The State Election Commission should
have allowed Republicans to fill an open ballot spot in a Kanawha County
The unanimous decision means the race
for the four seats in the House of Delegates in the 35th District in Kanawha County
The State Election Commission decided last month not to
replace Del. Suzette Raines on the ballot after she withdrew from the race.
Members said her reasons didn’t the standard to replace. The Supreme Court said
the SEC should have leaned on a 1992 opinion from the High Court that said
ballot vacancies should be “liberally construed” to provide a full selection of
candidates for voters.
Justice Allen Loughry heavily sharply
criticized the commission in Wednesday’s ruling, which came just 24 hours after
the justices heard arguments in the case.
“Actions in this case reflect either an
inexplicable ignorance of the laws they are sworn to uphold or a brazen refusal
to abide by them,” Loughry said. The justice also criticized Secretary of State
Natalie Tennant, a member of commission.
Justice Menis Ketchum also questioned
the SEC’s work.
“The Election Commission was bound to
follow our election law, but it did not.”
Kanawha County Commission President
Kent Carper said he’s not surprised with the ruling. He said there’s enough
blame to go around.
“There is no reason to do what they
did,” Carper said. “The State Election Commission should have a vote and
number-2 there was no reason in the world not to straighten this out and let it
drag on this long.”
Carper is also critical of the Republican
Party. He said it could have sought a ruling from the state Supreme Court
earlier than it did. Carper said he agrees with the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Fifty-five thousand voters should have
a full slate. What’s wrong with that?”
The ruling opens the door for Marie
Sprouse-McDavid to be on the Nov. 4 ballot. She says she was so confident the
Supreme Court would rule in her favor she was campaigning Wednesday morning.
Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick
said 55,000 ballots in the 35th District will now have to be reprinted at a
cost of about $25,000. The Secretary of State’s Office said Wednesday evening
it would pay for the reprint and not taxpayers. The Kanawha County Ballot
Commission has a special meeting scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday to discuss the
logistics of the reprint.
Sprouse-McDavid finished fifth and just
of the running among Republicans in the May Primary Election.
