Petitioner Andrew Solano is a resident of the school district. Petitioners contend that the election results must be set aside because respondent Jayne Bushmann, a successful candidate in the election, and others distributed a flyer containing allegedly false information concerning petitioner Ecker on the day of the election. Respondents deny that the flyer contained false or misleading information and contend that petitioners have failed to establish that respondents' actions affected the outcome of the election. Respondents further contend that the election results should stand because the acts complained of are those of individual board candidates and do not involve any misconduct, impropriety or irregularity in the board of education's conduct of the election. Before turning to the merits, I will address two procedural issues raised by petitioner Solano.
Petitioner questions the validity of service of respondents' answer by mail.
Petitioner indicates that the answer served upon him included a copy of the affidavit of service by mail. Petitioner questions the validity of the affidavit of service since such affidavit must be completed after service by mail has been performed. While, technically, an affidavit of service should be prepared after service by mail, it is common practice for affidavits of service to be prepared simultaneously with service by mail. It is entirely possible that the answer was placed in a postal depository after the collection time and, therefore, not postmarked until the next day. In any event, petitioner Solano admits he received the answer, which establishes that service was in fact made.