Rock, Kawa and Quirk file suit against Sublette County Clerk and Wyoming Secretary of State
Ask court to declare the May 8, 2012 Special Election illegal and results null & void
by Pinedale Online!
June 18, 2012
Sublette County residents Paul Rock, Ernie Kawa and Dari Quirk filed a civil suit against Sublette County Clerk Mary Lankford and Wyoming Secretary of State Max Maxfield on June 18, 2012. The suit is a continuation of Rock and Kawa’s desire to overturn the results of the May 8, 2012 Special Election and reinstate the results of the August 11, 2011 Special Election. The Plaintiffs filed a Complaint for Declaratory Relief & Writ of Mandamus, Civil No. 2012-8006 in the Ninth Judicial District of District Court in Sublette County.
At issue is how many commissioners to have on the Sublette County Commission, 3 or 5? In the August 11, 2011 Special Election, in which 28.67% of registered Sublette County voters participated, a petition was passed to raise the number of commissioners from 3 to 5. In another Special Election, held on May 8, 2012, also brought forward by a petition of the citizens, a 45.88% voter turn out voted to take the number of commissioners back down to three. The lawsuit argues that the second special election was not legal and the results of that election should be declared void, allowing three seats to be filled in the November 2012 general election rather than one.
Both Paul Rock and Ernie Kawa are running as candidates for election for Sublette County Commissioner. As it stands right now, only one seat is open for election. Should the court rule that the May 8th election is null and void, two additional seats would open up allowing the opportunity for one or both candidates to possibly be elected onto the Board. Currently only one seat is open to be filled on the 3-member Board of County Commissioners.
Attorney Michael Crosson, Crosson Law Office in Pinedale, is representing the plaintiffs in this suit.
Click on this link to read the Complaint for Declaratory Relief & Writ of Mandamus. Complaint (14 page PDF, 743K)
Click on this link for earlier stories about these elections and earlier court filings and decisions about this topic: 5 to 3 lawsuit dismissed Pinedale Online, June 8, 2012
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