Johnson v. Byrd

Carley, Justice.

In a runoff election for the office of probate judge of Talbot County, Joe S. “Slade” Johnson, Jr. received only 41 more votes than Gary Ellis Byrd. Byrd then filed a petition contesting the election and the eligibility of Johnson to hold the office of probate judge. After Johnson answered, the case proceeded to a bench trial. Although the trial court found that Johnson was not ineligible for the office of probate judge, it did determine that 104 votes which had been cast in the runoff election were void. Based upon this finding, the trial court invalidated Johnson’s election…