Chancellor Frank Brown on Wednesday declined to order a City Council District 9 runoff election pending a further hearing in the case.
Councilman Peter Murphy had sought an order for a runoff April 9, saying no candidate got a required majority vote. Former Councilman Yusuf Hakeem got six more votes than Councilman Murphy, but there were seven write-in votes. The Election Commission ruled in favor of Mr. Hakeem and discounted two write-ins.
Chancellor Brown held a hearing Wednesday in which Election Administrator Charlotte Mullis-Morgan and City Attorney Mike McMahan were the only witnesses. A new hearing date was set for April 9.
Early voting has already started for the only runoff sanctioned by the Election Commission - District 4.
The Election Commission, on the night of April 9 is due to certify all the winners and is expected to certify Mr. Hakeem at that time. New City Council members are due to be sworn in a week later.
Attorney McMahan said in his 39 years in the city attorney's office there has not been a case where an office was left vacant due to an election dispute. He said one section of the city charter says a council member can stay in office until a successor is approved.