CADDO PARISH, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A judge in Caddo District Court dismissed the election challenge by Shreveport City Council District B candidate James Carstensen on Monday, which claimed irregularities in voting machines.

The suit named Caddo Clerk of Court Mike Spence, Caddo Registrar of Voters Dale Sibley, and Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin as defendants and claimed that the updated council redistricting maps were not correctly followed in drafting the District B ballots. The filing further alleged “irregularities in voting machines.”

In the judge’s dismissal ruling, it was noted that the results would not be certified until December 10, so there was nothing to challenge.

Carstensen’s challenge came from election night returns that showed him in a second-place tie with Mavice Thigpen, which would have led to a three-way runoff. Instead, Carstensen was contacted by the Caddo Clerk of Court’s Office, and the election issues were laid out for him.

“Ultimately, this was not about trying to win the election or trying to re-run it for me,” Carstensen said. “This was taking an opportunity since my race was so closely contested, and I was directly affected and went from winning the election on election night to being tied later on election night and at the end of the day Wednesday, the day after the elections was declared to have missed the runoff.”

Carstensen said he does not plan to file an appeal ahead of the Tuesday deadline.