An opponent of tolls on the Mississippi River bridge into New Orleans has sued for a recount of the vote extending the tolls for 20 years.
The Times-Picayune reports that Attorney G. Patrick Hand III of Gretna filed the suit Tuesday in state court in East Baton Rouge Parish for Michael Teachworth, director of Stop the Tolls.
Teachworth says in a news release that the suit alleges that Orleans Parish's handling, timing and transmittal of early voting and mail-in ballots was highly suspect.
Votes cast Nov. 6 indicated an 850-vote defeat for the tolls, but absentee ballots turned that into an 18-vote edge for renewal.
Voters in Jefferson and Plaquemines parish and New Orleans' west bank rejected the measure, but those on New Orleans' east bank supported it.