Dissibio concedes Senate 6 race, won't contest ballot controversy
Nov. 7—bluefield — A state Senate candidate whose name was left off almost 700 Mingo County ballots during early voting for the Senate District 6 seat said Wednesday that he will let the American Civil Liberties Union continue efforts to address fair election concerns.
Democrat Jeff Disibbio of Bluefield was on Tuesday's General Election ballot for the Senate District 6 — which includes Mercer, McDowell, Mingo and part of Wayne counties — with Republican Craig Hart of Lenore and Independent Dave Sartin.
Dissibio, the president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of the Two Virginias, was not on the ballot during the May primary contest. He was added to the General Election ballot after the previous Democratic candidate, Randall Fowler, did not file campaign finance information on time with the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office.
On Oct. 29, a representative of West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner confirmed that officials were aware about an issue in Mingo County where Disibbio's name was omitted from early voting ballots. Disibbio and state Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin also confirmed that his name had been incorrectly omitted from the Mingo County ballots used during the first five days of the state's 10-day early voting period.
With all four counties reporting late Tuesday night, the unofficial results for Senate District 6 showed Hart with 22,587 votes. Disibbio had received 12,632 votes and Sartin had 1,740, according to the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office.
Unofficial vote totals recorded Tuesday in Mingo County showed Hart with 5,636 votes and Disibbio with 879. Sartin received 950 votes. The unofficial results in Mercer County showed Hart with 12,236 votes and Disibbio with 9,675 votes. An Independent candidate, Dave Sartin, had 359 votes.
In McDowell County, the unofficial totals showed Hart with 2,896 votes and Disibbio with 1,704. Sarton received 103 votes. Hart received 1,819 votes in Wayne County while Disibbio received 374 votes and Sartin received 328.
The American Civil Liberties Union — West Virginia announced in a press release on Election Day that it had filed a legal action in Mingo County Circuit Court "to rectify the disenfranchisement of hundreds of Mingo County voters."
In a Writ of Mandamus filed Tuesday in Mingo County Circuit Court, ACLU-WV is representing a voter seeking a court order requiring the clerk to correct a prior error and hold a fair election for the state Senate's Sixth District.
"For the first several days of early voting, voters were given ballots with the wrong name of the Democratic candidate for the district," according to the ACLU-WV release. "Democrat Jeff Disibbio was left off the ballot, which instead listed Randy Fowler. This resulted in nearly 700 people casting votes using an incorrect ballot. Officials then told voters who were given an erroneous ballot that they can cast a revised vote on a provisional ballot. However, state election officials have made clear this is not a proper remedy."
Disibbio spoke Wednesday about the election and the ACLU's legal action.
"With the pending case from a Mingo county citizen and the ACLU, I will likely let them take up the mantle for the fair election concerns," Disibbio said. "I understand this was likely a human error, but these types of errors cannot happen with our elections being so crucial to our democracy, so additional security measures may need to be implemented. My concern when bringing this light to this was and remains wholly on keeping West Virginia as the standard other states should aspire to become, and that all starts with election integrity."
During the May Primary Election, the incumbent senator in District 6, Republican Chandler Swope of Bluefield, lost his primary re-election bid to Hart. Swope initially contested that primary race's results. Swope alleged there were irregularities in the number of Republican ballots cast in Mingo County, but later dropped that challenge after receiving assurances from the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office that it would train poll workers and work with Mingo County's election officials.
During a visit with voters Sunday at a Princeton restaurant, Hart was asked about Mingo County's General Election ballot.
"I know that the Democrat that was elected, Randy (Fowler), they moved him off the ballot very late," Hart said. "I think it was in late August, and I wish the Secretary of State's Office would have called all the counties and told them hey, by the way, we're replacing the Democrat with somebody that didn't get any votes, make sure he's on the ballot. And I understand that didn't happen."
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