Opinion ID: 2622326
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Annulment of Mr. Smith's election

Text: [¶6] The specific question is whether Mr. Smith is legally eligible to hold municipal office. We agree with the district court he is not. Wyoming Statute § 22-23-301 explicitly requires a person be a registered voter on the day the petition is filed. This requirement is even more strenuously emphasized in the statutorily recommended petition form, which requires an applicant swear or affirm he/she is a registered voter as of the closing of the municipal clerk's office on the day [the] petition is filed. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-23-302 (LexisNexis 2007). [4] Mr. Smith did not meet this requirement and therefore was not eligible to petition for candidacy for municipal office at the time he did. Because his name was not properly on the ballot, the votes he received, and thus his election, must be considered null and void. [¶7] Mr. Smith argues that he should not be penalized for what was in essence an honest mistake. Mr. Smith relies on Rue v. Carter, 919 P.2d 633 (Wyo. 1996), in support of his argument that his failure to be a registered voter at the time he filed his petition for candidacy was a mere irregularity that should not nullify the will of the people who voted for him to represent them on the town council. In Rue, the challenged elected official, Margaret Carter, registered to vote after the filing deadline for candidacy but within a week of filing her petition and six months prior to the election. Part of the reasoning in Rue was that Carter met all the statutory criteria during the primary election, the general election, and at the time she assumed the municipal office. Id. at 635. Under those particular circumstances, the Court in Rue held not being registered at the time of submitting a petition for candidacy was an inconsequential irregularity and upheld her election. Id. [¶8] Mr. Smith's reliance on Rue is regrettable in that the Wyoming Legislature effectively has overruled Rue. We discussed the issue indirectly in Hayes v. City of Sheridan, 2005 WY 10, 105 P.3d 459 (Wyo. 2005). Although the issue in Hayes was whether § 22-23-301 was a resign to run statute, it provides assistance in the instant appeal in its discussion of the legislative history of § 301: In 1996, § 301 simply read: All candidates for municipal office shall be nominated at the municipal primary election. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-23-301 (Michie 1992). Section 302 read, in pertinent part: I, .........., the undersigned, certify that I was born on .........., 19.., and that I have been a resident of the State of Wyoming since .........., and that I am a registered voter of Election District No. .........., Precinct No. .........., in Ward No. .........., in the City of .........., and the State of Wyoming, do hereby petition and request that my name be printed upon the Official Municipal Primary Ballot at the next primary election as a candidate for the office of .......... I hereby declare that if nominated and elected I will qualify for the office. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 22-23-302 (Michie Cum. Supp. 1996). Based upon this language, this Court decided Rue v. Carter, 919 P.2d 633 (Wyo.1996). Rue involved an election contest based upon the fact that the successful candidate for municipal office, Margaret Carter, had stated on her petition for candidacy that she was a registered voter. Carter later discovered that she was not a registered voter, her name having been purged from the voter list because she failed to vote in the 1992 general election. Carter reregistered and her name was placed on the ballot. This Court upheld her election to municipal office, holding that Carter's misrepresentation regarding her voter registration status at the time her petition for candidacy was filed was an inconsequential irregularity, which had been cured, and did not constitute the basis for annulment of the election. Id. at 635. Essentially, this Court held that the purpose of the statute was not violated. The Wyoming legislature amended both §§ 301 and 302 in 1997. 1997 Wyo. Sess. Laws ch. 173, § 1. Given the Rue decision in 1996, it is rational to infer that the legislature was aware of the distinction between qualifications that it required candidates to meet at the date of filing the petition and qualifications that simply must be met prior to taking office. The legislature also understood that § 301 and § 302 were interrelated and were read together. The legislative amendments in 1997 included adding the second sentence of § 301. [5] At the same time, the legislature amended the oath in § 302 to add the phrase as of the closing of the city or town clerk's office on the day this petition is filed. This phrase was added to the first part of the oath. Id. at ¶¶ 6-8, 105 P.3d at 460-61. [¶9] While this discussion was dicta in the context of Hayes, the analysis remains sound. Because the legislature is presumed to know the state of the law, the 1997 amendments can be seen as a direct response to this Court's decision in Rue. The amendments reflect a legislative decision that not being a registered voter on the day the petition for candidacy is filed is not an inconsequential irregularity that can be judicially ignored. The will of the majority of people who voted for Mr. Smith in the municipal election in Pinedale, while of great importance to us, cannot override the will of the popularly elected Wyoming State Legislators. We must abide by the legislative determination that Mr. Smith's election must be declared void.