State mistake: State rep candidate is old enough after all

Tue, Oct 20, 2009    to del.icio.us

Reading the state filing requirements, it was looking like Brandon Hall wouldn't be able to run for the Michigan House next year.

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A passage in the Michigan Department of State's filing requirements document for the 2010 election cycle appeared to preclude Hall — who turns 21 on Oct. 6, 2010 — from his desire to run for the 89th District seat because he would be too young.

But the state document was unclear at best; dead wrong by Hall's account.

"After learning from the Ottawa County Elections Coordinator Justin Roebuck that I was not going to be placed on the ballot because of this, I contacted my attorney, who investigated the matter and confirmed what I thought looking into this before I ran that there was no legal authority for the requirement," Hall said Monday.

Hall announced in August that he was a Republican candidate for the 89th District seat held since 2007 by Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive. Meekhof says he is planning to run for the state Senate next year.

Prior to his announcement, Hall said he went over the election rules with Ottawa County Clerk Dan Krueger. Hall said Krueger told him that he would be eligible for the state House in 2010 — that a state representative must be 21 by the time they take the oath of office in January, or about two months after being elected in November.

Hall will be 21 about four weeks before the November 2010 election, let alone when — should he be elected to the state House — he would take office in January 2011.

But the Secretary of State's filing requirement document cites the following qualifications for a state House candidate: "(A) person must be a citizen of the United States, at least 21 years of age and a registered and qualified elector of the district he or she wishes to represent by the filing deadline." The official filing deadline for the 2010 election cycle is 4 p.m. May 11, 2010.

According to Hall, the Department of State received an anonymous complaint that Hall was ineligible to run for the House seat because he wouldn't be 21 by the filing deadline.

On Monday, Hall issued a press release that said a state elections bureau worker conceded "that the document was in error and that I was good to go."

Roebuck confirmed Monday that the state elections bureau contacted him earlier this month to discuss the situation. Roebuck called the election requirement document a "very touchy language issue," and said he advised the state bureau to make the candidate requirements clearer.

On Monday, a call to the state department in Lansing was returned by referring to the document, which contains the unclear passage. A state department official this morning said the document passage was taken from the Michigan Constitution, but a state attorney general's opinion on it provides clarity that a House candidate must be 21 by the time they take the office to which they were elected.

Gregory Todd, the legal adviser for Hall's campaign, said they were ready to go to court to fight the case.

"We knew (we) had a winning case," Todd said. "Essentially, the filing requirements touted and published by the Secretary of State misconstrued the relevant law — a mistake which could have prevented Brandon's name from appearing on the ballot."

So far, Hall is the only announced candidate for the state House 89th District race currently under the age of 21.

"It would be interesting to know how many candidates have not run because of this," Krueger is quoted in Hall's press release. "The state said they have turned people away in the past, but have never had anyone challenge what was being said. Brandon Hall meets all the legal requirements to run for, and take office, in the state House of Representatives."

Hall said he was unsure who reported the age issue to the Secretary of State, but believes it may have been someone also considering a run for the 89th District seat.

"From what I have heard, this was perpetuated by forces of the status quo, forces who want to keep the same type of broken culture in Lansing," he said. "Someone thought he could keep me off the ballot on a technicality. He does not want the voters to even get a chance to vote for me."

Hall was elected to the Grand Haven Area Public Schools Board of Education in May 2008 at the age of 18. He is a 2007 Grand Haven High School graduate and is currently attending classes at Grand Rapids Community College. He said Monday that he plans to attend Grand Valley State University, and double major in political science and education.

On the Net:

Read the state House filing document: www.michigan.gov/documents/sos/Filing_Req_For_State_Rep_263932_7.pdf