Members of the state Supreme Court
openly questioned Tuesday why the State Election Commission didn’t consider a
1992 opinion about ballot vacancies when it decided to keep a spot open on the Kanawha County
At issue is whether the Kanawha County
Republican Executive Committee should be allowed to replace Del. Suzette Raines
on the ballot in the 35th District delegate race after Raines withdrew from the
race. The SEC decided Aug. 13 Raines’ reasons to get out of the race didn’t
meet the standard needed to replace her. Republicans are challenging the
ruling. The case was argued for 45-minutes before the High Court Tuesday afternoon.
The Supreme Court is expected to come
out with ruling soon. If justices side with the GOP about 50,000 ballots in Kanawha County
There are four open House of Delegate seats in the 35th District
race. As it stands now, there are four Democrats on the ballot and three
Republicans. Sprouse-McDavid finished fifth in the primary, just missing
nomination to the Nov. 4 election.
