[EL] Chad Taylor withdrawal

Thu Sep 4 09:50:04 PDT 2014

    More on Whether Chad Taylor's Withdrawal from #KSSEN is Kosher
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64981>

Posted onSeptember 4, 2014 9:48 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64981>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I earlier linked to coverage inThe Hill 
<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/216603-legal-questions-complicate-democrats-exit-from-kansas-senate>andHot 
Air 
<http://hotair.com/archives/2014/09/04/kansas-move-backfiring-for-dems/> which 
raises the question whether Democrat Chad Taylor's withdrawal from the 
Kansas Senate race is allowed. The relevant statute,KS 25-306b(b) 
<http://www.ksrevisor.org/statutes/chapters/ch25/025_003_0006b.html>provides 
that a candidate can withdraw within a certain time frame: "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duties of office if elected may cause such person's name to be withdrawn 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."

At issue is the "who declares that they are incapable of fulfilling the 
duties of office if elected." Taylor's letterdid not so declare 
<http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/03/1326919/-Chad-Taylor-Democratic-Candidate-in-Kansas-Withdraws#>, 
and it looks like the deadline has passed. Now what?

There do not appear to be any cases construing 25-306b. There is an 
attorney general opinion 92-66 (onWestlaw 
<https://a.next.westlaw.com/Document/If36e2481089611db91d9f7db97e2132f/View/FullText.html?navigationPath=Search%2Fv3%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Fnavigation%2Fi0ad7051f00000148417c8c581142e4f0%3FNav%3DALL_RESULTS%26fragmentIdentifier%3DIf36e2481089611db91d9f7db97e2132f%26startIndex%3D1%26contextData%3D%2528sc.Search%2529%26transitionType%3DSearchItem&listSource=Search&listPageSource=b8ed95cf16bf6bce4b45a2ad753e04fd&list=ALL_RESULTS&rank=4&grading=na&sessionScopeId=189b01efedda73d06e28cdfde7386b4c&originationContext=Search%20Result&transitionType=SearchItem&contextData=%28sc.Search%29>) 
which reads the statute broadly to allow presidential candidate Ross 
Perot to replace his vice presidential candidate on the ballot (even 
though the statute on its face did not provide for that). But that 1992 
opinion predates the 1997 Kansas amendments 
<https://a.next.westlaw.com/Link/Document/FullText?findType=l&pubNum=1080356&cite=UUID%28I47ABF5E06E-DD11D98F45E-4A9A5C871F0%29&sourceSerial=CR_S145&originationContext=reportsAndRelatedMaterials&contextData=%28sc.Search%29&transitionType=ReportsRelatedItem>to 
the statute, which specifically added the (ungrammatical) language about 
the candidate declaring he or she is incapable of fulfilling the needs. 
Nothing on Westlaw explains why the language was written in this way.

So the initial question of whether Taylor's withdrawal is kosher is 
going to fall to SOS Kobach, who I expect is likely to give the statute 
a narrow textual reading. One question is whether Taylor, now after the 
deadline, can amend his letter to include the magic words of inacapability.

This could well end up in court, and I don't have a good sense for how 
the courts would rule on this question. It may be that the courts would 
give deference to a Kobach decision, especially because time is short.

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-- 
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org

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