Fields still pressing challenge
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 8, 2004
GREENSBORO – Depositions were taken today in Lois Field’s challenge to Elijah Knox’s apparent win the Hale County Commission District 2 race, but there’s still no word when the Hale County Democratic Party Executive Committee will make a decision in the matter.
Fields fell short by 111 votes in the June 1 county elections, and subsequently challenged the election’s outcome based on ballot irregularities in the Akron box. In late July, she also said the district lines, redrawn for the 1994 election were inaccurate and that Knox did not live in District 2.
Fields said the depositions today included Board of Registrars Chairman Faith Cochran, Probate Judge Leland Avery and Knox.
“They just asked the same questions they asked before, when we met with the local Democratic executive committee,” Avery said.
“It was a fact-finding deposition that Lois Fields asked for,” he said.
Avery said his questions pertained to the district lines, and specifically the lines between District 1 and 2.
Fields contends Knox lives in District 1, and that the election was held using an incorrect district map.
Avery, however, said the election was conducted properly.
“The Justice Department had already precleared the lines for the 1994 election based on the 1990 census. We had the election this year on the 1994 district lines,” he said.
Fields said she wasn’t aware of any deadline the executive committee had to make a ruling in the challenge.
“Nobody has mentioned any timetable to me,” she said, referring other questions to her attorney April Albright, who did not immediately return phone calls.
Avery said that if the county Democrats failed to act by the time the new commission took office in January, Knox would take his seat on the commission.