Ballot recount confirms Tiffany Yahr won Fayette County Family Court judicial race
More than two months after the Nov. 8 general election, a contested Fayette County Family Court race has finally been decided after a recount.
Tiffany Yahr, who won the November general election by 127 votes, picked up an additional nine votes during a recount conducted last week requested by her opponent and incumbent Carl Devine. Preliminary numbers show Devine picked up four votes.
“Judge Elect Yahr appreciates the trust that the voters have placed in her and the hard work done by the county clerk and the county board of elections on behalf of the public,” said Anna Whites, Yahr’s lawyer. “She looks forward to serving the Commonwealth.”
It’s not clear when Yahr will be sworn in. Whites said it’s likely a date will be announced Tuesday.
Yahr received 36,082 votes. Devine received 35,946, according to preliminary numbers provided to the court by Angela Evans, the Fayette County Attorney and attorney for the Fayette County Board of Elections.
Devine, who was appointed to the open position by Gov. Andy Beshear in February, challenged how some of the recount was conducted last week in court documents and in a hearing on Friday, but believed “it is time to move forward.”
“I want to wish Ms. Yahr all the best on the bench. I want to thank Governor Andy Beshear for the opportunity to serve in the position as Fayette Family Court Judge. It was my honor to serve the families and children of Fayette County in this position,” Devine said. “Most importantly, I want to thank all of those that supported me in this election and all of those with whom I got the pleasure to work. Vince Riggs, our Court Clerk, and his staff are phenomenal.”
A vote counter who participated in last week’s proceedings, which took place over several days, also called Fayette Circuit Judge Thomas Travis’ office and expressed reservations about how the recount was conducted.
Some of the issues raised had to do with who decided when there was a question about a ballot.
Travis gave Devine and his attorney Scott White until Monday morning to decide if they wanted Travis to look at some of the ballots in question during a Tuesday hearing at the voting center.
White, in court documents filed Sunday, said Devine has opted not to pursue the matter further.
During a Friday court hearing, White said there could be more than 80 ballots that may be in question because the voter may have marked boxes for both Yahr and Devine.
Lawyers for Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins Jr. argued those ballots were not counted because the machine would not have counted ballots that had marks for both candidates. Moreover, the voting machines detect when that happens and allows the voter to fix the mistake. If the voters don’t fix it, the vote in that race is not counted.
Lawyers for Blevins said Fayette County Sheriff Kathy Witt and others in the clerk’s office who oversaw the recount were willing to testify the vote recount was conducted as Travis had previously instructed.
Devine had to post a $70,000 cash bond in order for the recount to proceed. White wrote in a motion filed this week that Travis still had to determine how much it cost for the recount and to remit the remainder of the bond to Devine.
Family court judges serve eight-year terms. Yahr will fill a seat on the bench first vacated by Kathy Stein when she retired in February.
