March 29, 2006

Judge upholds Correa's right to remain in Senate primary

"A Sacramento County Superior Court judge Tuesday upheld Orange County Supervisor Lou Correa's right to be on the June ballot, dashing Assemblyman Tom Umberg's hopes of eliminating his opponent in the Democratic primary for the 34th Senate District.

Umberg had alleged that the supervisor violated elections law by submitting more than the maximum number of signatures allowed to qualify for the June 6 ballot.

Correa needed signatures from 40 registered voters. After submitting his first batch on March 10, he was told he didn't have enough signatures, so he submitted more. When that still didn't bring him up to 40, he submitted a third group, exceeding 60 total signatures.

Representatives for Correa, the Orange County Registrar of Voters and Secretary of State Bruce McPherson argued Tuesday that the limits apply to the number of signatures submitted in each batch, not to the total submitted.

Umberg's attorney, Stephen Kaufman, characterized Correa's campaign as wantonly flouting a firm, 60-signature limit. He described Correa as "cavalier" about the election process, saying the supervisor "waited until the last minute to submit" signatures.

"Your Honor, what we have here is an example of a candidate's complete disregard for the nomination process," Kaufman said.

Judge Patrick Marlette acknowledged Umberg's side raised some valid points about vague elections law, but said ultimately that was not enough to block Correa from being on the ballot.

You can read the story here.

Posted by Randy Riddle at March 29, 2006 08:32 AM