MEEKER I 9th Judicial District Judge David Boyd issued his order on the contested recall for RBC Commissioner Gary Moyer early Tuesday in favor of County Clerk and Recorder Boots Campbell. The protest to the second recall petition was filed by Matt Scott last fall.
The recall committee submitted the first petition, with 879 signatures, in early April 2021. Of those 879, Clerk and Recorder Campbell accepted 811, enough to trigger a recall election.
Scott and Moyer protested certification of that petition and an appointed hearing officer denied all grounds of the protest except for two defects in the petition process. Those two defects in the petition process–not providing a printer’s proof to the Clerk for approval before circulation and not serially prenumbering the petition sections–were enough to invalidate the first petition.
A second petition was submitted to the Clerk’s office in July with 848 signatures and declared sufficient on July 30. A second protest was filed because 325 of the signatures also appeared on the first petition. Clerk Campbell denied the protest and Scott filed for judicial review.
The 13-page order from the judge states “the Clerk shall certify the second petition as sufficient, and the recall process shall proceed as provided by law.” In addition, Scott’s claim for attorney’s fees was dismissed without prejudice.
According to Campbell, now that the second petition has been deemed sufficient, Moyer has the option to resign within five days, appeal the judge’s decision, or the recall will proceed to an election. Due to the timing of the judicial decision and state statutes that require a specific amount of time between elections (primary, special, general) how and when the recall election will be held are yet to be determined. The primary election is in June, and the general election is in November.
By NIKI TURNER – editor@editorht1885.com
