Election Commission certifies Shelby County May primary results
The Shelby County Election Commission voted Wednesday, May 18, to accept the certified tabulation of the Shelby County primary votes, which were reviewed by two local accounting firms. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)
The certified results of the May county primary elections kept the close races close but also added to the vote totals of several Republicans running unopposed in the first step toward countywide office.
The certified results did not change the outcome of any race on the ballot.
The Shelby County Election Commission voted 4-1 Wednesday, May 18, to accept the certified tabulation reviewed by two local accounting firms.
Election Commissioner Bennie Smith voted no because he wanted to review the results himself instead of delegating the review, required by state law, to elections administrator Linda Phillips.
“I can let you drive my car, but I own it,” Smith said at one point by way of example. “I am reserving the right to do that.”
The certified results saw no changes in the three closest races on the ballot whose winners advance to the August county general election ballot.
County Commission District 11 Democratic Primary
No votes changed in the closest race on the May ballot from the unofficial election night combined total to the certified results approved Wednesday.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools board member Miska Clay Bibbs beat Eric Winston by 18 votes.
County Commission District 7 Democratic Primary
No votes changes here either, with former Shelby County Commissioner Henri Brooks beating MSCS board member Althea Greene by 76 votes.
County Commission District 4 Republican Primary
Jordan Carpenter picked up one vote in the certified vote, which made Brandon Morrison’s margin of victory 138 votes instead of 139.
The most significant changes were in the unopposed Republican primaries for County Mayor and District Attorney General.
Mayor
Republican nominee and Memphis City Council member Worth Morgan picked up 117 votes between the election night unofficial tally and the certified vote for a total of 14,376.
District Attorney
Republican incumbent Amy Weirich added 140 votes to her total by the certified count for a total of 14,666.
Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips said there were no “significant problems” and a few clerical errors among them.
Among the certified Republican primary winners with Wednesday’s vote was District 1 commission incumbent Amber Mills who faces Democrat Donna McDonald-Martin in the August general election.
There are questions about whether Mills lives in the district, given a U.S. Census tract map used to draw district lines that differ from the Fayette county line further east.
Mills lives in the area between the two boundaries.
The election commission voted Wednesday to seek a declaratory judgment in Chancery Court on the specific question of whether Mills lives in the district and qualifies to be a candidate.
The deadline for a decision has to come before June 10 when ballots are supposed to be ready to go out in the mail for absentee and military voters.
The election commission’s attorney is seeking an expedited hearing and decision to meet that deadline.
Topics
May 2022 primaries Shelby County Election Commission 2022 elections Amy Weirich Worth Morgan Miska Clay Bibbs Brandon Morrison Henri BrooksBill Dries on demand
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Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
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