 August 11, 2005 Election officials seek court order to remove felon from Primary ballotKing County today cancelled the registration of James C. Garrett and announced they will seek a court order to remove his name from the Primary ballot. Garrett filed to run in the Seattle mayoral race on July 29 and signed an oath stating he was a legally registered voter and therefore qualified to run for office. Washington State's only requisite to run for office is that a person must be legally registered to vote in that jurisdiction. "The voter oath is a testimony a person takes swearing, under oath, that they are not currently denied their civil rights due to a felony conviction," said Dean Logan, director of Records, Elections and Licensing Services. "By law we are required to accept a voter's signed registration on face value." Logan sent a letter to Garrett today with notification that his voter registration was cancelled based on evidence presented at a voter registration challenge hearing held earlier this week and indicated Garrett's right to vote has not been restored by the courts. Logan further stated he will seek a court order to remove Garrett's name from the 2005 Primary ballot. Ballot printing for the Primary is on schedule for next week and a court hearing is not expected to delay the printing or mailing of absentee ballots. "Cleaning our voter rolls has been a top priority this year," said Logan. "King County Elections has removed 854 felons and 6,671 deceased voters from the rolls since January." Last week officials received an allegation that Garret registered to vote illegally and requested the Prosecuting Attorney's Office challenge Garrett's registration and candidate filing. King County records show Garrett was mailed a letter following his 2002 registration cancellation, which confirmed his cancellation and instructed him how to restore his voting rights. It has not been determined if the Prosecuting Attorney's Office will seek criminal charges against Garrett for his August 2004 registration. Under state law, providing false information on a voter registration form is a class C felony. ### |
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Updated: August 11, 2005 King County | Elections | News | Services | Comments | Search
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