Friday, December 28, 2012

December 28, 2012 "Forging Ahead" Wants in on Pigeon Forge LBTD Election Contest

Another player in the Pigeon Forge liquor-by-the-drink referendum wants in on the election contest.

LBTD passed by a 100-vote margin in a November 6 referendum. A lawsuit was subsequently filed alleging that 300+ ballots cast in the election were not from registered Pigeon Forge residents or property owner voters.

Forging Ahead, a group that raised money and campaigned to support passage of LBTD, has filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit that was filed by Concerned Churches and Citizens of Pigeon Forge against the Sevier County Election Commission.

Forging Ahead is represented by former Knox County Law Director John Owings and wants to intervene in order to "protect its interests and assist the court in consideration of this matter...."

Owings wants his motion heard on January 4, six days before the scheduled start of the trial on January 10 before Chancellor Telford Forgety.

In yesterday's News-Sentinel, the attorney for the Sevier County Election Commission confirmed that most of what he called "extra" votes were cast at the Pigeon Forge City Hall precinct. Attorney Dennis Francis added that he expects that the final number of "extra" votes will be in the high 200s.

The News-Sentinel article is here.

The original complaint filed in Sevier County Chancery Court is here. Paragraphs 10-22 outline the bases of the allegation that approximately 303 improper votes were cast in a referendum that passed by a 100-vote margin.

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