By Barrett Westberg
In response to the recent death of Senator Chester Crandell, Secretary of State Ken Bennett called a press conference to address questions about how the popular senator’s passing will affect the upcoming election.
Bennett said statute requires that the election should continue to play out like it would have without the death. If the deceased candidate wins the Primary, then the vacancy occurs and a name will be substituted for their name before the election occurs.
In a letter to Coconino, Gila, Navajo, and Yavapai County officials, Bennett advised that for the purposes of the General Election, because there are 4 counties within Legislative District 6, “the Republican chairman of Coconino County will call the meeting since it is in the county with the largest geographical area in the district as confirmed by the Independent Redistricting Commission. All precinct committeemen from the District may participate to nominate a candidate of the party’s choice and that candidate will file a nomination paper and affidavit to comply with the filing requirements. The candidate will face any other candidates eligible to appear on the general election ballot.”
The process to fill the remainder of Senator Crandell’s term will be in the hands of Navajo County precinct committeemen, and the final selection will be made by the Navajo County Board of Supervisors.
Bennett advised the officials that “pursuant to ARS 16–343, a vacancy due to the death of candidate, “shall not be filled.” Therefore write-in candidates are not authorized in the primary election, which will move forward with only Senator Crandell’s name on the ballot. Our office will notify the appropriate county board of supervisors to post a notice of Senator Crandell’s death and that votes cast for him will be tabulated.”
Early ballots are a problem in the event of a death because votes which are already cast for the deceased must be tabulated to count for the replacement.
ARS § 16-343(f), which was created after the death of Senator Jorge Garcia in 2011. According to the Secretary, while write-in candidates are not authorized for the Primary Election, there is still time for write-in candidates to qualify for the General Election. The deadline for filing write-in candidate nomination papers for the General Election is September 25, 2014.