Barker seeks recount after losing in primary for Metro Council seat

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - As part of a battle for a seat on Louisville’s Metro Council, the Democratic candidate who finished second in the Democratic primary has requested a recount.

Ray Barker, a former Louisville Metro Police Department officer, filed a complaint in Jefferson Circuit Court after losing last week’s primary election to Metro Councilwoman Donna Purvis (D-District 5).

He said in the complaint a Jefferson County Board of Elections worker told him he won with 1,386 votes, defeating Purvis by 12 votes. The next morning, Barker claimed he was informed a “data/memory stick” hadn’t been handed in for the Whitney M. Young Elementary School in Shawnee polling location that showed Purvis received 1,527 votes, 35 more than Barker.

The votes from the elementary school were “allegedly ‘found’ the morning after the close of the previous day’s primary election,” according to Barker’s complaint. It also claims there was a disparity in the number of registered Democrats that voted in the precinct. A paper vote total presented at the school after voting finished indicated 247 Democrats voted, while precinct totals revealed 315.

Purvis was first elected to the Louisville Metro Council in January of 2019. According to her biography on the City of Louisville website, Purvis has spent most of her life in District 5, which encompasses Chickasaw, Shawnee, Portland, and the Russell area.