy Fowler, the original Democratic candidate who ran in the primary election, was disqualified from being on the general election ballot when he did not file the required campaign finance reports, according to reporting from West Virginia Watch.
Mingo County election officials told Disibbio that they accidentally printed ballots with Fowler’s name as the Democratic candidate, instead of his.
WOWK TV reports that Mingo County Clerk Larry Croaff said that the mistake was a “miscommunication” and a “human error” between the county’s Board of Elections and the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office. Croaff told the local TV station that the ballot issue has been resolved and new ballots were printed.
Though the ballots without Disibbio’s name that were already cast won’t be thrown out, Croaff said his office is mailing corrected ballots to people who requested an absentee ballot and they can request to cancel their original ballot if they already mailed it in.
In a statement, Disibbio said that this error directly benefits his opponent and added that he “will be taking all necessary actions available to ensure we have a free and fair election for State Senate throughout all the counties of District 6, including Mingo County.”
In a statement on X, West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin called on the Mingo County Clerk to ensure no voters are disenfranchised because of the ballot error.
“It is critically important that every voter has the opportunity to consider the correct candidates on the ballot,” Pushkin said. “This election is about ensuring that every voice is heard and every choice is honored. While mistakes happen, it’s crucial that immediate steps are taken to correct this and ensure that voters in SD 6 can vote for the candidates who rightfully qualified to be on their ballot. Elections should be about the people’s voice, not about administrative errors. We will exhaust every legal option to ensure the integrity of our democratic process is upheld.”