Jernigan v. Curtis 622 S.W.2d 686 622 S.W.2d 686 (Cite as: 622 S.W.2d 686) Page 6 Brenda Hunt, a college graduate and schoolteacher who claimed to have studied the precinct officer's manual and who was aware of the requirement of the law, decided that oaths and affidavits were unnecessary: "Because, I told you, if you can't trust the judges (precinct officers), you shouldn't have the election anyway. That's the way I feel about it." "And I won't the next time ...." 26 on Mrs. Curtis' behalf. Tooley denied any wrongdoing, but at least one voter testified that Tooley offered her $10.00 to vote his way. Tooley's excessive concern with the presence in the area of an individual who was taking pictures appears suggestive. Billie Jo Dunn testified that she witnessed Waller and Tooley bribing voters. Adrian Lee testified that he saw Waller give money to two women. The circuit judge split the difference between 3 and 50 and decided that since 27 was 11% of the 291 votes cast in the precinct, it was insufficient to throw out the result in the precinct. It is the law that the 20% rule is irrelevant in determining whether or not to invalidate the vote of a precinct. It would appear that standing alone, the amount of proven open voting would not justify throwing out the result in this precinct. However, the open voting, the technical failures of the election officers and their defiance of the law in providing assistance to voters create an ominous backdrop for the activities of Levi Waller and Bo Tooley. Waller did go frequently to the precinct clerk to check to see if certain voters were registered. He says that he was checking on the registration of people he didn't know at their request. He is unable to explain why they would request that he check when they were going in anyway, and did not know Waller prior to coming to the poll. The same explanation of Waller's activities was offered by Eual Hunt, an election officer. He was also unable to explain the reason for the procedure. It should be noted at the outset that this is not a corrupt practices case. The contestant did not seek to disqualify Mrs. Curtis as a candidate because of her participation in bribery. Not one item of evidence was introduced to connect Mrs. Curtis with any corrupt scheme or any wrongdoing. What is alleged is that the corrupt activities of Mrs. Curtis' supporters, together with the misfeasance (and malfeasance) of the election officers, so destroyed the fairness of the election in the Fountain Run precinct that the result obtained in that precinct must be discarded. Levi Waller admitted buying votes. How many he purchased is uncertain. He admits spending between $100 and $200. Waller denies going to the bank on election day, but a teller testified that Waller did obtain a supply of $5.00 bills at the bank. This is only one of many lapses of memory on Mr. Waller's part. This was not Waller's first effort at vote buying. The Tompkinsville police chief, the Fountain Run city clerk, and the contestant's husband (who was qualified as being knowledgeable about Monroe County politics) testified that Waller had a reputation of vote buying in the Fountain Run precinct. The same reputation evidence was offered against Bo Tooley, who also worked the Fountain Run precinct on May Mitchell Taylor, a defeated magisterial candidate, testified that Brenda Hunt told him about two weeks before the election that "(t)hey bring the people to the door and have the names already written out on a piece of paper, and we take them and vote them. That way we don't have to fill out all those papers." Brenda Hunt specifically denied making that statement. *693 Adrian Lee testified that Eual Hunt had a "slate" card. A "slate" was defined as a group of candidates who pooled their money and efforts in an election. Hunt denied that he had such a card. Lee testified that Hunt told him that the practice was for him alone to assist the voters who so requested. Lee stated that Mrs. Curtis was on Hunt's slate. Hunt also denied making any such statement to Lee. That Waller and Tooley were working on behalf of Mrs. Curtis, among others, is not disputed. At one point, Waller identifies the slate of candidates which he supported. At several other points he denies remembering who he supported. The candidates which he listed as being on the slate did very well at Fountain Run. Only one of Waller's candidates lost the precinct; most won by very substantial margins. There was other evidence offered to indicate that something was amiss at Fountain Run: (1) Mrs. Curtis received only 12 votes in the Fountain Run precinct in a prior election where © 2006 Thomson/West. No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works. 299