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Judge Delays Decision on Legal Challenge to Tea Party of Nevada Candidacy
Carson City District Judge James T. Russell did not reach a decision at the end of today’s hearing held to determine whether Nevada Tea Party Senate candidate Scott Ashjian should be dropped from the ballot for the November election, saying he wanted to take the time to look over the information and be fair to both sides of the case.
During the hearing, Las Vegas attorney Joel Hansen, representing Independent American Party candidate Tim Fasano, argued that Ashjian swore he was a registered member of the Tea Party of Nevada in his declaration of candidacy, though he had not registered as such until a few hours after he filed the declaration.
Since during the hearing Ashjian admitted he knew he wasn’t a registered member of the Tea Party at the time he filed, Hansen said Ashjian willfully filed a declaration of containing a false statement, a practice which NRS 293.184 says disqualifies Ashjian from the ballot.
Hansen said the law states that swearing to knowingly false statements disqualifies candidates, so Ashjian’s declaration does not fall under the standard of substantial compliance with the law, which Ashjian had argued should keep him on the ballot.
“The statute is clear. There is no interpretation in the way,” Hansen said.
Las Vegas attorney Allen Lichtenstein, who represented Ashjian, said the standard of substantial compliance applies if the issue at hand does not mislead the public. Since Ashjian did not campaign as a registered voter with the Tea Party before he registered, Lichtenstein argued, no one was misled.
Secretary of State Ross Miller said the Nevada statutes say nothing about the time of day that the declaration of candidacy is filed in relation to voter registration – only that the candidates needs to be registered with the party on the day the declaration is filed.
Lichtenstein argued that Ashjian’s registering with the Tea Party of Nevada after the filing for candidacy was of “no legal consequence whatsoever.”
“Don’t look at the hours and minutes,” Lichtenstein said. “At the end of the day, Scott Ashjian had filed, and was, in fact, a member of the Tea Party.”
Lichtenstein further added that there is no legal requirement for a candidate of a minor party, such as the Tea Party of Nevada, to be a registered voter of that party.
Hansen said Lichtenstein was trying to change the issue at hand. The points Lichtenstein made, Hansen said, were “fluff,” and the only thing that should matter in the case is that Ashjian violated the law by falsely stating he was registered with the Tea Party of Nevada.
After the hearing, Ashjian said that he didn’t realize that he was filing his declaration of candidacy out of order, and that he had no intention of misleading voters by registering with the Tea Party of Nevada later in the afternoon.
Ashjian also said he will appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court if the District Court rules against him.
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