Fourth District Court Judge Jennifer Mabey heard arguments Tuesday, Nov. 19, in an emergency hearing for a lawsuit filed over the Wasatch County school board race between Tom Stone and Brad Ehlert. The hearing came just hours before the county was set to canvass the results of the Nov. 5 general election, making them official.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, claims Wasatch County clerk-auditor Joey Granger mishandled late financial disclosures by waiting too long to disqualify school board candidate Tom Stone.
Stone turned in his financial report two days after the Oct. 29 deadline. The county clerk notified him he’d been disqualified more than two weeks later, on Nov. 14.
Mabey’s decision to grant the temporary restraining order means neither candidate will be certified the winner of that race until a judge says otherwise. Prior to being disqualified, Stone was leading with 42% of the vote. However, there were still ballots left to count.
To get the restraining order, Stone’s attorney, Todd Weiler, needed to convince Mabey that Stone would suffer irreparable harm and the public interest would not be served if the county canvassed the race Tuesday. Weiler also needed to demonstrate his arguments had a reasonable chance of success.
The turning point in Stone’s favor came late in the arguments, when deputy county attorney Shelby Thurgood shared a clarification from Granger about the late financial disclosures.
“Can I correct a statement?” she said. “I misspoke earlier. I had stated that it was my understanding that she [Granger] didn’t know it was late, but the correction is she did know that it was late, but not to address it with the disqualification.”
“I appreciate the clarification,” Mabey said. “I guess I’d like to understand a little bit more about that. If she knew it was late, what did she think was supposed to happen?”
Mabey spent about half an hour considering the lawyers’ arguments before making her decision, which essentially puts the race on hold. She told the attorneys she wanted to allow time for more deliberation and to minimize harm without delaying the other election results, noting that all her findings are preliminary.
“If the plaintiff is ultimately unsuccessful in his claims that he should not now be disqualified, the only injury that defendants will have suffered is a delay in certifying the election results,” she said. “However, if the plaintiff prevails on his claims, the injury he will have suffered by allowing the election results to be certified prior to those claims being litigated is significant.”
Mabey said she wasn’t convinced by Weiler’s argument that Granger treated the candidates unequally, when some allegedly received email reminders about deadlines and others did not. Mabey said any reminders are a courtesy, not a legal requirement.
The judge said she also questioned the claim that by waiting until after the election and after most votes had been counted, the county waived its right to disqualify Stone. But Thurgood’s clarification shifted her thinking. Mabey said if Granger knew about the missed deadline but failed to act, Stone has a reasonable chance of success in his case.
She also noted the delay means that it’s possible the county violated state code by counting votes for Stone. Utah law prohibits counting ballots cast for disqualified candidates.
Thurgood argued that whether Stone was disqualified before or after Election Day, the outcome of the race would be the same. But Mabey said that’s not really the point.
“The intent of the statute is to give voters the information that they need to make a decision, and that wasn’t done here,” she said.
The lawsuit will now be assigned to a judge outside Wasatch County because Mabey knows one of Stone’s relatives. She said she presided over Tuesday’s emergency hearing because of its urgency.
Stone was not the only candidate disqualified from a Wasatch County school board race. Randall Lund was also notified Nov. 14 he was disqualified for failing to file his financial disclosure by the deadline. Lund was trailing to Kim Dickerson by about 23% when he was disqualified Thursday. Lund said Friday he is trying to reach the clerk’s office to determine if the disqualification was appropriate.
All Wasatch County races except for the race between Tom Stone and Brad Ehlert will be certified at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
