A handful of Utah County Republicans are continuing the fight for legitimacy despite being ousted at their party's convention.

On Monday, Jackie de Gaston filed a complaint with the county GOP that doubles as a legal filing ready to be submitted in 4th District Court as a civil lawsuit.

"Due to the complete failure of maintaining the integrity of the voting process at the Senate District 16 Voting Caucus, the election results of Senate District 16 should be declared null and void," the complaint reads.

De Gaston and fellow challenger James O'Neal were running against Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, who gathered 67 percent of the vote to avoid a primary in June.

The complaint alleges, among other things:

• No official delegate roll call was made, meaning no established number of voters could be tied to the final count.

• The cardboard ballot box was produced without a public "proof of emptiness."

• The ballot box was passed up and down the darkened auditorium at Orem High School in a random manner and ballots were cast without any proof of proper credentials.

• The ballot box was removed from the caucus without the accompaniment of the designated poll watchers for all three candidates present.

De Gaston could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Party chairwoman Marian Monnahan said the complaint has been referred to Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, for examination before any action is taken.

Valentine is an attorney -- though not the party's attorney -- who said he's not trying to ascertain facts but instead figure out the legal standing of the complaint.

"Beyond that they're going to have to make their own decision as to what to do," he said.

He said that though the document appears in the form of a legal brief, it hasn't been filed in court and doesn't follow the necessary steps to get there, including having a verified petition and being served to the party.

On the issue of the integrity of the vote, Valentine said playing games with the system during the vote would be difficult because delegates get their credentials when they enter the convention and get their ballots at the same time. Stuffing a ballot box with extra ballots would require someone having extra ballots on the same color of paper and with the same names as the originals.

This isn't the first challenge to the April 26 convention results. Linda Housekeeper lost her race to incumbent Brad Daw by one vote. She has also challenged the vote and is awaiting a hearing this week.

Housekeeper and de Gaston have been taking shots at the party leadership for weeks, alleging that the automatic delegate system in place is illegal and that challengers face a party committee skewed toward incumbents in violation of neutrality bylaws.

"I'm a Republican candidate. I'm not their enemy," Housekeeper said. "We're almost treated as if we were Democratic candidates, and that's one of the attitudes that need to be changed."