Frequent readers know I’m not exactly a member of the Incumbent Protection Act fan club. But, it is the law. According to one substitute judge sitting in Prince William, though, it is a law that won’t be enforced.[read_more]
As Jeanine Martin reports here, Arlington Circuit Court Judge Paul Sheridan declined to force a primary for those Republican incumbents who had were entitled under the Virginia Code to a primary for their re-nomination contest.
For those unfamiliar with the back story, Va. Code Section 24.2-509 allows local elected officials who previously won their party’s nomination by a primary to designate a primary as the method of their re-nomination contest. Several Republican incumbents in Prince William County chose to do so. Another provision of the Code requires that the designations under 24.2-509 be filed with the State Board of Elections by the local party chairman on or before a certain date. Unfortunately, my friend and Prince William County GOP Chairman Bill Card inadvertently missed that deadline, and filed the designations approximately 36 hours late.
The Democrat-controlled Electoral Board in Prince William declined to exercise the discretion that the Attorney General and the State Board of Elections advised they would be within their rights to exercise, and chose to not correct for the administrative error, apparently delighting in foisting controversy on their local Republican adversaries. The affected GOP candidates, led by Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, filed an action in circuit court to seek an order that they be placed on the primary ballot in accordance with 24.2-509. Today, the judge (sitting in place of the local judges who recused themselves) refused this action.
That was a mistake.
Virginia law requires the local party chairman to make the filing regarding nomination methods on time. This is not an act of discretion, but a purely ministerial responsibility which the party chairman has no lawful ability to escape. It is not as if the law leaves it up to the party chairman to decide whether officials in his party will get a primary; quite the opposite is true. The judge should have acted to correct what all parties involved concede was an administrative failure, not a political act or some manifestation of legal protest.
Instead, by ruling against the incumbents seeking to exercise their lawful rights (however dubious those rights are from a constitutional perspective), this judge has essentially just validated the irresponsible actions of the Prince William electoral board, and by extension he has told every party chairman across the Commonwealth that they have the ability to force a canvass or convention on all of their local office incumbents by simply refusing to obey the law.
(Interestingly, members of the General Assembly don’t face this threat, as the law allows them to directly designate to the State Board their re-nomination preference, skipping the middle man altogether).
This decision does not inspire public confidence in the fair administration of elections. Instead, it directly undermines that confidence, and contributes to a mistrust of the process by party officials, elected officials, and the general public. While many of us do not support the idea that incumbents should have special privileges to determine how their political party re-nominates them, many more of us believe even more strongly in the rule of law.
I hope that Chairman Stewart and the other affected incumbents will appeal this decision immediately.
22 comments
Maybe not…
https://virginiavirtucon.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/why-pwc-gop-incumbents-dont-have-a-leg-to-stand-on-with-their-lawsuit/
[…] have to disagree with my friend Steve Albertson over at The Bull Elephant who argued that Sheridan got the decision wrong. In fact, Sheridan got the decision exactly right and here is […]
File a complaint against the judge.
http://www.courts.state.va.us/agencies/jirc/jirc_complaint_form.pdf
Do you try to get someone fired every time you’re not happy with the results of their work?
Filing complaints against judges for no other reason than that you disagree with a decision of theirs is both stupid and harmful.
Talk about a dilemma!
On the one hand, “Firehouse primaries,” and in fact all primaries conducted outside of the regular ballot box, are criminal activities. Overtly designed to limit involvement, input and choices, they are one of the main reasons politics is corrupt, and government is crooked.
All elections, whether primary, or general, should be conducted in the full light of day with maximum participation. If parties believe that opposing parties are usurping their rightful candidates and therefore denying their values, fine. Draft, pass, enact and implement laws and procedures to allow only registered voters to participate in a primary.
On the other hand, what thinking taxpayer isn’t relishing the opportunity to watch the losers and cheats now in office sweat it out amongst a handful of zealots whose purpose in life is to certify their self impotence, I mean, importance. The mind reels at the thought of the promises being made in back rooms all across the county to secure the handful of votes now necessary to be the party’s standard bearers.
Decisions, decisions. What is one to do???
All of which doesn’t address the one underlying evil of our so-called democracy. Political parties, and more notably, the special laws in place allowing them to put themselves directly on the ballot with processes of their own choosing. What needs to come out of this fiasco/opportunity is to open the process to all, castrate all political parties, and facilitate a robust and open debate.
Either that, or mud wrestling between all comers at the PWC Fair. That would be the most honest approach, and if taxpayers couldn’t get value for their tax dollars, at least they could get entertainment.
You are totally out of touch with reality if you believe what you wrote.
The main reason political parties and our government are corrupt is very simply “money”. Nothing else.
Quit lying to yourself. The facts are what they are. It is all about the cabbage.
As Chairman of the Election Task Force formed in the wake of the unconscionable lines during the 2012 election, I worked closely with the Electoral Board in PWC. I also had occasion to monitor ascertainment of the few provisional ballots attempted to be cast. In both cases, I was impressed by the professionalism of Board, and the non-partisan way in which they conducted themselves (then made up of Rick Hendrix (R), and two of the three current members, Tony Guiffre (R) and Keith Scarborough (D)).
It is utterly plain to me that, with Democrat control, we have taken a step backward. I am sorely disappointed that Keith Scarborough is a party to this fiasco (Guiffre voted to hold a primary), and he has lost a measure of respect with this action.
And I agree with you on the merits of the “Incumbent Protection Act.” But this isn’t about arguing those merits; it’s about fidelity to the process.
A majority of the Prince William County Electoral Board has failed this test.
Don’t the courts have to read the code to give every word meaning? If the law for GA members cuts out the middle man and the law for other candidates doesn’t, that has to mean something. The law says it has to be the party chairman making the filing. That has to mean its a responsibility of the party chairman, not merely a responsibility that can be shirked with no real consequence. I don’t see how you can argue legislative intent when clearly the legislature wrote the law for GA members differently than everyone else for some reason.
At least that would be my argument. I’m not a lawyer, but they do pay from time to time to act like one.
How many times have Republican’s in Virginia been to court in say the last 2 years? And the Democrats?
If an organization cannot manage it’s own affairs, how could any of that organization’s members possibly manage the taxpayers affairs?
Maybe the low info base can digest that thought?
[…] Worst of all, they are a violation of process. Steve Albertson over at The Bull Elephant knocks this one out of the park: […]
I believe that the timeclock rule is a reasonable and non-arbitrary way to ensure that the ballots are prepared in time. It does not unreasonably infringe on the Incumbent Protection Act and its intent. Considering that the rule has been in place well before this incident and all parties knew about it & have complied with the well-defined limitations in the past without objections, I respectfully DISSENT from Mr. Albertson’s opinion.
A fair opinion, Bruce. I disagree, obviously, because I think this ruling completely undermines the intent of the law, but I aporeciate the considered response.
Just one more example of why the VA primary election laws are crap.
if the law requires the unit chair ( ministerial position or not) to file on time, then the unit chair, ministerial or not, must comply with the law. how does the statute read? “must”? “shall”?
also, 36 hours late is pretty damn late. I mean, 36 minutes could possibly be chalked up to traffic (in NoVA or Tidewater or RVA), but 36 hours???
Think of it this way. If the chairman had disregarded the wishes of the the entitled incumbents and designated a convention without their consent (which would be completely at odds with the Code), I kinda doubt there would be much outcry about the incumbents going to court to enforce the rights given them by law. That the chairman violated some other requirement that has the same effect (them not getting a primary) should be viewed no differently unless the action is taken so late that there is some real prejudice to the state board and local election officials in getting ballots printed on time, which is not the case here.
If the chairman had disregarded the wishes of the entitled incumbent that should be an issue for the RPV to rectify.
The perfect example are the actions of the 24th with their federal lawsuit against Hangar’s incumbent rights. They want to disregard state law AND the party process by going to the feds. In one sense, they are right. There should be no bi-partisan Incumbent Protection Team cooking the books for each other to the detriment of good electoral process.
Which is why under these stupid primary laws THERE IS NO PARTY!
Sour grapes. IT IS THE LAW .. Until it is NOT the law. (So was SLAVERY .. just sayin’) GOP blew it. Nobody else’s fault. Tough. Then wanted judge to pull their chestnuts out of the fire. Call the Whhaammbulanse..
Wrong. The law also says these incumbents shall be renominated by a primary unless they consent to a different method. They didn’t screw up, but they don’t get what they are entitled to BY LAW. The court should have fixed it. Instead, by its reluctance to intervene, it has chosen one requirement over another to the detriment of the overall purpose of the statute.
Three elected officials and they couldn’t coordinate this with the chair weeks ago?
Even the Chairman has admitted it was his error. The three electeds had nothing to do with it.
Did the Chairman resign? Shouldn’t the candidates be bird dogging the process to ensure there are no glitches?
What if there was a deadline and the candidate assumed the Chairman would turn in the paperwork on time? What if there was a petition involved and the Chairman wasn’t able to read enough signatures to certify the candidate? What if a non-GOP elected official decided to challenge a GOP office holder in a primary at the last minute?
In the end, it seems the three electeds had EVERYTHING to do with making sure their names were on a primary ballot.
Especially in a state that has the most screwed up primary laws in the country.
They why have a deadline at all? This was an easy, and also the correct decision. Follow the rules and this thread would not be here. Why do liberals think they are exempt from the rules?
Didn’t one Presidential Candidate in 2012 do something similar?
The GA meets every year with thousands of new proposals for laws, etc.. Virtually impossible to keep up with and enforce. Why not do away with the odd years sessions?
Less government is usually better. This is a prime example.
And Steve, on a totally different subject. How about a thread on the WOTC, nothing but more Corporate welfare. Why is the taxpayer now
paying 40% the 1st year, and 50% of the second year of private sector employee’s pay up to $9600 per year, of those in the “target groups”? Where are Republican’s on this? I know where the only fiscal conservative is.
The WOTC is the most foul program I have ever heard of, at least in a long while.
Please, stop the whining, and start reporting on things like the WOTC.
Before I have a coronary reading about programs like the WOTC! I need a “pill”.