Cabelka says the election process, not the winner, is the issue in challenge to sheriff’s runoff

District Attorney Kyle Cabelka said it’s questions about the election process — not the candidate who won — that prompted him to file a petition to stop certification of the Comanche County sheriff’s race.

Cabelka cited irregularities in that Aug. 27 election where Comanche County Republicans were selecting their nominee to face the Democratic candidate for sheriff in the Nov. 5 General Election. Michael Merritt beat Andy Moon by a 628-vote margin, but starting the day of the election, claims have arisen that ballots were given to Democrats or independents who couldn’t vote in that election. An analysis later that week by the Comanche County Election Board and Oklahoma State Election Board auditors found eight instances where ballots were distributed when they should not have been.

The Comanche County Election Board, citing Cabelka’s petition, voted Aug. 30 against certifying the sheriff’s race and last week, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office (representing both election boards) filed a motion with Comanche County District Judge Jay Walker asking him to dismiss Cabelka’s petition. Walker will hear arguments at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

“In my opinion, we shouldn’t have these questions,” Cabelka said about the election. “In today’s current climate, so many people are cynics about this process. There are questions, and election officials on so many levels are not responding. That’s why I’m doing this. It’s not to get Mr. Moon another election or get Mr. Moon elected.”

“I don’t have confidence in who the winner is,” he said, adding he also has doubts about every election that took place in Comanche County Aug. 27.

Cabelka said it was a complicated series of issues and changing answers to his questions that led him to craft the petition alleging irregularities and file that petition with Comanche County District Court rather than the Comanche County Election Board.

A news story by KSWO-Channel 7 first alerted him to problems, quoting a man who said he was given a ballot to vote for sheriff although he wasn’t a Republican and told election officials that. Cabelka said he also saw that Election Board Secretary Amy Sims was quoted in news stories, saying she never consulted with him about the issue.

Initial responses shocked him, Cabelka said, explaining he was told such irregularities were not uncommon and election results would be certified. Cabelka said because he knew there was at least one improper vote cast in one precinct, he suggested every precinct be reviewed to ensure more had not happened. Initially told it would be difficult to do before the certification deadline, Cabelka said he later found election officials were reviewing records and had found more instances where voter registrations did not match the number of ballots cast. Three instances occurred in a precinct where only 15 ballots were cast.

“I became extremely concerned because of the high percentage of error,” he said, adding he suggested Sims go through all precincts to ensure the margin for irregularities wasn’t that high elsewhere.

Cabelka said reviews found other problems, including the fact a precinct had not followed a requirement specifying each voter registering to vote was to be accompanied by the ballot code (which indicates which ballot to give the voter).

He discussed the issues with the state election board’s legal counsel, saying she told him while procedures weren’t followed, such instances are common and “it won’t change anything” because of the 600-plus vote margin of victory for Merritt.

“Even if it did not change anything, we want to make make sure our elections are done right,” he said.

Within an hour of the counsel telling him she would talk to her boss, Cabelka became aware that Lawton-area legislators had requested State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax to do an investigative audit, which was done. Discussions with those state auditors left him frustrated, Cabelka said, adding his questions about the process and changing numbers in irregularities made state officials defensive and, in one instance, angry.

Cabelka said another concern arose after discussions with Comanche County officials about the process to file a protest. When Cabelka told Sims he had a protest to file, Cabelka said a state official said he could not do so because he was not a candidate. He said the ensuing discussion left Sims confused about what to do, with Cabelka saying he wanted to file the petition and the state auditor telling her not to accept it.

Because the petition was not accepted by election board officials, Cabelka filed it in district court. He said time was the reason: state law says challenges to election results must be filed by 5 p.m. the Friday after the election.

“It was only because of Amy Sims’ refusal to accept my petition that I filed my civil case,” he said.

Last week, another issue surfaced. Cabelka said he has requested election documents from the Comanche County Election Board and they were not provided, despite the fact those precinct registries, tapes of records from machines and the list Sims created of precinct registries fall under the State Open Records Act.

Cabelka said he isn’t certain what will happen in the election, based on the legal actions.

A motion for dismissal filed by Assistant Attorney General Evan J. Edler cites the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act that specifies such people must receive their absentee ballots 45 days before the General Election. That means the Republican runoff election for sheriff must be certified no later than Sept. 13.

“The last thing I want is to delay a general election,” Cabelka said, adding that should any ruling be appealed, he isn’t certain the sheriff’s race can be held Nov. 5. “If the judge says he can determine with mathematical certainty that Merritt won, there is time. If there is an appeal, it seems unlikely.”

Cabelka reiterated his issue is integrity, not who won. He said while he is on record as supporting Moon, his actions are on behalf of residents.

“If the people in this county experience what I experience, I hope they would be just as offended as I have been,” he said.