OCR Text |
Show Robinson says he won't file suit on election By GARY R. BLODGETT BOUNTIFUL Although he says he will not protest the election or file suit to have his named placed on the General Election ballot, Robert L. (Bob) Robinson said today that he "still is not satisfied with the city attorney's decision and will work to have the controversy resolved," "I'm not backing down from my stand that I was not treated fairly, but there is not enough time left to have the decision reversed. All I want now is to have the State Statute revised and the section (regarding death of a candidate) amended so that it will not happen to anyone else." And Mr. Robinson will be getting his wish. Vernon Carr, a state election official and expert on election procedures, said: "I'm not so sure that the decision could not have gone either way, and perhaps the name (Robinson) placed on the ballot," said Mr. Carr, who noted that there are other sections of the Statute, although vague, that could support Mr. Robinson's Robin-son's argument to have his name placed on the ballot. In hopes that city atorneys in Utah will not be faced with this decision in the future, Mr. Carr has prepared a proposed amendment to State Statute 20-5-13, dealing with the death of candidates prior to the general election. The present statute states that there must be twice as many candidates on the ballot as there are number of seats to be filled at the next election. Thus, Mr. Carr is proposing that this section be amended to include: "...Except when a candidate is nominated at the Primary Election and then withdraws or dies, the vacancy is to be filled from the remaining Primary Election candidates who received the most primary votes." . The controversy started after the death of DeMonte Washburn Wash-burn last weekend, leaving Bountiful with only five candidates to fill three vacant city council seats. Mr. Robinson contends that as the seventh place vote-getter, his name should have been placed on the Nov. 3 ballot, replacing that of Mr. Washburn. City Atty. Layne B. Forbes said that after study of the state statutes, he decided that no one's name should be added. He said his decision was based on the "controlling statute" which was revised in 1981. This section, 20-5-50, Death of a candidate can-didate before election states: "The name of a candidate who dies before election day shall not be printed upon the ballots if such fact is known by the clerk. If the ballots have already been printed, the name of the deceased candidate shall be erased or cancelled, if possible, pos-sible, before ballots are delivered to voters." Thus, Bountiful's General Election ballots will have a line crossed through the name of Mr. Washburn, but no other name will be added to the ballot Three spaces are left on the ballot for any write-in votes. Atty. Forbes emphasized that the provisions of the State Statute are not clear as to when or how a name of a candidate can be added to the ballot unless that candidate is nominated in the Primary Election. "Bountiful voters named their six favorite candidates, from a longer list of candidates, for the three vacant seats on the Bountiful City Council. By virtue of that election, the section of the State Statute dealing with having twice the number of candidates as there are positions to be filled was met," Atty. Forbes ruled. Mr. Robinson argues that there are other sections of the State Statute plus Section 137 of the American Jurisprudence which provide for replacement of a candidate's can-didate's name on the General Election ballot. Section 137, Mr. Robinson notes, provides for a candidate privilege to have a nominee from th Primary Election added to the ballot if there is a "death, resignation or declination of any of the nominees already on the ballot" "There is not enough remaining time to challenge the (attorney's) (at-torney's) decision or to conduct a write-in campaign, but that does not change my earlier feelings that I was unjustly dealt with and I don't want to see it happen to anyone in the future," said Mr. Robinson. Mr. Robinson then referred to the Utah Code 20-5-11 which states: "If any person nominated resigns or declines his nomination nomina-tion before election day, or if any certificate of nomination is insufficient or inoperative, the vacancy thus occasioned may be filled in the manner required in the original nomination." Mr. Robinson said he was advised that this is "widely understood un-derstood and interpreted to mean that in an election without political parties (as is Bountiful's), where a primary election has been held, the voting of the electorate is recognized and the right and privilege to assume the vacancy is granted to the next highest vote-getter." "I want to seek positive avenues and not be pulled into ad-versial ad-versial relationships," said Mr. Robinson. "Thus, legal recourse will be considered fully, but with restraint and patience." He said that despite the short time before the General Election, Elec-tion, he was ready to have accepted whatever time disadvantages disadvan-tages to seeking election, had that offer which was made to him not been reversed by the city attorney. |