Shelly Simonds, the Democratic candidate in the now-tied race for a Virginia state house seat, plans to file suit first thing Wednesday to block a name-drawing later in the day to determine who will take the seat, and control of the House. Her opponent, David Yancey, challenged the original one-vote call of the race, and then it became an issue for the courts.
Simonds’s lawyers provided copies of the lawsuit but could not file it Tuesday because the court was closed.
Yancey appeared to beat Simonds by 10 votes on Election Day, but the recount left Simonds ahead by a single vote.
The next day, a three-judge panel decided that a ballot that had been declared ineligible during the recount should count for Yancey, tying the race at 11,608 votes apiece. […]
The Democrat’s lawsuit asserts that the panel made a "clear legal error … [that] ran contrary to Virginia law" by counting the disputed ballot.
"[T]hese decisions were manifestly unjust and if followed by other recount courts, will create both unfair and inaccurate processes for future recounts," the lawsuit claims.
The chamber will either have a 50-50 split under a power-sharing agreement if Simonds prevails or be controlled, again, by Republicans.