Former Vallejo Councilman Gary Cloutier filed a challenge in Solano County Superior Court Monday to his loss to Osby Davis in the Vallejo mayoral election in November.

At a news conference outside the courthouse this afternoon, Cloutier said the challenge is based on discrepancies between the machine count of ballots and a manual recount in December.

Cloutier won the machine count and was sworn as mayor. Davis then requested a manual recount and Davis won by two votes and was sworn as mayor.

Cloutier said a ballot in his favor was found in the trash during the recount at the Registrar of Voters office. Cloutier said that indicates the "potential for mischief" tainted the recount, which he also criticized as unsupervised by county officials.

"The recount is in shambles," Cloutier said.

Cloutier is asking the court to annul the certification of Davis as the winner and to declare him the elected mayor of Vallejo.

In the alternative he asked the court to order a special election to fill the vacancy. He said the election could be held possibly in June or November.

Cloutier said a hearing on his motion will be held and that a trial by a judge could ultimately decide the issue. No date has been set for that hearing. Cloutier said he does not want another recount.