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Houston County Board of Elections sends investigation into Charlie Bibb to state

The Houston County Board of Elections announced they are turning its investigation into the allegations against Councilman Charlie Bibb to the state of Georgia.

HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Warner Robins councilman who won re-election by one vote can now anticipate the state to inquire into the allegations against him.

Charlie Bibb is accused of breaking election laws on election day by several people

The Houston County Board of Elections did not explicitly say whether they find the allegations against Councilman Bibb to be true or false at Tuesday's meeting.

However, the board announced it will turn the results of their findings from their board's investigation to entities with authority to discipline.

That includes the city and county attorney, Secretary of State's office and State Election Board.

Kristen Kiefer is the original tipster who alleged Councilman Bibb broke election laws.

Kiefer told 13WMAZ she was at the Mossy Creek Middle School precinct to get results for her political organization's group, but crossing paths with a candidate was unexpected, she says. 

"I think every political organization in the state takes election integrity very seriously," she said. "Public trust is paramount."

She claims she saw Bibb park his truck, wave "hello" at her, then walk inside a polling precinct wearing a campaign shirt before polls closed on election night.

"Within 10 minutes, I'd called in to the board of elections and spoke to one of the staff members here," she said recalling how she reported the accusations on election night.

Since then, Kiefer says, her own word has been questioned because of the low-quality images she shared.

Yet, a handful of witnesses from the precinct are corroborating Kiefer's story. 

Several folks from the middle school precinct on election night have spoken up after Kiefer's accusations were publicly reported. 

If Georgia finds the allegations against Bibb to be true, he would have broken two election laws. By state law, candidates cannot be inside a polling place during an election unless they're there to vote nor can anybody wear campaign gear inside a polling precinct. 

The board's declaration about their committee's findings was not clear to most folks in the room when the committee's chair, Andrew Bennett, made the announcement.

"What we're saying is there are other forces now who are going to be completing their investigation," Bennet said. "Our role became one of preservation. Preservation of evidence, preservation of statements from people who were at those polling locations. Those are the items that are going to be turned to both the city and the county attorney as well as the state election board and the secretary of state."

Folks, like Kiefer, hope the final results of the investigation will bring out the truth about what happened on election night Nov. 7.

"We did have hope that we would get a little bit more information than we did today, but, I understand," Kiefer said. "If they are legally bound to not to say more than anything they did today, then I can understand and respect that."

Councilman Charlie Bibb has not responded to 13WMAZ's multiple requests for a comment.

If the state finds the allegations against Bibb to be true, he would be guilty of a misdemeanor in Georgia.

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