Former Sarasota County Charter Review Board candidate Kathy Bolam has filed suit against Sarasota Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent and the Sarasota County Canvassing Board, accusing Dent of “improperly induc[ing]” her to concede the race she narrowly lost in the Aug. 24 primary (via Sarasota Herald-Tribune). Bolam lost her race by just over 100 votes, a margin narrow enough to trigger an automatic recount had Bolam not conceded in an email to Dent.
But Bolam told the Herald-Tribune that Dent dissuaded her from pursuing a recount by telling her it was unlikely to alter the results of the election and that her staff would have to work through the weekend to manage the recount.
The canvassing board reviewed and denied Bolam’s complaint the week after the election, and is named as a defendant in the lawsuit because Bolam’s lawyer says Dent’s presence on that board prevents it from being a “fair and impartial tribunal.” Dent in fact cast the deciding vote when the board chose to dismiss Bolam’s complaint.
Read the letter from Bolam’s attorney in full (via Red County: Sarasota):
