Election chief admits ballot error

Sanders felt ‘intimidated,’ ‘bullied’ to provide access to primary ballots before they were certified

1:45 p.m. May 8, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

Moore County Administrator of Elections Jim Sanders said he opened sealed ballot boxes Wednesday morning, May 6, and allowed the editor of The Lynchburg Times to handle ballots from the May 5 primary – a decision he now says should not have happened.

Sanders said Tabitha Evans Moore, editor of the Times, came to the Moore County Election Commission office around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, May 6, and demanded to see ballots from the previous day’s election.

“She said, ‘You either show them to me or I'll go get the court order, my lawyer,’” Sanders said in an interview Thursday. “I was intimidated. I felt like I was bullied.”

Sanders said Moore did not bring a court order. He said she did not present a written public records request, either.

At the time, Sanders said, the ballots were still sealed in precinct boxes – the same boxes used to secure them after election night. Sanders said election workers were preparing to move election materials when Moore came in.

“If they hadn’t walked in, we’d done been out of here when she came storming in here,” Sanders said.

Sanders said he opened the seals himself and gave Moore access to the ballots.

“She had no business seeing it,” Sanders said. “I should not have given it to her.”

Sanders said Moore handled the ballots and began separating them into stacks.

Asked whether Moore cut the seals on the ballot boxes, Sanders said no.

“I did that,” he said.

Sanders acknowledged he should not have opened the boxes or allowed Moore to handle the ballots. He said he had reported the matter to state election officials and was awaiting guidance.

The Observer asked the Tennessee Division of Elections whether ballots may be inspected before certification, and whether a member of the public may handle or sort them. The state said it could not comment until next week, citing work related to redistricting.

The Observer also requested comment from Moore, who replied:

“As a journalist, I have a First Amendment right to election results. Mr. Sanders provided me the tally sheets but resisted providing the write-in votes. Election officials in other counties, whom my lawyer and I have spoken to, confirmed he could have printed those off without opening the ballot box. Those named write in votes concerned the public interest on Wednesday. One hundred twenty ballots were cast in the Republican Primary – 52 for named candidate William Raline and 22 write-in votes for incumbent, Tyler Hatfield. Slightly over 18 percent of the voters cast write-in ballots for Hatfield, who needed a court order to be included on the August ballot, partly because that very office gave inaccurate filing deadline information. By any definition, that's a story of public interest – one that would not have been told without my insistence.  I believe the information I wanted could have been provided with a few keystrokes; however, Mr. Sanders proceeded to do what he did.

“If Mr. Sanders did not know how to handle my request, he could have consulted the local Election Commission, the State Secretary of State's office, or an attorney. He also could have directed me to get a court order, which would have required me to file the proper pleadings. He chose to do none of those things. As the person in authority, I simply followed his lead. I counted the ballots in front of him, wrote down the totals, and left to file my story.

“Furthermore, the call I received afterward from Moore County Election Commission Board Chair Lorainne Carter after the fact, accusing me of breaking the law felt like an intimidation tactic. I did not open any locked ballot boxes, and therefore broke no law. Moore County pays Mr. Sanders around $80,000 for an appointed position and one would expect him to know this state's election laws. When Mrs. Carter – who oversees Mr. Sanders and helped appoint him – asked me why I "did what I did" that morning, I explained that I'd heard Hatfield received a larger number of write-in votes and found that newsworthy. She replied, "Those don't matter," which is her opinion. I personally feel that all votes matter in every election.”

The Box Had to Stay Closed

The Observer asked election-law attorney Marty Schubert, with the firm Stranch, Jennings & Garvey, to review Sanders’ description of what happened. Then came the direct question: Was that legal?

“No,” Schubert said. “The box has to stay closed. ... It could not be any more black letter. You just don’t do that; it’s against the law. There is not a lot of ambiguity.”

Schubert said his opinion was based on Sanders’ description: sealed ballot boxes were opened before certification, and a member of the public handled and sorted ballots.

The boxes were opened the morning after the election, before the commission had finished its post-election checks and nearly a week before the results were scheduled to be certified.

Sanders said the ballots did not contain the names of individual voters. Ballots are secret, and voter participation is recorded separately in the election system.

Still, Sanders said Moore should not have had access to the ballots at that point in the process.

The question took on added weight after the Times published “One-candidate primary election offers quirky results,” a story that identified several write-in names not listed in the Election Commission’s unofficial summary.

The story said, “In the only race with a named candidate, William Raline received 52 total votes. There were also 22 write in votes for his August opponent, Tyler Hatfield. As always, there were some quirky write ins in other races including Jack Daniel, Nearest Green, and Jesus.”

The Election Commission’s unofficial summary showed vote totals. It did not list the write-in names cited in the Times story.

Referring to Moore, Sanders said: “She should not have known that.”

Tuesday’s primary was Moore County’s first county primary election and drew only 120 voters, according to unofficial results from the Moore County Election Commission.

The unofficial summary showed Republican sheriff candidate William Raline with 52 votes. Another 27 write-in votes were cast in that race, while 16 voters in that race did not select a candidate.

The results had not yet been certified when Moore came into the office, Sanders said. He said the commission expected to finish entering information on who voted by Thursday afternoon, with certification scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 12.

“All I should have gave was that right there,” Sanders said, referring to the unofficial results report provided by the Election Commission.

Sanders said others were present in the office when Moore came in, including a deputy, one election commissioner, a Democratic machine technician, and a Republican machine technician.

Sanders said both party machine technicians who were present objected to what happened.

“My Democrat and Republican [technicians] both in here said that should not have happened,” Sanders said.

Reported to the State

Sanders said he later called the state and reported what happened.

“I called the state, told them what I’d done, told them I made the goof,” he said. “Called my chairman [Lorraine Carter], told her I made the goof.”

Sanders said state officials told him they would pass the matter along to higher-level officials. He said he expects the mistake could have consequences.

“I imagine I’m in trouble,” Sanders said.

Sanders repeatedly acknowledged that he made the wrong decision by opening the sealed ballot boxes and allowing Moore to handle the ballots.

“I did wrong,” he said. “I’m in a lot of trouble.”

Sanders, who said he has worked in elections since 1998 and has served as administrator since 2016, said the mistake came during what he described as an unusually difficult election cycle.

“This has been the hardest election,” Sanders said.

He said his goal remains to run fair elections.

“I want to do fair and honest elections,” he said.

A Later Request Denied

Sanders said Cindy Cregier came to the office later on Wednesday and also asked to see the ballots. Cregier chairs the Moore County Democratic Party and is a candidate in the Aug. 6 General Election for State Executive Committee, District 14.

Sanders said he refused that request.

“The Democrat chairman came in [Wednesday] afternoon,” Sanders said. “She said, ‘I want to see those.’ I refused.”

Sanders said he will accept whatever decision state officials make.

“I will accept my fate,” he said. “The state says I’m done, I’m done. Be no hard feelings.”

The Moore County Election Commission is expected to certify the May 5 primary results at 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 12.