Defeated Clear Creek ISD board candidate asks court to throw out election results

The basis for the petition, filed under Title 14 of the Texas Election Code, which allows any candidate of any election to contest results, is that discrepancies in mail-in ballots may have changed the outcome of the tight race. Though Dawson had a lead in early voting, Cejka won the election after mail-in ballots were counted.

“My hope is for any and all errors to be brought to light. For our district to do better in future elections. For every candidate to be given a fair (and) honest election where every eligible vote counts,” Dawson wrote in a message sent via social media Tuesday.

Cejka and Clear Creek ISD officials did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

In a response to the lawsuit filed in the case, Cejka said she rejects every claim made by Dawson.

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The official results took 10 days to tally due to a large number of absentee votes. Once the results were official, Dawson said she would contest them.

In May, the district said it received 2,426 mail-in ballots. Of those, 380 were rejected, according to the district, for a number of reasons, including carrier envelopes not being signed, signatures on applications that could not immediately be verified to match the signatures on ballots and statements of residence not being included.

Among the discrepancies alleged in the lawsuit, Dawson said the District 1 position appeared on at least 19 early voting ballots for mail-in voters who did not live within the district boundaries.

The suit alleges the district did not keep a record of which voters received District 1 ballots or the total number of ballots with the District 1 race included that were accepted. Dawson’s petition seeks to have all mail-in ballots re-examined by court order to determine whether the “discrepancy” exceeds 19 votes.

The lawsuit claims emails obtained by Dawson indicate the number of voter registrations counted by Galveston County and the number compiled by the district to set the voting roll do not match, meaning others who live in District 1 may have been given the incorrect ballot.

“This indicates the possibility that others were given the improper ballot style and denied the opportunity to vote in District 1,” Dawson said in the petition.

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The petition also alleges that two additional mail-in ballots were sent by voters who did not submit an application to vote by mail, which would mean the votes should not be counted under Texas law.

“Since the number of voters prevented from voting and the number of illegal votes counted exceeds the difference in the number of votes between Contestant and Contestee, this Court cannot ascertain the true outcome of the contested election and must declare it void,” reads the petition. “A new election must be ordered for the office of District 1 Trustee.”

Dawson, a 41-year-old mother and PTA member, ran as a “morally-minded” conservative and accused board members of lying to the public about proposed property tax rates. In campaign material, Dawson said Critical Race Theory should be kept out of the district, adding “We should be bringing people together, not finding ways to split children apart for political reasons.”

A status conference for the lawsuit is scheduled for Sept. 29 in Galveston District Court.

hannah.dellinger@chron.com