VERO BEACH – Will votes cast Tuesday for Vero Beach City Council be counted? It’s a question that will remain unanswered until sometime Monday.
Judge Paul Kanarek will issue his ruling on Monday, filing it with the Clerk of the Court before the end of the day, his assistant confirmed. She said she suspects the judge will work over the weekend crafting his ruling and will send to her Monday morning for review and revision.
When he’s satisfied with it, then it will be filed.
The assistant said the judge will submit the paperwork and will not address the decision in his courtroom. Parties in the case will be notified via the Clerk’s portal.
City Council candidate Linda Hillman, who was deemed disqualified and later reinstated, has asked the court to stop the Vero Beach municipal election and not allow ballots cast for City Council to be tabulated.
Hillman, and fellow would-be candidate Brian Heady, were initially disqualified from the ballots due to missing signatures on the qualification paperwork.
Hillman filed suit, protesting her removal from the ballot. The City’s canvassing board reinstated Hillman and Heady to the ballot – though the ballot was already sent to the Supervisor of Elections Office to be printed. Hillman and Heady are not on the current ballot.
The Vero Beach City Council, which includes two incumbents seeking another term on the dais, rejected the canvassing board’s decision for a special election that would include Hillman and Heady on the ballot.
Kanarek will determine whether or not the Vero Beach municipal election will be counted after polls close Tuesday. The current ballot includes incumbents Laura Moss and Tony Young and two of the original four challengers – Robert Brackett and Robert McCabe.