Hearing Set In Election Lawsuit

A hearing has been set in a lawsuit filed by a mayoral hopeful against the current mayor.

McDonald County Clerk Tanya Lewis on Tuesday said a hearing on the motion to dismiss has been set for 9 a.m. July 30 at the McDonald County Courthouse.

The hearing was set after attorney Aaron Farber filed the motion on June 10, on behalf of the defendant, Greg Richmond.

Richmond has retained the services of Farber in his case against Cecil “J.R” Fisher, Richmond said last week. Fisher is suing Richmond, calling for an official recount in the April 2 Goodman mayoral election.

Fisher’s attorney, William G. Weber, e-filed the lawsuit on May 4. Richmond was served the lawsuit’s papers on May 11 and has 30 days to respond with an answer.

Fisher, a write-in candidate, and Richmond, the incumbent, faced off in the mayoral election in

early April.

In the lawsuit, Fisher says the total count of all the votes for mayoral candidates doesn’t add up. The lawsuit claims that 13 votes were not counted.

Fisher claims that, “there are issues of validity with the votes cast, specifically that votes were cast for him that were not counted because of the way they were cast, and RSMO Chapter 115 requires that the votes be recounted ‘if the validity of a number of votes equal to or greater than the margin of defeat is placed in doubt.’”

Richmond was sworn in April 16 as Goodman mayor during a city council meeting after city attorney Duane Cooper reviewed the county’s certified election results.