KS-Sen: Taylor drops out

[SteveRogers]

Kobach has ruled Taylor stays on the ballot. Hasen examines the legalities here.

Lawsuits and appeals will likely follow.

Wow. This might be the only case in U.S. history of a candidate fighting a court battle to keep their name off of the November ballot.

[SteveRogers]

Kris Kobach spits in the face of democracy once again. Nothing to see here, move on.

The law is pretty clear: "Any person who has been nominated by any means for any national, state, county or township office who declares that they are incapable of fulfilling the duties of office if elected may cause such person’s name to be withdrawn from nomination by a request in writing, signed by the person and acknowledged before an officer qualified to take acknowledgments of deeds."

If he didn't declare that he was incapable of fulfilling the duties of the office, he can't withdraw.  Blame the legislature for crafting the law, not the person enforcing it.

Even if the SOS's office helped Taylor craft the letter, is there any evidence that Bryant was aware of the provision?  If he wasn't, then that's arguably grounds he should be fired for doing a poor job, but it's ultimately Taylor's responsibility to ensure that his campaign follows the law.

Hmmm... but is it totally clear that the written request must itself contain the requisite declaration that one is incapable? I think it's reasonable to read that statute as simply requiring that the "written request" contain precisely what it sounds like, a request to be removed from the ballot that need not state any of the reasons motivating the request. The declaration and the written request are two distinct requirements that need not be combined into one action.

 

[SteveRogers]

How exactly could Kobach "force" Democrats to select a replacement? If they decide not to, there's nothing he can do about it. Or perhaps the Democrats could select Kobach, Roberts, Brownback, or Yoder?

I don't think he could. Even if the law mandates that Democrats must select a replacement, the law doesn't give the SOS any recourse if the KS Democratic Party refuses to do so, and there's almost certainly no penalty under the law for refusing to do so. It sounds like he's talking about trying to go back to court and get a judge to order the party to select a replacement, but the SOS doesn't have standing to bring that suit. Maybe he could find a member of the state Democratic party that would have standing to bring a suit, but it doesn't seem that there's enough time left for such antics.

[SteveRogers]

"In response to the ruling, Kobach said a separate statute protects the “rights of Kansas Democrats” to have a replacement candidate. He said he would move the mailing date for absentee ballots to Sept. 27 and that the chair of the Democratic Party has been informed she has eight days to select a replacement candidate."

Lol. Or what? Does Kansas law allow the Secretary of State to impose any kind of sanction on the Democratic Party for failing to do so? Because even if the courts were inclined to order the state Democratic Committee to select a replacement, it is highly unlikely that Kobach would have standing to bring any kind of action against the Democrats in court. It's over.