Court Opinion

ID: 9577402
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:34:33.906449+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:20:32.122910
License: Public Domain

DOOLIN, Justice
(dissenting):
The issue of the validity of residency requirements for public office is not before this court. We heartily agree with the reasoning in Draper v. Phelps supra, and Box v. State Election Board supra, *773cited by the majority. Obviously if a candidate has not been a resident in a district for six months preceding his filing, he could not have been registered there for six months. However, these cases do not address the registration requirement itself. The issue presented in Draper was more specific than the majority would lead us to believe. The precise question discussed was not whether the entire § 108 was a denial of equal protection but rather whether creating the durational residency requirements was constitutional as a valid state interest. Whether the Legislature may enlarge the- constitutional qualifications as to length of time a representative must be registered in the district where he intends to file has not been answered by this court or by any decision cited by the majority.
To argue as does the majority that if the Legislature may make reasonable dura-tional residency requirements it may make additional durational registrational requirements is manufacturing a premise based on neither constitutional regulatory power nor precedent.
The above distinction should be recognized by this state.1 In Henderson v. Fort Worth Independent School District, 526 F.2d 286 (5th Cir. 1976) we find a situation similar to the present case. The Texas Legislature enacted a statute which had the effect of requiring a candidate for a district school board to have been a registered voter in that district for three years. The Fifth Circuit specifically distinguished this requirement from that of residency. As an example a potential candidate could have been a resident of a school district all his life and still not be eligible to become a candidate for the school board under the Texas statute. The court held the right to be a candidate for public office is a fundamental right, consequently the provision seeking to limit this right must be subjected to strict scrutiny to ascertain whether such limitation promotes a compelling state interest. “However, voter registration for a period of three years is, at best, a crude index of the capabilities of a potential candidate. The background, experience, and political views of the potential candidate are, among others, the indicia of' merit and capability. No one contends, or could, that the state is empowered to impose qualifications or requirements in these areas. On the contrary, the power to make necessary subjective discriminations on the basis of background, experience, or political philosophy rests with the voters of the Fort Worth School District. It can be assumed that opposing candidates will bring deficiencies in any of these areas to the attention of the voters.” Henderson v. Fort Worth Independent School District supra, at p. 292. The court held the provision requiring three years registration denied rights secured by the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. Nowhere did the court state that its decision would have been any different if the required pre-candidacy registration was for a shorter length of time. If the residency requirements are met, the state can have no compelling state interest in durational registration in the district, whether it be three years or six months.
In Cornell v. McAllister supra, a legislative provision requiring a Certified Public Accountant certificate as a qualification for office of state examiner and inspector was held ineffective because the Oklahoma Constitution required only that he have three years experience as an expert accountant to qualify for the office. This court stated that the additional condition was tantamount to enlarging constitutional requirements for holding the office and thus invalid.
The majority’s argument that Article 5 § 17 of the Oklahoma Constitution may be enlarged upon by the Legislature in contravention of Cornell because it applies to representatives upon their election to office and not to their qualifications for candidacy is an unsuccessful attempt *774to dichotomize. A qualification for candidacy is a qualification for office.
The majority submits the Legislature, under Johnson v. State Election Board supra, has the right to prescribe qualifications for candidates for public office. This syllabus in Johnson was based on dicta in Stafford v. State Election Board, 203 Okl. 132, 218 P.2d 617 (1950) which was a case turning on the narrow point of Stafford's age. Neither Stafford nor Johnson attempts to change the law under Cornell that if these qualifications enlarge upon constitutional prerequisites for holding the office they are ineffective. The challenged statute in Johnson was held not to enlarge upon the constitutional requirements, and thus was a valid exercise of legislative authority.
Because the residency requirement of § 108 has been held valid does not mandate that its registration requirement is also valid. The requisite six months registration in the district does not satisfy any compelling state interest and amounts to a prohibited enlargement of constitutional requirements for holding the office of state representative. I therefore dissent.

. See Lawrence v. City of Issaquah, 84 Wash.2d 146, 524 P.2d 1347 (1974).