Dallas County Republicans file lawsuit to kick 128 Democrats off election ballot

[RandySF]

Dallas County Republicans have filed a lawsuit to have 128 Democrats kicked off the March 6 primary ballot.

The lawsuit, filed in Dallas County late Friday, contends that Dallas County Democratic Party Chairman Carol Donovan didn't sign the petitions of 128 Democratic Party candidates before sending them to the Texas Secretary of State's office, as required by law.

"The Election Code says the chairman, and nobody else, has to sign them," said Elizabeth Alvarez Bingham, a lawyer for the Dallas County Republican Party. "Carol Donovan is the chair. She was supposed to sign them. She didn't do it."

The news stunned some Democrats after a lawyer for their party notified them of the lawsuit Sunday afternoon.

"We have assembled a legal team of Dallas' best and brightest Democratic election law attorneys," Donovan said late Sunday in a news release. "Though we are taking this case seriously, the Republican Party's lawsuit is not supported by Texas law. We will fight to ensure that all Democratic voters in Dallas County can participate in a fair Primary election."

"This is just Republican shenanigans," said state Sen. Royce West, one of the names Republicans want tossed off the ballot. "Republicans are trying to drive a wedge in the Democratic Party because they can't be competitive in the county."


https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2018-elections/2018/01/21/dallas-county-republicans-file-lawsuit-kick-128-democrats-election-ballot

[Gothmog]

1. You got to be kidding me

[Turbineguy]

2. Not doing everything just right and by the book

saves the republicans of the need to cheat.

[TexasTowelie]

3. Thanks. I cross-posted this to the Texas Group. nt

[tech3149]

4. Here's my problem

We as Democrats exert so much effort on the policy and effect but don't really fight the stupid procedural bullshit that lets this kind of thing happen. I expect I'll be dead before the Democratic party compensates for decades of voter suppression, gerrymandering, and otherwise manipulating the rules of the game. We got skunked back in the 70's when the Powell memorandum put the elite on notice to invest in all aspects of managing perception to counter social upheaval that challenged their domination of society, and more important, their wealth.

[C Moon]

5. It's no wonder the GOP takes Russian money...

they want to run elections like Russia.

[Major Nikon]

6. They arent smart enough to do that

Which explains why they contracted out the job to them.

[Gothmog]

7. Juanita Jean-UPDATE: Dallas Republicans Playing Games

From Juanita Jean http://juanitajean.com/update-dallas-republicans-playing-games/

Well, our buddy Glen Maxey – who probably wrote the law and who can read writing – put the answer on Facebook.

Here ya go, straight from Glen —

Hear about that frivilous lawsuit filed by the Dallas Republicans? (See I put “frivoulous lawsuit” and “filed by Republicans” in the same sentence: Pigs do fly!) They claim the Democratic Chair didn’t sign candidate applications. Oh, my. There’s a blank right there on the form for the Chair to sign their name. Oh, but the Chair didn’t sign them, the Primary Director did. What a travesty! Oh, my! We can knock 128 Democrats off the ballot because these crazy Democrats didn’t follow the law!

HOWEVER, right next to the signature blank on the SOS prescribed application is a cite of the Texas Election Code. Sec. 1.007. And that little gem says ANY employee of an authority can accept a filing for the authority (i.e. the Chair).

As Emily Litella would say: “NEVERMIND”.

Sec. 1.007 DELIVERING, SUBMITTING, AND FILING DOCUMENTS. (a) When this code provides for the delivery, submission, or filing of an application, notice, report, or other document or paper with an authority having administrative responsibility under this code, a delivery, submission, or filing iwith an employee of the authority at the authority’s usual place for conducting official business constitutes filing with the authority.