One of the announced candidates for South Jacksonville board president has filed suit to get his name restored to the April ballot.
The suit by Tyson Manker was filed today in Morgan County court. It names the other candidate for president..trustee Dick Samples, and the members of the South Jacksonville electoral board.
Members of the board are Megan Moore, Paula Stewart, and current board president Harry Jennings. Jennings is not running for re-election. Manker claims in the suit that Samples did not state the interest of his objection and didn’t ask what relief is requested by the board.
The board ruled in favor of Samples’ objection and struck Manker’s name from the ballot. Manker had objected to Jennings serving on the electoral board because he was biased. The board refused to remove Jennings from the board.
The electoral board ruled that Manker failed to file the necessary statement of economic interest with the Morgan County Clerk’s Office as required by state election law. The Board cited in their official decision that Manker said multiple times under oath during the hearing that he filed the statement with the Village of South Jacksonville.
Manker contends that he followed the guidance contained in an email from Morgan County Clerk Jill Waggoner that stated: “candidates will file their petition paperwork with the Village Clerk”.
A blank copy of the form obtained by WLDS lists the title of the document as “Statement of Economic Interests to be filed with the County Clerk.” A statement line just above a petitioner’s signature line states “This section will be returned to you when the Statement is filed with the County Clerk.”
The Electoral Board next meets on Wednesday at 6:15 pm to ratify entry of the Board’s Order.