The Hamilton County Election Commission on Wednesday certified the results of last week’s special election for the District 8 seat on the Chattanooga City Council, which now gives the losing candidate in the race, Marie Mott, five days to challenge the outcome in Chancery Court.
“What we’re saying here today with this certification is that based on the oversight and the authority that we have, we’ve done our job to have a fair and equitable election,” Election Commission Chairman Michael Walden said. “If other people interfered outside of that, that’s an issue for Chancery Court.”
Mott, a local activist, lost to appointed incumbent Marvene Noel by a 70-vote margin in the runoff Sept. 15, which saw turnout of 731 of the district’s 8,295 eligible voters. Mott was initially the top vote-getter in the Aug. 4 contest for the seat, securing 46.7% of the ballots, but the election went to a runoff because none of the candidates were able to secure more than 50% of the vote.
Mott and Malarie B. Marsh, the third-place finisher in the Aug. 4 race, have both filed complaints with the Election Commission. Marsh did not proceed to the runoff and endorsed Mott in the September election.
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