COEUR D'ALENE -- New details are emerging about a growing election fraud investigation in Kootenai County. Nine months after a tight race for a Coeur d'Alene city council seat is still not over.
Jim Brannon lost to incumbent Mike Kennedy by just five votes. Now Brannon is suing and calling the election flawed.
For the last month, independent observers and those representing both sides, have been going over absentee ballots from that 2009 race. Court documents filed last week show more alleged voter discrepancies that could reverse the election.
After two weeks of getting a second look over, ballots are heading back to the Sheriff's Office for safekeeping. Now, the question is whether those ballots were legal.
KREM 2 News first reported in March the alleged discovery of election fraud from November 2009. Private investigators for Jim Bannon found people they say voted illegally. They claim they voted either from another country or from outside the city.
After a long battle, Brannon got Kootenai County to open up the ballots for a review. Last Friday, an affidavit filed by one of Brannon's supporters documents more apparent problems. Bill McCrory took pictures of absentee ballots and says he found 877 'anomalies'. Everything ranging from a lack of signatures to people signing ballots that were not theirs. Brannon's attorney says there are enough problems to alter the results of the election.
Attempts to reach County Clerk Dan English were unsuccessful. Mike Kennedy's attorney said he had not seen the filing. A more formal conclusion of the ballots from a judge is expected soon. The trial is scheduled to start in September which almost a year after the election.
