Just days after Utah Attorney General John Swallow announced his retirement the Utah Democratic Party is taking issue with the governor’s office. The Democrats are calling the process of finding a new attorney general unconstitutional. As it stands right now, the governor will appoint a new attorney general once Swallow is done next week, but the democrats instead want Swallow’s election thrown out and are calling for a special election. Can an elected official resign from an office that they never legally held? That is the question that the Utah state Democratic Party takes issue with in the case of Utah Attorney General John Swallow.
In a report released last week, investigators determined that there was probable cause that Swallow had broken state law by not reporting campaign funds. In light of that, democrats believe his entire election should be thrown out.
In the event of midterm vacancies, the Utah constitution states the governor must appoint someone from the same political party of the office that was vacated. Instead, Democrats want a special election where they could put someone from their own party on the ballot.
Full Article: Utah Democrats Call Process to Appoint New Attorney General Unconstitutional | KUTV.com.