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A Black man says he was elected mayor in Newbern, Alabama but white officials in the town have blocked him from taking on the position.
According to Insider, Patrick Braxton filed a lawsuit against Newbern's current mayor Woodburn "Woody" Stokes, who is white, and other city officials, alleging that they conspired to hold a special election to keep him from holding office.
The lawsuit states that white leaders specifically concealed a special deadline to submit the paperwork required to run for mayor. Braxton says he was the only person to submit the mayoral paperwork by July 16, 2020. Woodburn filed his paperwork on July 18, two days after the deadline, according to Braxton.
The suit says city council members also registered their paperwork after the deadline. According to Braxton, city council members convened at a special undisclosed meeting, where they passed a resolution to create a new election and moved the deadline to file official paperwork.
"Defendants did not inform any of the public or citizens of the City of the election," the lawsuit says. "In fact, the Defendants intentionally concealed the deadlines so that they could claim they were the only candidates for Mayor and City Councilman to file candidacy papers."
According to the suit, Braxton was unaware of the council's decision until he discovered discarded meeting minutes in City Hall. The second election never took place but Woody maintained that Braxton's election as mayor was a "mistake" that needed to be fixed through another vote.
Newbern officials declined to speak on the situation, according to Insider.
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