The Resolution of Election Disputes: Legal Principles that Control Election Challenges
650 S.W.2d 510
650 S.W.2d 510, 11 Ed. Law Rep. 354
(Cite as: 650 S.W.2d 510)
lants here. In that case, as here, the trial court made and filed
findings of fact. Among such findings was that 19 illegal
votes were cast and that since the majority voting for the
proposition presented in a local option election was only by
four votes, the 19 illegal votes constituted such an irregularity as to make it impossible to determine the true results of
the election. Peek v. Harvey, supra, at 675. No challenge on
appeal was made to such findings and the court in Peek followed the well-established rule of appellate review that such
findings were binding upon it. Peek v. Harvey, supra at 675.
The roles are reversed here, that is, the trial court denied the
contest based on findings of fact which support the judgment below, and in Peek the trial court voided the election
based on the findings mentioned above which supported that
judgment. Applying Peek v. Harvey here, we reach a result
contrary to the position of the appellants. The holding in
Peek v. Harvey, supra, was simply that where the trial
court's findings are not challenged on appeal, the same are
binding on the appellate court.
On submission of this case we permitted counsel to cite additional authorities. Appellants cited Article 9.38b of the
Texas Election Code in support of their argument that the
trial court should have declared the bond election void. Such
article provides in essence that the trial court may compel a
voter who voted illegally at a special election to reveal the
way he voted on any question at said election, or the court
may declare the election void if the number of illegal votes
is sufficient to change the outcome*514 of the election. In
construing Article 9.38b, the Corpus Christi Court of Civil
Appeals in Goodman v. Wise, 620 S.W.2d 857, 859 (1981,
writ ref'd n.r.e.), said: "This statute provides the trial court
with wide discretion in this regard, and we will not overrule
the trial court's decision unless a clear abuse of discretion
has occurred (citations omitted)."
We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion
in denying the contest based on the unchallenged findings of
fact made by it. Therefore, we overrule appellants' points of
error and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
McKAY, J., not participating.
END OF DOCUMENT
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