Idaho court won’t rehear Coeur d’Alene election case

The Idaho Supreme Court has denied a Coeur d’Alene man a new hearing in his challenge of a 2009 City Council election loss. The court in November ruled against Jim Brannon, who had contested his narrow loss to Mike Kennedy, alleging voting irregularities involving absentee ballots. In its unanimous decision, the justices found no evidence that disputed votes in the case were illegal. Brannon asked the Supreme Court to rehear part of his appeal concerning how the absentee ballots were counted, but the court on Tuesday denied his petition. Kennedy was declared the winner of the council race by five votes. That margin was reduced to three during a District Court trial after several votes were found to be illegal due to residency issues. Kennedy and the city spent more than $136,000 defending themselves in the case.