Write-In Ros?
Posted on September 14, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Just as the Tennessee blogosphere seems unanimous in rebuke of the Tennessee Democratic Party Executive Committee’s handling of Tim Barnes’ challenge to the results of the 22nd state Senate District’s Democratic primary, reports and commentary on the decision, including Post Politics, have been similarly unanimous in portraying the decision as a death blow to the political career of Rosalind Kurita.
The tri-county party convention will most certainly, it has been said, decide in favor of Barnes and, with no candidate on the ballot as either a Republican or an independent, victory is assured to Barnes in the general election. Tim Barnes will be the next state Senator from Clarksville.
Or will he?
Remember, the “Senate is Senate,” as they say, and it will be the Senate which has the final say over whether Tim Barnes is seated or not. Just as in the case of Ophelia Ford, the state Senate has the ability to void any election to its body. This would, as in the Ford case, likely lead to a lengthy court fight.
To void the election, Republican would need only a simple majority. The question is, will they have it? Just as it would take 17 votes to unseat a Senator Barnes, so too do the Republicans need 17 votes to keep their majority in the Senate.
Kurita was the famous seventeen vote that installed the first Republican Speaker since Reconstruction. Senator Williams, the former Republican now independent, will almost certainly not vote for a Speaker Ramsey again.
After last week’s news regarding his Republican opponent, it is starting to look more and more likely that the incumbent Independent will keep his seat. If Williams holds, along with the rest of the Democrats, you’ve got a potential speaker Kyle, who, one would expect, would see absolutely no problem with Barnes’s road to the Senate.
But if Ramsey is the next speaker, he, by definition, has his seventeen. Would it be worth the hassle to void the election of Barnes and risk lawsuits and the like just to install an independent Democrat who may or may not support him on crucial issues important to Republicans.
Yes, she will have a personal loyalty to Ramsey. But at the end of the day, no matter what anybody says, the woman is no Republican. She is a progressive. A populist, nanny statist-type of progressive, but a progressive nonetheless.
But is there another way? Can Kurita stay in the Senate without depending on either her local county Democratic officials or Lt. Governor Ramsey?
This is Tennessee, Kurita cannot pull a Joe Lieberman and run as an independent as the filing deadlines for both party candidates and independents are on the same day, in part so as to prevent that very thing.
There is one final recourse, however. In Tennessee, on the fiftieth day before the election, any man or women eligible for an office can file, in each county that makes up the district of the listed office, a Certificate of Write-In Candidacy.
The fiftieth day before this year’s November 4th election is tomorrow, September 15, 2008.
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Comments
9 Responses to “Write-In Ros?”
Question: Has she officially been removed from the ballot? At what point does the convention nominating Barnes have to take place in order to ensure that he is put on the ballot?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Overseas mail-in ballots are set go to the printer on September 20th. The convention should be held this week.
Will there be an election redo where all votes count?
TCA 2-7-133(i)
2-7-133. Ballots which may be counted. —
(a) Only ballots provided in accordance with this title may be counted. The judges shall write “Void” on others and sign them.
…
(i) Any person attempting to be elected by write-in ballots shall complete a notice requesting such person’s ballots be counted in each county of the district no later than fifty (50) days before the general election. Such person shall only have votes counted in counties where such notice was completed and timely filed. The notice shall be on a form prescribed by the coordinator of elections and shall not require signatures of any person other than the write-in candidate requesting ballots be counted. The coordinator of elections shall distribute such form to the county election commissions. Upon timely receiving the notice required by this subsection (i), the county election commission shall promptly inform the state coordinator of elections, the registry of election finance, as well as all other candidates participating in the affected election.
[Acts 1972, ch. 740, § 1; T.C.A., § 2-733; Acts 2001, ch. 413, § 1; 2001, ch. 465, §§ 2-4; 2003, ch. 307, § 4; 2005, ch. 302, § 1; 2007, ch. 125, § 6.]
Heaven help us. Speaker Kyle? He steals an election and gets rewarded with speaker. That is so wrong. He foists Ophelia Ford on us with voting dead people. She embarrasses us with her drunken antics and he wants her to name her own replacement. He steals an election from a woman he doesn’t like. Why would anyone make this man speaker? He has no respect for democracy.
Heaven help us. Speaker Kyle? He steals an election and gets rewarded with speaker.
What election did he steal? He wasn’t involved in this process at all.
None, that’a LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR KYLE to you, if they pull this off. If they CAN’T, well, there may be other names for him…
[...] A write in Kurita campaign as kicked off. [...]
[...] None, that’a LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR KYLE to you, if they pull this off. If they… [...]
Just get busy in the district right quick.