CHARLESTON – A Kanawha Circuit Court judge has scheduled a hearing for Friday in a petition seeking to have a state Senate candidate removed from the ballot.
Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers will hear arguments at 1:30 p.m. October 21 in the case filed by Greenbrier County Republican Executive Committee Chairman Ben Anderson against Secretary of State Mac Warner and Harry “Lee” Forbes.
According to the petition, Forbes should not be on the ballot because he lives in Summers County where current state Senator Jack David Woodrum lives. State law prohibits senators in a multi-county district being from the same county. The 10th Senatorial District includes Greenbrier, Summers, Monroe, Nicholas and part of Fayette counties.
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Forbes, an Independent, is seeking the seat currently held by Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin (D-Greenbrier), Republican Vince Deeds and fellow Independent Aaron Ransom.
Forbes was not on the primary election ballot, but Anderson says Warner’s office should have realized Forbes lives in the same county as Woodrum.
“We have about 11 days before early voting starts, and so that would give counties enough time to reprogram the machines of if they have paper ballots to either reprint or put a sticker beside Mr. Forbes’ name stating he is ineligible,” Anderson told MetroNews radio Monday. “We filed this not having to do with how it may affect the outcome, which way those votes may swing because we firmly believe Vince Deeds is going to win.
“This is more about making sure the integrity of the process is upheld.”
Anderson’s emergency petition seeks a Writ of Mandamus directing Warner’s office to withdraw Forbes’ certification of candidacy and to direct counties to strike, omit or remove Forbes’ name from the ballots to be used in the November 8 general election and to direct Warner’s office to tell county clerks to post a sign at all polling places stating Forbes is ineligible for the seat.
“Despite Mr. Forbes’ ineligibility being clear, the West Virginia Secretary of State does not have the administrative powers to remove Mr. Forbes from the ballot,” the petition states.
Attorney John H. Bryan, who filed the petition for Anderson, notes county clerks and county ballot commissioners were not listed as parties in the case to expedite the case and to save those parties the cost and expense of filing responses.