.png)
Alaska Lt. Gov. incorrectly put disqualified candidate on the ballot, state judge rules
House District 22 Republican candidate Jose Tagle cannot serve if elected, but ballots will not be reprinted without his name
By James Brooks
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska Division of Elections and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom acted incorrectly when they put disqualified Republican candidate Jose Tagle on the ballot for state House District 22, an Anchorage Superior Court judge said Thursday.
Judge Josie Garton’s decision, published in the late afternoon, means “Tagle’s election may not be certified if he does win a majority of votes in the general election,” she wrote.
Tagle is running against Democratic incumbent Rep. Ted Eischeid, who is heavily favored in the district that went for Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris two years ago.
Garton did not order the division to reprint ballots without Tagle’s name. Absentee and early voting is already taking place, and Tagle may appeal the ruling. A successful appeal could see his candidacy restored.
“The Division’s certification, while erroneous, does not undermine the fundamental fairness of the election,” Garton said.
The Alaska Division of Elections, Alaska Department of Law and Dahlstrom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for their opinion of the decision.
Tagle did not immediately respond to an email on Thursday afternoon seeking his thoughts.
The head of the Alaska Democratic Party, which filed the lawsuit that challenged Tagle’s candidacy, said she was pleased with the decision.
“Mr. Tagle’s completely blank disclosure left Alaskans in the dark,” said party executive director Jenny-Marie Stryker. “Voters deserve to know the financial interests of our elected officials — that’s the law, and it’s just what’s right.”
New ruling concerns issue that also involved a candidate for governor
Thursday’s ruling comes after a two-month-old dispute that also involved Republican gubernatorial candidate Treg Taylor.
The Alaska Public Offices Commission, which regulates candidates and campaigns, recommended in late August that Tagle be disqualified as a candidate after submitting a blank financial disclosure form and failing to amend it within a grace period allowed by state law.
It also recommended Taylor be disqualified for filing an incomplete form and failing to amend it before the deadline. Taylor and Tagle submitted amended forms after the deadline.
Dahlstrom initially followed APOC’s recommendation, but days later, she reversed herself and put the two men back on the general election ballot, citing a review from the Department of Law indicating that disclosure forms filed by many other candidates could also have problems.
The Beacon analyzed that review and found many of the problems flagged by the Department were either minor or did not exist at all.
Alaska Democratic Party fought the issue through the summer
The Alaska Democratic Party sued the Division of Elections in July after it permitted Tagle’s candidacy for the state primary election despite his blank financial disclosure form.
It did not challenge Taylor’s candidacy, and subsequent proceedings did not involve him or Dahlstrom’s decision to certify him.
Garton ruled against the party in August, saying that under state law, Tagle had 30 days to fix his blank form, and the party had filed before that grace period was over. In addition, Garton said that the commission, not the Division of Elections, should have the final word on the correctness of financial disclosure forms.
After Dahlstrom certified Tagle despite the APOC recommendation, the Democratic Party filed a new complaint in September and asked Garton to re-examine the issue. She declined to issue an immediate ruling and held oral arguments Oct. 9.
Procedural problems aren’t an obstacle for APOC decision
During oral arguments, attorneys from the Department of Law — representing Dahlstrom and the Division of Elections — abandoned the earlier argument that Tagle’s restoration was warranted by the fact that other candidates also had problematic forms.
Instead, they contended that APOC’s disqualification recommendation was not final and that procedural errors — including a notice that failed to state that Tagle could appeal the recommendation — meant that Dahlstrom was not bound by the recommendation.
But writing on Thursday, Garton concluded that based on state laws, regulations and the procedures used by APOC, the commission’s decision was “final and appealable.”
She wrote that while APOC’s statement was officially billed as a recommendation, state law requires the lieutenant governor to follow it.
“While it may be true that APOC’s recommendation ‘did not order anyone to do anything,’ both parties agree, as does the court, that the Lt. Governor has no discretion to disregard a final decision by APOC that Tagle failed to substantially comply with (state law) within the deadline,” Garton wrote.
State attorneys argued that APOC’s recommendation didn’t take effect until 30 days after it was ordered and that procedural problems also left the door open for the lieutenant governor not to follow the recommendation, but Garton disagreed.
“APOC’s decision was effective immediately, and the potential procedural irregularities in APOC’s proceedings did not provide grounds for the lieutenant governor to ignore the clear command of (state law),” she wrote.
Garton said the issues facing Tagle’s nomination “are precisely the circumstances under which the Legislature intended a candidate for public office to forfeit his nomination.”
“By certifying Tagle’s nomination after APOC entered a final decision finding that Tagle failed to substantially comply … within the deadline established by law, the Lieutenant Governor and the Director of the Division of Elections violated (state law).”
Garton concluded that APOC should notify Tagle that he has 30 days to administratively challenge the disqualification decision. He — or state officials — could also appeal Garton’s ruling to the Alaska Supreme Court.
• James Brooks Cascade is a longtime Alaska reporter who lives in Juneau. He previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
