Legal challenge launched over election dead heat
May's election saw Worcestershire County Council slip into no overall control.Though Reform UK emerged as the largest party with 27 seats, they were left two short of a majority.The most dramatic moment came with the dead heat in the rural Littletons division, a count overseen by officers from Wychavon District CouncilThe ballot box name draw took place after several recounts confirmed both Williams and Robson had received 889 votes each.Following the draw, the Green candidate was declared the winner with 890. However, in a petition filed to the High Court, the Reform UK hopeful challenged the result, naming Robson as the beneficiary of alleged interference and fraudulent count.In the petition, Williams argued she had not been allowed time at the 2 May count to seek independent legal advice and had not felt able to witness the entire process."I could not see the box for all of the preparation and was not included in that. I did not agree to a third person shuffling the papers," she wrote."Once in the ballot box, only the Returning Officer should have had their hand in the box".
The petition also stated there had been insufficient official investigation by the council and West Mercia Police.In addition to the Green candiate, it was filed against Paul Robinson, the chief executive of Worcestershire County Council; Vic Allison, the deputy returning officer of Wychavon District Council; and Chris Harris, a detective at West Mercia Police."I'm doing this in the interests of democracy across the entire country," Williams told the BBC.In a High Court hearing on Wednesday, a judge ordered the claims against Mr Robinson and Mr Harris to be struck out, and for Williams to cover their legal costs.A date for a further hearing has yet to be confirmed.West Mercia Police confirmed an investigation into the result had found no criminal offences had taken place."Should anything else come to light which might require a police response, we will investigate appropriately," the force said in a statement.A spokesman for Wychavon District Council said: "We are confident the election was delivered substantially within the law and we will present our case to the court at a future date.""While the case is being heard, I am getting on with the job I was elected to do, representing the people of the Littletons," Robson said."It wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment while this is a live High Court case."
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