Gator DeLoach expected to be named Putnam sheriff in controversial runoff

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — Gator DeLoach is the new sheriff in Putnam County. The Democrat beat out Republican Jon Kinney by the slimmest of margins.

The results were finalized Friday, 10 days after Election Day.

DeLoach was already expected to win after a controversial recount.

A mistake in counting the votes before the recount has Kinney supporters questioning the integrity of the election.

The Supervisor of Elections Office says 428 ballots helped flip the election after they weren’t uploaded to a server on Election Day.

“The results of those ballots did not get uploaded,” said Charles Overturf III, supervisor of elections. “In other words, about five feet in the room from one computer over to our server.”

Overturf takes the blame for what he calls human error, but said the votes were already cast.

Voting machine data obtained by Action News Jax shows that’s true.

Still, some supporters of Kinney question whether the 428 ballots were tampered with before the recount.

We asked Overturf if he felt like the integrity of the election was compromised.

“When we count every person’s vote, that’s a legitimate legal vote,” Overturf said. “The results all come out to the same thing.”

A lawsuit over the final result will likely be filed in the next few days.

A statement from Kinney reads in part, “Let me reiterate that it is not final and we will be contesting the election.”

Cox Media Group