Curtis Mele was West Virginia's only candidate for a city council seat in a small town on West Virginia's Northern Panhandle, but was left off the ballot due to a clerical error, according to The Associated Press.
City Clerk Judy Hunt left Mele's name off the ballot, and instead replaced him with another councilman who listed as the candidate in his district in Benwood, the AP reported.
"She dropped the ball, which is now costing me," Mele said, according to the AP. Hunt referred questions Thursday to city attorney Eric Gordon, who didn't immediately return a telephone message.
Officials in the town of 1,600 are scrambling for a solution, and Mele has hired an attorney to contest the election, according to the AP.
"It might be an honest mistake," Mele said Thursday, the AP reported. "But that's a mistake that should never happen."
Mele, whose name didn't appear anywhere on the May 13 ballot, was one of four unopposed council members, according to the AP.
Marshall County Clerk Jan Pest said it's up to the cities to get their information right, including how names appear on the ballot, the AP reported.
Pest said cities send their ballot information to her office after the candidate filing period. Then the county clerk's office has the information prepared for processing and sends a version back to the cities to be proofread before printing, according to the AP.
Mele said he found out about the ballot mix-up through a phone call more than four hours after the polls opened, the AP reported. He contacted Gordon shortly after and the Secretary of State's office was consulted.
According to Mele, the city could consider a special election or appoint him to serve until the next municipal election in 2016, according to the AP. Mele said a special election brings up the possibility that he would face opposition.
The City Council plans to meet next Tuesday and Pest said her office certified the election Thursday morning, clearing the way for Mele to contest the results, the AP reported.
