Klumker V. Allred

This is an election contest. The unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the office of county commissioner in Catron County in 1988,*fn1 Georgia Klumker, challenged the result of the election, in which Republican Guss Van Allred was declared the winner by a vote of 735 to 731. Klumker contested this result in district court,*fn2 attacking the absentee ballots cast by three of Van Allred's half-cousins (the Allred brothers)*fn3 and asserting that three other absentee ballots, cast for Klumker, had been improperly rejected by the precinct board and should have been counted in her favor. The principal issue raised by her challenge relates to the residence for voting purposes of each of the Allred brothers. The district court rejected the challenge and confirmed the count as certified by the county clerk, holding that the Allred brothers were residents of Catron County for voting purposes and that the other three ballots had been properly rejected. Klumker appeals and we reverse, finding a lack of substantial evidence to support the court's findings as to residence and holding that the court's application of provisions of the Absent Voter Act*fn4 to disqualify the other three ballots was erroneous as a matter of law.