Readers will recall a number of entries late last month and early this month about the controversy surrounding Indiana House District 46. As reported in this Nov. 5, 2004 ILB entry:
In that race, the Republican candidate, Jeffrey Lee, withdrew and was replaced by current State Representative Brooks LaPlante, who earlier had decided not to run for re-election. Democrats challenged and several court rulings followed, culminating in a Court of Appeals ruling "that LaPlante's name be on the ballot in place of Jeffrey Lee's. The court did not require that new absentee ballots with LaPlante's name on them be mailed out unless voters asked for them."There was discussion of "resolving the issue in the Court of Appeals" after the election, and the impact of the separation of powers, and specifically Art. 4, Sec. 10 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana provides that "Each House, when assembled, shall * * * judge the elections, qualifications, and returns of its own members * * *. These concerns were put to rest, however, when the challenged candidate did not win the election, as discussed in this entry from Nov. 10, 2004.
All that background is prefatory to these stories about a disputed state senate election in Kentucky. As the Louisville Courier Journal reported Tuesday, Nov. 23rd, via an AP story:
A judge on Monday disqualified the apparent winner of a disputed state Senate election, ruling that she had not lived in Kentucky long enough to meet residency requirements.I have underlined language reminiscent not only of the District 46 issues, but of concerns raised years back about a now-former Indiana Governor (and current Senator), early in his political career.Jefferson County Circuit Judge Barry Willett ordered the local Board of Elections not to count votes cast for Republican Dana Seum Stephenson when certifying results in the 37th District in Louisville.
Stephenson - the daughter of veteran state Sen. Dan Seum, R-Louisville - outpolled Democrat Virginia Woodward by just over 1,000 votes out of 44,522 cast in the Nov. 2 election.
Woodward filed an election-eve lawsuit claiming Stephenson had not lived in Kentucky for at least six years as required by the state Constitution to be eligible to serve in the Kentucky Senate. * * *
Stephenson's lawyer, Jim Milliman, said he would file a motion asking the Kentucky Supreme Court to hear his appeal, bypassing an intermediate appellate court. Milliman said Willett's ruling infringed on the separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches.
"He has intruded into the exclusive province of the General Assembly to determine the qualifications and election of a member of the General Assembly," he said in an interview. "He can't tell the General Assembly how to define residence."
In his ruling, Willett noted Stephenson's testimony at a post-election hearing that she had lived in Jeffersonville, Ind., from 1997 until 2001 while attending Indiana University Southeast. Jeffersonville is just across the Ohio River from Louisville. Stephenson also had an Indiana driver's license and voted in Indiana in 1998 and 2000. * * *
"Based on these factors, Ms. Stephenson did not reside in nor become a resident of Kentucky until 2001, making her ineligible to meet the residency requirements" under the Constitution until 2007, Willett said.
Milliman said Stephenson never intended to make Jeffersonville her permanent home, and was only "temporarily gone."
The LCJ has another story on the judge's verdict, by Joseph Gerth, that includes these quotes:
Jim Milliman, Stephenson's lawyer, said he will appeal the decision to the Kentucky Court of Appeals and will try to throw the controversy to the Republican-controlled state Senate.Finally, for now, the LCJ has an opinion piece today on the dispute. Some quotes:"I don't know if this will rise to the level of a constitutional crisis but it could become a constitutional morass," Milliman said.
[Democrat] Woodward said she expects Republican Senate President David Williams to swear her in when the General Assembly convenes in January.
"I'm sure Sen. Williams will uphold the constitution as he is charged to do as president of the Senate and follow orders of the courts and the state Board of Elections when they certify my election," she said.
In an interview last night, Stephenson said she is "moving on to the next step." She declined further comment on the advice of her lawyer.
Her father, state Sen. Dan Seum, R-Louisville, said it had been "an emotional day" but that he believes his daughter will win in the end.
"The judge didn't have jurisdiction to rule in this case," he said. * * *
Milliman said in filing his appeal, he would ask the Court of Appeals to pass the case directly to the Kentucky Supreme Court. He said he would also ask the Republican-controlled state Senate to rule because state law gives the Senate authority to decide contested Senate elections.
Senate President David Williams had already intervened in the case, arguing through a lawyer that the court had no jurisdiction to determine the winner — that membership in the Senate is up to the Senate itself as defined in the Kentucky Constitution.
In a statement yesterday Williams said, "Our attorneys have received the judge's opinion, and we are now meeting to carefully review it. We disagree with the opinion and will take all actions necessary to protect the Kentucky State Senate's constitutional authority over the election process."
While more tightly wrapped legal minds might object, it's my sincere belief that Kentucky could use a good state senator from Indiana — so why not Republican Dana Seum Stephenson?Posted by Marcia Oddi at November 25, 2004 04:39 PMYes, there are those pesky residency requirements. Hidebound legislators of yore did request that candidates for the Kentucky Senate actually live in the state six years before an election — and live in the district they are to represent one year before the vote. They believed such standards judicious, honorable and fair.
I say, "Picky, picky, picky." * * *
Kentuckians must also get elected to the Indiana legislature — something of a culture shock because nobody up there ever gets indicted. Yet consider the cross-cultural benefits:
I'm certain that if Kentucky Republican Senate President David Williams were elected to the Indiana legislature, a great many Kentuckians would be pleased. And sending access-starved Kentuckians to Indianapolis and Hoosiers to Frankfort would have gotten that East End bridge built 40 years ago.
This flap is about self-serving politics, not the constitution. The residency rule may be too restrictive, but it's the law — and should have been researched by anyone running for state Senate. Or maybe the Republicans knew the rules and hoped Democrats couldn't read. So blame the Kentucky Education Reform Act.
Meanwhile, I'm now all for allowing anyone to run for any office in any state they've recently spent a lot of time thinking about — including Hawaii, Confusion and Denial.