A legal challenge to the Uniontown City Council District 2 runoff has ended after Sherman Norfleet asked the court to dismiss his own election contest, saying he could not move forward because key absentee-ballot records could not be found.
Norfleet filed a motion to dismiss on Jan. 20 in Perry County Circuit Court. In the filing, he told the court that his contest was aimed solely at “the count, and handling of the absentee ballots” from the Sept. 23 District 2 runoff and that he had been notified in November that “all absentee ballots from the run-off election could not be located.” Without those ballots available for inspection, he wrote, he was “unable to continue with this contest.”
Circuit Judge Collins Pettaway Jr. granted the motion on Jan. 23, dismissing the case with prejudice. In his order, Pettaway noted that the case was “unable to move forward based on discovery that cannot be produced by Defendant Alfreda Washington as Election Manager” and directed that each side bear its own costs.
A follow-up order entered Jan. 30 canceled a status hearing that had been set for Feb. 10 and again confirmed that the contest was dismissed with prejudice, formally closing the case. In a status report filed Jan. 27, attorneys for Uniontown City Clerk and absentee-election manager Alfreda Washington told the court that, in light of Pettaway’s Jan. 23 order, “this matter is now concluded” and asked that the upcoming hearing be taken off the docket.
Norfleet’s challenge had centered on the one-vote runoff victory of incumbent Dudley Long in District 2. In his original complaint, Norfleet alleged misconduct in the issuing, counting and handling of absentee ballots; claimed that some legal votes were rejected and illegal votes counted; and said some ballots printed and distributed in District 2 did not include his name as a candidate, in violation of state election law. The court never ruled on those allegations.
With the dismissal now final and no further hearings scheduled, the results of the Sept. 23 runoff stand as certified by the city, and Long continues to serve as the District 2 council member.
