Terri Waterman-Baylor, who lost the May 1 Democratic primary to Devante Johnson by four votes, is requesting a review of the Ward 3 ballots.
“It’s just a review of the box to make sure everything was done right and done fair,” Waterman-Baylor said.
She said if the margin had been 20 or 30 votes she could live with it, but the fact that it took three days for election officials to count the vote and it took officials a week after the election to certify the votes brought about the review.
In an earlier interview, City Clerk Servia Fortenberry said the count took time because some of the poll managers did not perform some ballot box checks as they should have been at the precinct.
That raised questions for Waterman-Baylor.
She said when she asked city officials for numbers days after the election, no one had an answer for her.
Waterman-Baylor said she didn’t know that it had come down to four votes until she spoke with an Enterprise-Journal reporter.
“Most of my updates on the numbers came from you. No one else,” she said.
She said fairness is important to her and she doesn’t feel the election was conducted in a fair way to her.
“I just want everything to be fair and make sure everything was done right,” she added.
Johnson, who worked with Tracey Felder on the Ward 3 special election recount against Selectman Albert Eubanks in 2016, said he understands the process and respects Waterman-Baylor’s wishes.
“Anyone who knows Devante Johnson, knows that Devante is all about fair elections,” he said. “If anyone knows all about the process, it’s me. It’s something that I do, I’m all about fair elections. It was a close margin and it’s her constitutional right.”
He said he wants to make sure that Baylor’s rights are protected and has agreed to the ballot box examination as she wishes.
