Stout, Morton County election dispute explained
Prior to locating to Florence to serve as the city's police chief, Merlin Stout was involved in an election dispute in Morton County.
Apparently, some irregularities occurred in the November 1998 election of the county commissioner of district one.
In the Kansas Supreme Court syllabus, obtained by the Marion County Record, Clinton L. Thomason, the individual filing the suit, was a contestant but not the defeated commissioner, in the November 1998 election.
In this election, Stout prevailed over the incumbent by 11 votes in the county race for commissioner of district one.
Thomason alleged election irregularities deprived voters of the right to vote in the contested election. He also complained illegal votes were received and legal votes were rejected, which could have changed the result of the election.
Additionally, the trial court determined Thomason failed to prove the election irregularities would have changed the result of the election.
The supreme court upheld the trial court's findings stating "We agree with the Contestant (Thomason) that irregularities occurred. However, under our standard of review of a negative finding, we affirm the trial court's determination that Contestant failed to prove that the irregularities shown would have changed the result of the election."
Stout lost his bid for re-election as county commissioner in 2002.
