City Nixes Election Results for Council Seat 5

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

A challenge to the results in the Seat 5 Anderson City Council elections has resulted in a ruling finding the winner Tonya Winbush was not eligible for the seat.

Darryl Thompson, who lost to Winbush in the race, filed a protest to the results challenging the residency of his opponent. A city municipal election commission hearing on Tuesday determined that there was not enough evidence to verify Winbush’s residency in the district thus nullifying last week’s election results in the race based on the protest. City council candidates are required to reside in the city district they are seeking at the time of filing to run for office.

In last week’s final tally, Winbush garnered 134 votes compared to 68 for Thompson.

Winbush has 10 days to file an appeal of the city’s decision to verify her residency.

If she does not appeal, or if she loses on appeal, the city will schedule a special election for the seat in the weeks ahead, which will include a filing period for candidates and the actual election. The process could take as much as 8-12 weeks.

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