The race for Hopewell City Council may have ended just before 8 p.m. Wednesday.

After a nearly five-hour hearing, a panel of three judges — Karen Burrell of Norfolk Circuit Court, Richard Taylor Jr. of Richmond Circuit Court and W. Allan Sharrett of Hopewell — unanimously granted a motion to strike the contestation of the election of the Rev. Curtis Harris Sr. in Ward 2 by Yolanda Wyche-Stokes.

The judges said that the evidence provided did not show that Harris was not a qualified candidate nor that any alleged misconduct, while disheartening to the court if true, would have affected the results of the election.

"The court is deeply concerned about some of the conduct," Sharrett said.

Wyche-Stokes, who represented herself in the proceeding, attested that members of Harris' campaign encroached on the 40-foot perimeter from the voting machines and her witness and fellow candidate, David Silvestro, said a member of Harris' campaign was less than 10 feet from a voting machine as he was casting his own ballot.

"These allegations strike at the heart of free elections," Sharrett said.

Wyche-Stokes said that her allegations were not out of malice but to hold all parties involved in Hopewell elections accountable.

"It's not personal," she said. "It's about following procedure."

Stokes' allegations included misrepresentations on the certified voters list. Her filing states that the list may have been fraudulently prepared, signatures were not obtained by qualified people and that other requirements of the State Board of Election were not followed.

In response to those allegations, Harris filed two documents through his lawyers, Portsmouth City Councilman Stephen Heretick and State Sen. Henry Marsh III, requesting that Stokes' filings be dismissed. Those motions were denied until the motion to strike was made after Stokes rested her case.

"In the end, we knew there was no case," Harris said after the ruling.

"He certainly did not commit fraud," Heretick, who is also a former Hopewellian, said. "We were ready to offer live witnesses."

Although the defense was not able to present its defense before the panel ended the case, Heretick was satisfied in that the decision was unanimous and that the city could move on to the tasks City Council has at hand.

"I think the voters for the city of Hopewell won today," Heretick said.

Although Wyche-Stokes' case has ended, an investigation by Virginia State Police is still open. If State Police finds misconduct in the election, Newman will select a special prosecutor to move the case forward.

Both Wyche-Stokes and Silvestro also alluded to the possibility of other information that could lead to further legal action.

In the four-way race in May, Harris garnered 50 percent of the vote. The other three candidates had a roughly even split of the remaining 50 percent.