Republican requests all records related to loss against Ford

Terry Roland sent a letter to the Shelby County Election Commission on Monday seeking all ballots, records and machines involved in the election. This comes after the Tennessee attorney general’s office on Friday turned down a request from the state GOP to seize all voting machines and conduct an investigation.

Roland lost to Ford in Thursday’s election by a vote of 4,333 to 4,320. Ford’s brother, John Ford, represented the Memphis Senate district for 31 years before resigning in May following his indictment on federal bribery and extortion charges.

Ford’s lead grew by one on Friday after the commission determined that one of four provisional ballots cast in the race should be counted. Three more provisional ballots are being reviewed by state officials.

Roland said he was bothered by such a thin margin of victory for Ford in the heavily Democratic district.

“If they provide the evidence and we sit down and see that everything is on the up and up, then there is no reason to contest,” Roland said. “But we’re prepared to take this all the way.”

“For the sake of the constituents of the 29th District, who do not want their legal votes to be wiped out by illegal votes, and who are ready to enter a new era, I have no choice but to question the informal results and undertake a close examination,” Roland’s letter said.

He requested that officials delay declaration of a winner until he has access to all the information necessary and any legal challenges have been resolved.

The commission is scheduled to meet next Monday to certify the election results.

Richard Holden, a Republican representative on the commission, said Monday evening that he had not seen Roland’s letter, but that the request sounded like standard information the commission makes available to candidates.

But Holden said state law doesn’t allow the body to delay declaring a winner.

John Ford resigned after his indictment along with four other current or former state lawmakers also charged with corruption in the FBI’s Tennessee Waltz investigation.

He was first elected to the Senate in 1974, the same year brother Harold Ford Sr. became Tennessee’s first black member of Congress. Harold Ford Sr. retired in 1996 and was replaced by his oldest son, Harold Jr., now a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

The Ford family has long been a power in Memphis politics, with family members also winning election to numerous city and county offices.