March 26, 2007

Proposed legislation to clarify procedure when candidate dies

"With the special election for Mendocino County district attorney less than two weeks away, State Sen. Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa), has proposed a bill to clarify the laws governing special elections.

Wiggins' bill, SB 813, would clarify California Elections Code 8026 to apply only to those elections where a candidate dies within 68 days of a primary election.

"With all the turmoil that has surrounded the district attorney's race is Mendocino County, I believe this is the best way to prevent that kind of problem from occurring in the future," Wiggins said. "Clearly, triggering a special election during a runoff doesn't serve the voters, the candidates or the county, which gets stuck paying the bill, very well."

Wiggins is referring to the 2006 Mendocino County district attorney race, during which incumbent DA Norman Vroman died within 47 days of the election, leaving Fort Bragg attorney Meredith Lintott the only living candidate still in the race.

The Board of Supervisors followed California Elections Code 1504, which says that if a candidate dies within 68 days of the election, the candidate's name remains on the ballot. In the event the deceased candidate is elected, the Board of Supervisors fills the seat until the next election.

Assistant District Attorney Keith Faulder, who was acting as interim district attorney at the time, rejected that interpretation and said Section 8026 was the correct elections code to apply and challenged the county in
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California District Court.

The court eventually sided with Faulder, nullifying the November 2006 district attorney election and sealing the results. The California Supreme Court upheld the lower court's interpretation on appeal.

"The court's decision set a new precedent given that the intent and history of Section 8026 only applied to primary elections," Wiggins said. "In addition to reversing both the intent and history by applying Section 8026 to runoff elections, that decision will likely result in significant unnecessary costs, delays and added confusion for voters."

The article is here.

Posted by Randy Riddle at March 26, 2007 09:23 AM