A week after the primary election, the results of the Republican nomination in the 5th Congressional District are still too close to call.
John McGuire's current margin of victory over Bob Good is about 373 votes. After the election is certified, Good can call for a recount. And if he's not happy with that he can have a three-judge panel hear a contest to the election. But Carl Tobias at the University of Richmond School of Law says a recount of the ballots or even a contest of the election seems very unlikely to change the outcome of the primary.
"I think it's an uphill battle for anyone who wants to challenge because we can't even think of an example of where someone was able to grasp victory from the jaws of defeat," Tobias says.
Legal expert Rich Kelsey says it's extremely unlikely that a three-judge panel would throw out the results of an election.
"You're talking about invalidating 373 ballots at a minimum in order for a court to find they can't determine who the winner is," Kelsey explains. "I don't see how they do that because you're talking about individual ballots, and here what we’re really looking at is an allegation of some unnamed wrongdoing."
For now, Good is raising concerns about fire alarms at voting precincts and a dropbox in Lynchburg, although it's unclear what kind of evidence he might present in court if the election is contested.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.