Nearly 10 days after election day, Tom Stone and Randall Lund received notice from the county that they had been disqualified from their respective races.
Stone was competing with Brad Ehlert to represent Midway families. Before his disqualification; he was in the lead by an almost 4% margin, with ballots left to count.
Lund was challenging incumbent Kim Dickerson to represent the eastern side of the school district. Dickerson was in the lead by a 23% margin before Lund’s disqualification.
Both Stone and Lund correctly submitted financial disclosures after the primary but failed to submit the general election disclosures due Oct. 29.
Stone said he plans to fight his disqualification. His son and campaign manager, Tate Stone, said they are in the process of filing a lawsuit.
Tom Stone said he submitted his financial disclosure late on Oct. 31 due to a busy few days.
“My son, literally, he just had a third child, and that whole time, that little baby was a month early and mom was on bed rest and we were attending his other kids. It was a crazy, crazy time, so it slipped,” he said.
Lund also admitted to missing the deadline. Both he and the Stones were alerted to the errors after a call from a KPCW reporter.
And after talking with other candidates about his disqualification, Tom Stone said he discovered others were receiving email communications from Wasatch County Clerk-Auditor Joey Granger that never reached his inbox.
“[I] found out that they had been receiving emails on a regular basis from Joey, and I say ‘they’ being every other candidate in Wasatch County, including my opponent, had been receiving reminder emails,” Tom Stone said. “The last one was, was Oct. 2, and then Oct. 29 to say, ‘Hey, make sure you don't forget to send that in.’ And I was the only one that was not on that list.”
Stone’s campaign did get reminder emails in June for primary financial disclosures but that was the last time it heard from the clerk-auditor’s office.
Wasatch County government offices are closed on Fridays and Granger could not respond to KPCW’s request for comment.
The Stones said they also spoke with the Lt. Gov.’s office, which is in charge of state elections. The office told them the Wasatch County clerk-auditor’s office may have deviated from protocol.
Under state law, if a candidate fails to file financial disclosures by the deadline, the county clerk may have to send an electronic notice to the candidate.
The candidate then must pay a $100 fine and is allowed 24 hours to submit disclosures before being disqualified. Lund and the Stones say they didn’t receive such notices.
Lund also said he was unaware of any penalties.
“There was never, never mention of possible penalties if you don't comply, right? There was reference to state code,” he said. “I wasn't even aware of the possibility of being just, you know, disqualified.”
Lund said he is trying to get in touch with the clerk’s office to figure out if the disqualification was appropriate and if a fine is still required.
Tate Stone said the law also may prevent a candidate from being disqualified after the election. Tom Stone said the deadline is meant to prevent this from happening.
“That's why Oct. 29 is such an important date, and Oct. 30, so that if it's a disqualified candidate, they don't make it onto the ballot,” he said. “The letter was sent November 14, saying, 10 days after the election is when I get a letter saying, ‘Hey, you are disqualified.’”
The Stones said the Lt. Gov.’s office recommended they consult an attorney. The Lt. Gov.’s office declined KPCW’s request for comment,, saying the matter is a county issue.
The Wasatch County Council is supposed to certify election results Tuesday, Nov. 19. But, Tate Stone said he’s spoken with councilmembers who expressed concerns given the disqualification was announced less than a week before that deadline.
