FILED

3/28/2022 4:46 PM
Delia Sellers
22DC-CV-00397 District Clerk
Liberty County - 253rd District Court
CAUSE NO. ____________________ Liberty County, TX
Lindsay Brownlee
§
§ IN THE DISTRICT COURT
CRAIG MCNAIR
§
Contestant,
§
§
v.
§ ______ JUDICIAL DISTRICT
§
LEON WILSON
§
Contestee.
§
§ LIBERTY COUNTY, TEXAS

CONTESTANT’S ORIGINAL PETITION ASSERTING AN ELECTION

CONTEST 1

Contestant Craig McNair, who was and is a Republican candidate for

Liberty County Commissioner Precinct 4, hereby files this Original Petition

asserting an Election Contest. As is required by the Texas Election Code,

Contestant names Leon Wilson as the Contestee.

DISCOVERY-CONTROL PLAN

1. Contestant intends to conduct discovery as permitted under the Texas

Election Code and as permitted by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and asks that

the Court enter an order setting forth a suitable discovery control plan.

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Notice is hereby provided to the Liberty County District Clerk that the Clerk must provide
notice of this Election Contest to the Presiding Officer of the Final Canvassing Authority. That
individual is Klint Bush, Elections Administrator/Voter Registrar for Liberty County, Texas. His
physical address is 1915 Trinity Street, Liberty, Texas, 77575. His mailing address is 1923 Sam
Houston Street, Liberty, Texas, 77575.
 2. Pursuant to Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 47(c)(2), Contestant seeks a

new election. No monetary damages are sought.

PARTIES

3. Contestant Craig McNair ran for the Republican Party Primary

Election for the office of Liberty County Commissioner Precinct 4 in the

Republican Primary which was held on March 1, 2022.

4. Contestee Leon Wilson, who was the incumbent, also ran for the same

seat and in the same primary and was the only primary opponent of Contestant.

Service may be effectuated upon this Contestee by serving him at 1034 County

Road 605, Dayton, Texas 77535, or at 786 County Road 668, Dayton, Texas

77535.

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

5. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this matter by virtue of

the relief sought herein. Both the Contestant and the Contestee are residents of

Liberty County. This election contest is timely brought.

6. Venue is not only proper, but it is mandatory, in Liberty County.

SUMMARY OF THE CASE

7. The purported outcome of this election shows Contestant with 1111

votes and Contestee with 1116 votes. This purported five (5) vote margin is not the

true outcome of the race. More specifically, at least seventeen (17) voters cast their

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ballots in this particular race and those cast votes were improperly counted 2. None

of these 17 voters were legally entitled to vote in this particular race because they

were moved out of the Precinct 4 Commissioners Court boundaries as a result of

redistricting. Accordingly, all of these votes were ineligible to be counted. Since

the number of ballots cast which were illegally counted exceeds the purported five

(5) vote margin of difference between these two candidates, it is impossible to

determine the outcome of this particular race, and this tribunal must declare the

purported election outcome to be void and require that a new election be ordered

and conducted in the manner set forth in the Texas Election Code.

THE FACTS AND THE LAW OF THIS CASE

8. Section 18 of Article V of the Texas Constitution provides, in relevant

part, that:

Each county shall, in the manner provided for justice of the peace and
constable precincts, be divided into four commissioners’ precincts in
each of which there shall be elected by the qualified voters thereof one
County Commissioner, who shall hold his office for four years and
until his successor shall be elected and qualified. The County
Commissioners so chosen, with the County Judge as presiding officer,
shall compose the County Commissioners Court, which shall exercise
such powers and jurisdiction over all county business, as is conferred
by this Constitution and the laws of the State, or as may be hereafter
prescribed.

2
In order to protect the privacy of these seventeen (17) voters, Contestant will not print their
names or addresses in this public filing. However, Contestant is in possession of thirteen (13)
signed declarations and four (4) unsigned declarations which demonstrate the identities of each
voter who cast a ballot in this particular race. None of these specific voters live within the
boundaries of Precinct 4 as a result of the redistricting which took place in October of 2021.
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Tex. Const. art. V, § 18.

9. In keeping with this constitutional dictate, Liberty County government

is organized into a commissioners court (the “Liberty County Commissioners

Court”), which is comprised of the Liberty County Judge and four Liberty County

Commissioners. The Liberty County Commissioners Court is tasked with the

administration of the county's business and legislative affairs; see, e.g., City of San

Antonio v. City of Boerne, 111 S.W.3d 22, 27-28 (2003) (quoting Avery v.

Midland Cnty., 406 S.W.2d 422, 426 (1966)); Louisiana-Pacific Corp. v. Newton

Cnty., 149 S.W. 3d 262, 263 (Tex. App.—Eastland 2004, no pet.); and Concerned

Citizens for Equality v. McDonald, 863 F. Supp. 393, 395 (E.D. Tex. 1994).

10. Under the “one-person, one-vote” principle of electoral

representation, Liberty County's total population is “equally” divided amongst the

four commissioner precincts3. In order to arrive at a starting point for population

size, Liberty County was required to determine what the U. S. Census total

3
Congressional and legislative maps have two different standards when it comes to complying
with the equal population requirement. Congressional districts have historically had a stricter
standard (with some exceptions) that requires these districts to be “as nearly equal in population
as practicable.” State legislative districts, on the other hand, have more leeway, and only are
required to be “substantially equal.” The equal population or “one-person, one-vote” standard
requires general population equality between districts, but there is no precise number or
percentage that defines constitutionality. In practice, a clear standard has emerged for legislative
and local maps in which courts consider total deviations above 10% to be constitutionally
suspect. Conversely, maps with deviations below the 10% threshold are generally acceptable (in
equal population terms).

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population count is for the entire County, and then divide that number by four (4),

and that number is referred to as the Ideal Population Size.

11. According to the 2020 Census, Liberty County’s total population was

86,994, making the Ideal Population Size for each district to be approximately

21,749 people. In order to ensure that there was roughly equal voter representation

in each of the four (4) Liberty County Commissioner Precincts, the Liberty County

Commissioner Court redrew the precinct boundaries. As a result, a new

redistricting plan was enacted and passed into law on October 26, 2021 by the

Liberty County Commissioners Court by a vote of 3 to 1.

12. The new redistricting plan that was passed moved certain registered

voters from one Liberty County Commissioners Precinct to another Liberty County

Commissioners Precinct. As a result, some registered voters who were previously

entitled to vote for a Precinct 4 candidate prior to redistricting were moved to a

different Liberty County Commissioners Precinct after redistricting and therefore

could no longer vote in the Precinct 4 Liberty County Commissioners election4.

4
More specifically, in 1954, the Texas Constitution was amended to extend the terms of County
Commissioners from 2 years to 4 years, and it set up an election schedule whereby all four (4)
Commissioners would be up for election that same year. However, in order to ensure that
staggered terms would occur, that same Constitutional amendment specified that the candidates
who won for Precincts 1 and 3 would receive a full four (4) year terms, which the successful
candidates for Precincts 2 and 4 would only receive a two (2) year term. In so doing, all future
County Commissioner elections would be staggered. Accordingly, because of the manner in
which the Texas Constitution was amended, the primary and general elections for Liberty County
Precinct Commissioner precincts 2 and 4 are required to occur in calendar year 2022, while the
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 CAUSE OF ACTION ASSERTING AN ELECTION CONTEST

13. Contestant incorporates all previous paragraphs of this Petition by this

reference. Based upon the facts and law developed herein, Contestant asserts that

the tribunal hearing this election contest must find that the outcome of the

contested election, as shown by the final canvass, is not the true outcome because

at least seventeen (17) illegal votes 5 were counted.

14. Because it is not possible to determine the true outcome of this

election, the tribunal must declare the election result to be void and order that a

new election must be held in the manner prescribed by the Texas Election Code.

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, Contestant Craig McNair prays that this Court: (i) find his

Election Contest to be meritorious; (ii) find that the outcome of this contested

election, as shown by the final canvass, is not the true outcome, because at least

seventeen (17) illegal votes were counted; (iii) find that the true outcome of this

contested election cannot be determined; (iv) find that this contested election is

void; (v) order a new election in the manner prescribed by the Texas Election

primary and general elections for precincts 1 and 3 primary will not take place until calendar
year 2024.
5
Under the Texas Election Code, an "illegal vote" means a vote that is not legally countable.

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Code; (vi) and for such other and further relief to which Contestant may show

himself to be entitled.

Respectfully submitted,

ANDY TAYLOR & ASSOCIATES, P.C.

BY: /s/ Andy Taylor
Andy Taylor
State Bar No. 19727600
2628 Highway 36S, #288
Brenham, Texas 77833
713-222-1817 (telephone)
713-222-1855 (facsimile)

ATTORNEY FOR CONTESTANT