Ballot Curing Costs Lead To Outburst

Washington County Commissioners were once again confronted with their decision to disallow ballot curing in county elections. In their meeting on Thursday, several residents voiced their displeasure over the costs that the county is paying to defend a lawsuit filed to overturn that decision. City of Washington Mayor JoJo Burgess asked commissioners for a cost comparison between the lawsuit and the amount that would be spent to cure the 259 ballots in question. In a response to Burgess, Commissioner Chairman Nick Sherman pointed out to Burgess his affiliation with the NAACP, who is a party to the lawsuit and Sherman’s concern in answering his question. The remark caused a brief outburst between the two over the reason Sherman needed to remark about the affiliation. The meeting was called back to order and ended quietly. A report says the county is paying $475 per hour fee to the special counsel hired to defend the county. Additional hourly fees of $350 for an associate attorney and $150 for paralegal work were also disclosed. Residents stepped up and complained that the money is being wasted and that ballot curing that had been done in past years would be much cheaper than a lawsuit. Sherman called the lawsuit frivolous and stood behind the decision saying that the county is following state law.