By Greg Friestad
On August 23, 2022 Barbara Buntin filed all the appropriate paperwork to register with the Town to be a write-in candidate for Mayor of Payson in the General Election. Arizona statutes require candidates to register with the appropriate agency before those write-in votes can be accepted and counted.
It is apparent that the acting Town Clerk was directed to send the denial letter as constructed. This legal interpretation is not within Ms, Stanley’s area expertise and authority. It was very unfair of the Town to direct her to send such a letter which appears to convey her interpretation of the law. How can the town administration and /or the Town Attorney so shamelessly cover their responsibilities and actions behind the Assistant Town Clerk.
On August 25. 2022, Barbara received a letter from acting Town Clerk H. Michelle Stanley denying her registration as a write-in candidate for Mayor of Payson. [SEE HERE] Many people do not agree with the Town’s denial of Barbara’s request which the Town based on their interpretation of ARS 9-821.01 (F) and Payson town code 30.07 (C).
Payson code 30.07 (C) is a virtual copy of ARS 9-821.01(F) and both are written, as their titles state, to clarify the process for declaring candidates elected outright in the primary election or, if no candidate receives a majority of the votes, which candidates (from the primary election can advance to the General election). Again, these codes were written only to determine who won outright in the Primary or who advances to the General Election. Even Council Member Underwood in her comments at a 9/27/18 council meeting, shortly after the council approved a revised version of Payson code 30.07 (C) seems to agree with our concerns when she said:
“There was a write-in candidate for a runoff election in this election and Council member Underwood noted this ordinance mimicked what the State mandated for an election. Council member Underwood felt, after talking to the League of Arizona Cities and Towns that it was unclear and not stated well in the State Statute about how a run-off election versus a write-in candidate was allowed. Council member Underwood would like to look at this going forward with the Town.” The League has not clarified this question as of this date.
The Town claimed in their letter to Barbara that the two codes in question said “no other candidates, including write-ins, are permitted in a run-off.“ That is not an accurate statement. Neither ARS 9-821.01 (F) or Town code 30.07 (C) make that statement. Those statutes say that only the two candidates with the most votes in the Primary election can advance to the General election. These codes are specific to the vote count to determine the winner or runoff candidates “IN THE PRIMARY ELECTION. These codes say nothing about eliminating write-in candidates. By inserting the Town’s interpretation of both statutes to include write-in candidates you change the meaning of those codes. In effect, you administratively eliminated the possibility of any write-in candidate for town office from ever again participating in the General Election. The Town of Payson does not unilaterally have the authority to eliminate the right of an individual to be a write-in candidate. Yes, the State of Arizona can and does require write-in candidates to “register” with the proper election authority to have their write-in votes counted but you cannot deny them the right to register as long as all the requirements in Arizona Revised Statutes are followed. Barbara meets all the requirements in Arizona statutes.
Ordinance 904, which was the latest modification to town code 30.07 was adopted on 9/13/18 (as noted on the documents included with the letter from the Town). It obviously was not intended to eliminate write-in candidates for town offices from being in the General Election.
We confidently say that because of action on 9/17/18, four days after adoption of ordinance 904/code 30.7 (C), the town set a precedent by accepting a write in candidate for council in the general election ( committee number 18-WC-01). The candidate was Suzy Tubbs and Barbara Buntin was her campaign committee chair. Why was that allowed and Barbara’s request denied since Mayor and councilmen are elected the same way? Does the phrase equal treatment under the law have meaning?
Since both of Barbara’s potential rivals for Mayor in the General Election are incumbents on the Payson council, it might appear that one or both of them may have influenced a decision that would eliminate their competitor. This decision obviously did not come from the acting Town Clerk. I sincerely hope that political influence was not involved in the decision to eliminate write-in candidate Barbara Buntin from the General Election.
Barbara Buntin told us that she has chosen to abide by the town’s decision and did not want to take further action.
We strongly urge whoever made the original decision to deny Barbaras registration as a write-in candidate to reconsider that decision so the write-in process would remain available to any other person who wants to be a candidate.
There are many in Town who do not support the two candidates for Payson Mayor as determined by the Primary Election and flawed Town decisions. We also encourage any additional write-in candidates to apply and test the Town interpretation of Code 30.07 (C) in court if necessary. At the very least, don’t vote for either candidate and write-in your favorite candidate on your ballot to show the Town they made a serious mistake in judgment.
*Without being registered with the Secretary of State as a candidate if you chose to write-in your vote it will not be counted but the message will be transmitted.
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