Nevada lawmakers have allocated up to $540,000 for the upcoming special election for the 2nd U.S. House District.
The Las Vegas Sun reported last week that the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee unanimously approved reimbursing counties for their election costs. Lawmakers complained about drawing funds from a bank account that’s supposed to meet expenses until 2013.
The state, not the counties, will pay the $539,137 cost of the Sept. 13 special congressional election spawned by disgraced John Ensign’s decision last spring to quit the U.S. Senate. After bickering about the cost Wednesday, members of the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee agreed unanimously to take the money out of their contingency fund, rather than making counties pay for the election.
Secretary of State Ross Miller, the state’s chief election officer, said that the counties had no time to prepare for the special election and that forcing them to cover costs out of their current budgets would pose a hardship. Counties typically pay their own election costs. The election would have cost Clark County about $33,000, according to a June estimate by the elections department.
A recent story from Port Orchard, WA demonstrates how important election costs are in the current tight fiscal environment. There, the City Council had voted in late May to take advantage of a state law that allows cities to modify their status to become “code” cities and thus give themselves more flexibility in their affairs.
Shortly thereafter, one member of the city’s Planning Commission who had argued that citizens be given an opportunity to weigh in on the change filed papers to put the question to a vote. But because of a misunderstanding about deadlines, the question was not certified in time for this November’s general ballot and thus would have required a special February election next year.
Port Orchard’s City Council members faced a decision Tuesday that Councilman Jim Colebank equated with “blackmail” or “coercion.” They could reverse a decision they made for citizens that they believed to be right, or they could incur a cost of up to $30,000 to let the citizens vote on the decision themselves. They voted for the cheaper option, but they weren’t happy about it.
The council wanted to give city government the authority to operate in a less restricted manner, by changing the city’s operating status from “second class” to “code,” and voted to do so in late May after several sparsely attended public hearings on the issue.
But Gil and Kathy Michael, who run the Cedar Cove Inn on Seattle Avenue overlooking the waterfront, collected about 550 signatures to put the issue before citizens in the next election.
The attorney representing freedmen in their case against the Cherokee Nation said Tuesday that he was shocked the tribe’s Supreme Court ruled against the freedmen so close to the special election to pick a new chief.
Attorney Ralph Keen Jr., of Stilwell, said the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court’s ruling, which was handed down on Monday, came a day before the tribe’s election officials sent out absentee ballots for the election between Chad Smith and Bill John Baker.
The tribal court’s decision means about 2,800 freedmen — the ancestors of slaves who had been owned by Cherokee members — won’t be able to vote in the Sept. 24 election. Hall said the timing “shocked me … when you put it in the context of the special tribal election.”
Although some county clerks in the state have yet to be reimbursed for the cost of the last election in May, they already are gearing up for the return of voters to the polls.
Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick said the state has not yet paid the county the approximately $314,000 it cost to hold the special primary election in May. And now that her employees are preparing for the upcoming special gubernatorial general election on Oct. 4, the county will soon be racking up more bills. “We’d like to have our money,” McCormick said.
When special elections are needed, a new bill would require they be held without delay.
Current state law is silent on how much time can pass between a vacancy in the Wisconsin Legislature and when the governor can or should call an election to fill it. State Representative Mark Pocan and Senator-elect Jennifer Shilling think 60 days is enough.
The Board of Examiners today approved a request for more than half a million dollars from a legislative contingency fund to pay the counties for the cost of the Sept. 13 special election in the 2nd Congressional District. The board, made up of Gov. Brian Sandoval, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State Ross Miller, approved the $539,000 request, which will be considered Aug. 31 by the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee.
Miller said the other options to pay for the election were to pass the costs on to the counties or to use a dwindling pool of federal funds, but that the request from the contingency fund is the best choice. Requiring cash-strapped counties to pay the costs could lead to cutting corners, and Miller said it is important to ensure the integrity of the election. Miller said his office made every effort to reduce the expenditures to reasonable levels. Initial estimates put the cost at in excess of $1 million.
Cherokee Nation citizens will head to the polls in a little over a month to determine who will lead the tribe for the next four years. Following the June 25 general election, the Supreme Court of the Cherokee Nation ruled the election for principal chief invalid, due to the inability to determine the results between former Principal Chief Chad Smith and challenger Bill John Baker, a two-term tribal councilor. A new election for principal chief has been called for Saturday, Sept. 24.
Acting Principal Chief Joe Crittenden, who will resume his duties as deputy chief once the Sept. 24 election concludes, wants all citizens to participate in the process.
A board chaired by the governor voted unanimously Monday to ask the Legislature to cover the $539,137 cost of the special election on Sept. 13 to fill a vacancy in Congress.
Instead of requiring counties to cover election costs, the state Board of Examiners wants the Legislature to reimburse counties out of its $12 million interim contingency fund. The Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee will consider the proposal on Aug. 31.
Kitutu Masaba Member of Parliament Walter Nyambati (National Labour Party) has lost a petition filed against his 2007 poll win, joining a long list of MPs whose election have been nullified by the High Court. Kisii Resident Judge Milton Makhandia who delivered the ruling on Friday said the MP was elected irregularly.
Mr Nyambati’s election was challenged by Justus Omiti who had also sued a Returning Officer of the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya and the Interim Independent Electoral Commission. In issuing the ruling, the judge said the petitioner had proved beyond reasonable doubt that there were irregularities in the polls. Mr Nyambati becomes the eleventh MP in the current Parliament to lose an election petition.
There are exactly 1,653 registered voters in the tiny municipality of Bel Ridge, Missouri. And so when the village decided to hold a special election in February 2010 to increase property taxes, the proposition was bound to be expensive on a per-vote basis.
The St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners had to print ballots. They needed to get voting equipment to the polls. And, of course, they had to staff those polls — with eight poll workers required in the one location chosen for Bel Ridge. All that when just 11.4 percent of Bel Ridge’s already small voter base — or 200 people — bothered to cast a ballot.
Total cost per ballot cast? $22.52.
The Cherokee Nation’s special election for principal chief has been set for Saturday, Sept. 24. The date, set by Principal Chief Chad Smith according to tribal law, should allow ample time for tribal citizens to participate. Candidates for the special election are incumbent Smith, a three-term principal chief; and challenger Bill John Baker, a three-term tribal councilor.
The special election is the result of the CN Supreme Court’s ruling that vacated the results of the June 25 election, in which both Smith and Baker filed lawsuits. The court vacated the results of the election on Thursday, June 21, stating it was impossible to determine the results with any mathematical certainty. Cherokee Nation law indicates, in such cases, a special election must be called by the principal chief “as soon as practical.”
Cherokee citizens will head to the polls September 24 to decide who will be the next Principal Chief. “That was the date recommended by the Election Commission to best allow our citizens to fully participate in the election,” said Principal Chief Chad Smith. “The commission thought that gave enough time to notify our citizens of the dates important to the election, including a period of time for voters to request absentee ballots.”
Cherokee Nation law says that in such cases, a special election must be called by the Principal Chief “as soon as practical.”
All citizens who were registered to vote in the June 25 general election will be eligible to vote in the special election, officials said. The election law ends voter registration for an election year on March 31 of that year, so voters who registered after the deadline will not be eligible to vote in the special election, says election commission officials.
Under Oregon law, Gov. John Kitzhaber calls for a special election to replace a member of Congress. His spokeswoman Christine Miles said he was still reviewing the procedures Tuesday and would outline the election parameters when a review was completed.
Complicating that review is the fact that U.S. Rep David Wu, while announcing his intent to resign, has not officially done so. Nor has he specified a date, other than sometime after the debt ceiling vote in Congress has taken place.
The state’s chief election official says special measures are needed to ensure proper administration in the upcoming special election.
An emergency regulation prepared by Secretary of State Ross Miller and enacted today will guide the reimbursement of costs incurred by the counties for the September 13 special election for Nevada’s second congressional district. The election is expected to cost Nevada’s 17 counties a total of nearly $1 million.
Without committing themselves to a November vote, a May vote, or any vote at all on the issue of a change in form of government, the Ketchum City Council nonetheless expressed its desire for a special election on the issue.
Ketchum has a “strong mayor” form of government, in which the citizen-elected mayor is the city’s chief administrative officer. Under consideration is a council-manager form of government, in which the administrative head is a hired city manager.
Also being debated is when a vote on changing the form of government should occur. That question has become as controversial as the form-of-government issue itself.
Hundreds of special elections are held across the nation each year and because there is no way officials can plan for them, budgeting can be difficult. Below is an analysis of how two states , Louisiana and Massachusetts handle special elections.
Louisiana
A recent report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor‘s office calculated that special elections in the state, from 2005 to 2010, cost state and local governments more than $1 million with the direct costs of running these elections ranging between $12,000 and $137,000 a piece. As already reported, a potential conclusion from this report is that Louisiana is spending unnecessary resources to hold special elections rather than postponing these races until the next regularly scheduled election days.
Legislation to reduce the number of standalone local elections has already been introduced by the state Legislature, but underneath the headline of the cost of eac h election is the story of how states and localities divvy up the costs of running those elections.
A District Court judge ruled Friday that North Las Vegas must certify a City Council race decided by one vote and it can’t hold a special election to resolve questions about an ineligible voter who might have participated in the June 7 contest. Wade Wagner, a Republican, beat incumbent Councilman Richard Cherchio, a Democrat, by a single vote for the Ward 4 seat in the nonpartisan election.
The council later decided to redo the election on July 19 in one precinct and allow all registered voters to take part, even if they didn’t cast ballots in the first race.
Wagner’s attorney, Todd Bice, said the judge’s ruling nullifies an improper action by the council. He accused the council of trying to skew the outcome by picking a heavily Democratic precinct and not limiting participation to those who had voted before.
Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzales ruled in favor of Wade Wagner this morning in a hearing for his lawsuit against the city of North Las Vegas. The judge ruled the city can’t move forward with a special election that had been planned for July 19.
“Wade Wagner will be the winner once the council canvasses and certifies the vote,” said Wagner attorney Todd Bice. Wagner filed a lawsuit against the city after officials refused to canvas votes in the general election for the Ward 4 City Council seat.
Secretary of State Ross Miller has denied requests from Esmeralda and Nye counties to expand the number of mail ballot only precincts in their counties for the special election to fill the 2nd Congressional District seat set for Sept. 13.
While both counties claimed they would realize modest cost savings by designating more mail ballot only precincts, Miller said his overriding concern is the integrity of the election process.
“This election is already on a greatly expedited timeline,” Miller said. “My first and foremost objective is to conduct an error-free election and I’m concerned that unknown challenges are likely to arise in implementing a new and different process in such short order.”
The Nevada Supreme Court upheld a ruling allowing state Republicans to nominate one candidate to represent the party in a special election to fill the House of Representatives seat vacated by U.S. Senator Dean Heller.
In May, a lower court judge ruled in favor of the Nevada Republican Party and barred Secretary of State Ross Miller, a Democrat, from declaring a “free-for-all” election in which candidates could nominate themselves. The Supreme Court agreed and ruled in a 6-1 decision that although the state law is “ambiguous” deferring to Miller was not appropriate in this case.
The Nevada Supreme Court has determined the two major political parties can choose one candidate each to run for the state’s open Congressional District 2 seat, putting an end to Secretary of State Ross Miller’s vision of a “ballot royale.”
There will be only eight candidates — not 30 — on the ballot when U.S. Sen. Dean Heller’s replacement is chosen in a special election Sept. 13. Republican Mark Amodei and Democrat State Treasurer Kate Marshall will top the ballot along with candidates from the Independent American and Libertarian parties and four independents. The decision is important more for political reasons than legal concerns.
Attorneys for the state Democrat and Republican parties argued their cases Tuesday before the Nevada Supreme Court over whether they should pick their candidates for the special election to fill the vacant 2nd Congressional District seat, or whether it should be a “ballot royale.”
The Democrat Party and Secretary of State Ross Miller, himself a Democrat, are asking the court to rule by July 6 that any and all comers should be able to file to fill the vacancy left with the appointment of former Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., to the U.S. Senate.
Attorneys for the Republicans say Miller exceeded his authority in making the election a free-for-all, and that the parties should select the single candidate to represent them in a special election that has been set for Sept. 13, although it is possible this date might have to be changed.
Seems there’s nothing like a deadline, or perhaps a U.S. House vacancy, to focus the mind. That mantra apparently applied to both the Legislature — which passed a bare bones special election law eight years ago — and the secretary of state’s office, which never got around to writing regulations governing how a special election should be conducted.
Now that Nevada is facing its first U.S. House vacancy, the state Supreme Court will decide how the next representative from the 2nd Congressional District will be chosen. It’s a political process that most justices appeared uncomfortable wading into, based on questions they asked during oral arguments Tuesday on the case that will decide the matter.
“Why shouldn’t we let the secretary of state make this decision?” Justice Mark Gibbons said. “Otherwise we’re going to have judges running elections, and that may not be a good idea.”
Several Nevada Supreme Court justices suggested Tuesday that perhaps they should defer to Democratic Secretary of State Ross Miller to set the rules for a special election for Congress.
“Why shouldn’t we go along with the secretary of state?” asked Justice Kris Pickering during oral arguments that lasted less than one hour.
Justice James Hardesty said that when there are no clear regulations on election matters, the court should defer to the administrative decision. But he seemed to take positions on both sides of the matter Tuesday.
The state Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Tuesday over who can appear on the special election ballot for Nevada’s open 2nd Congressional District seat.
Secretary of State Ross Miller and the Democratic Party have appealed a lower court ruling rejecting his position that the Sept. 13 election should be open to anyone who files their candidacy. Carson City District Court Judge James Russell in May said he was concerned that the rules set by Miller amounted to “picking and choosing” different provisions of election statutes.
The lower-court judge sided with the state Republican Party, saying major party central committees should choose their nominee. The GOP has selected former state Sen. Mark Amodei as their candidate; Democrats overwhelming chose state Treasurer Kate Marshall as theirs.
The one-vote winner of a heated North Las Vegas City Council race is suing to stop a new election. An attorney for dentist Wade Wagner, who won election to the council’s Ward 4 seat by a single vote, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in District Court against the city and four council members over the decision to order a new election in one precinct after the discovery of an ineligible vote.
Wagner won the election “but is being deprived of the office due to the unlawful actions of partisan City Council members who claim the power to void lawful votes because their preferred candidate lost,” the complaint said.
It asks the court to order the city to certify the original election and to stop the city from going forward with a new one. The city has 45 days to respond.
A hearing in Clark County’s Circuit Court on Wednesday alleged that the county’s electronic voting machines were inoperable in Clarksville during the May 3 primary election.
As a result Clarksville Clerk-Treasurer Gary Hall is asking that Clarksville have a special election to determine the winner of May’s Democratic clerk-treasurer primary. “We’ve asked for a new election on that particular race,” said Jack Vissing, Hall’s attorney.
Hall lost the Clarksville clerk-treasurer primary race to Bob Leuthart by 26 votes. Leuthart received 880 votes compared to Hall’s 854 votes.
It would be more expensive to conduct an all-mail election in Clark County for the 2nd Congressional District seat than holding a one-day election at polling places, county Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said Tuesday.
Lomax said he informed Secretary of State Ross Miller that a mail-in election on Sept. 13 to fill the seat formerly held by Dean Heller would cost $75,000, compared to $33,000 for an election at 12 polling places with three workers at each place.
The reason is the U.S. Postal Service would require that all ballots be sent out and returned by first-class mail. There also would be printing costs for the ballots. “It would definitely be more expensive to do mail,” he said. “Until the Postal Service lets us use third-class mail, it is always going to be more expensive to do mail elections.”