Bad news for Fort Bend County District Clerk Glory Hopkins: The 14th Court of Appeals denied her request to be added back to the GOP primary ballot.
“Basically, they (appeals court) take the position that there has to be a statutory violation by the election official before they can grant the relief we are asking for,” [attorney Dick Tate, who is representing Hopkins,] said.
The justices concluded that Hopkins’ failure to file her application in a timely manner was not caused by any violations made by Republican Party Chairman Eric Thode.
The opinion was issued by Justices Wanda McKee Fowler, Richard H. Edelman and Eva Guzman.
Hopkins, 62, filed a writ of mandamus Friday asking the court to place her name on the ballot because she made a good-faith effort when she mailed the application.
She used a ZIP code obtained from a Dec. 5 e-mail newsletter that Thode sent to several hundred people in Fort Bend County.
However, the ZIP code was wrong, and Hopkins’ registered letter was not delivered before the Jan. 2 deadline.
“It never would have occurred to me to check on his ZIP code,” Hopkins said last week.
Thode also said he was disappointed the court did not order Hopkins put on the ballot.
“It is good for voters to have a choice,” Thode said Tuesday.
Tate hoped the appeals court would grant the writ, saying recent legal decisions have shown that Texas courts have been interpreting the election code to avoid unreasonable and unfair results.
Fort Bend Now has more on this story. If Hopkins wants to appeal to the Supreme Court, she’ll need to act fast.
According to an affidavit by Fort Bend County Elections Administrator Steve Raborn […] ballots must be printed and ready for use at least 38 days prior to election day. And, Raborn said, he needs three days more to finalize ballot proofs. That means the ballot cannot be changed after Jan. 25.
Obviously, I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I think the court’s decision was reasonable. I think they could have reasonably gone the other way as well, and overall I think it’s better to err on the side of ballot inclusiveness. But let’s face it: Glory Hopkins could have avoided this problem entirely. She could have noticed that the ZIP code was wrong. She could have called Thode’s office every day to verify that her application had been received. She could have had someone check her mail while she was on vacation to see if the delivery confirmation receipt had arrived. When deadline day arrived with no evidence that her filing had made it, she could have sent a duplicate via courier. Sure, it sucks to get booted out of office like this, but if it’s important enough to sue over, it’s important enough to be a little more attentive to the process beforehand.
At least Hopkins will have a convenient scapegoat for when she cries in her beer about this. Some would-be candidates don’t even have that. Take Aaron Pena’s advice, people: Use cashier’s checks.
Elsewhere, Rio Grande Valley Politics has a couple of related items. First is an update on the Family Feud Primary in HD39, where Jessica Reyes-Martinez is threatening to stir up trouble for a different officeholder, State Rep. Kino Flores, whom she alleges had a similar filing application oversight as she. And then there’s HD42, where State Rep. Richard Raymond is attempting to get Mercurio Martinez, Jr. kicked off the ballot for (you guessed it) an improper filing. The fun never ends, at least not until all the lawsuits are decided.
Finally, former State Rep. Terry Keel appears to have won a seat on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals the old-fashioned way: by eliminating the competition. In the Pink has the story and a photo of Keel that’s sure to appear on the dust jacket of his first novel. Check it out.
She could have noticed that the ZIP code was wrong.
That’s not reasonable, Kuff. Most of us aren’t walking ZIP code databases.
She could have called Thode’s office every day to verify that her application had been received.
How would that have helped? Once her application was in the mail, pestering the destination certainly isn’t going to get it delivered any faster!
She could have had someone check her mail while she was on vacation to see if the delivery confirmation receipt had arrived. When deadline day arrived with no evidence that her filing had made it, she could have sent a duplicate via courier.
Now that’s a reasonable suggestion. Or she could’ve checked with Thode’s office the day before, and sent a FexEx Overnight Letter upon learning the filing hadn’t arrived yet. Having a backup plan is sensible, and maybe the court is right and she should take her lumps for not doing so. But I don’t think it quite justifies your initial statement:
Glory Hopkins could have avoided this problem entirely.
Haven’t you ever been slapped with a late fee because your payment got temporarily lost in the mail, or perhaps (who knows) the payee’s mail room? I have. (BTW, Capital One Credit now jacks up your interest rate if your payment is as little as three days late! Luckily, only if it happens twice in a 12-month period, but still.) Some things are simply beyond our reasonable ability to control. You, and the judges, should be a bit more understanding.
… if it’s important enough to sue over, it’s important enough to be a little more attentive to the process beforehand.
Thode also said he was disappointed the court did not order Hopkins put on the ballot.
Sounds like this was what’s called a “friendly” lawsuit; one in which the nominal defendant didn’t object to what the plaintiff was requesting. Thode probably just needed a court order, so as to avoid being sued by the other candidates. I wouldn’t be surprised if Thode was the one who suggested Hopkins sue him in the first place!
It’s not as unreasonable as you think, Mathwiz. This is from the email that FBC GOP Chair Eric Thode sent out, which contains the bad address that Hopkins used:
You can hand deliver the form to me at our next event, which is the Republican Party of Fort Bend County Christmas Party on Thursday, December 8 at Southern National Bank from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Or, you can mail the form back to me at:
Republican Party of Fort Bend County
P.O. Box 1987
Sugar Land, Texas 77487-1987
If you would like to send it CERTIFIED mail, please mail your form to:
Mr. Eric Thode
Universal Compression
4444 Brittmoore
Houston, Texas 77487-1987
You don’t have to be a ZIP code genius to wonder if an address in Houston can really have the same ZIP (never mind ZIP+4) as an address in Sugar Land. Remember, Hopkins is a District Clerk. She ought to be a bit more savvy about this sort of thing than your average bear.
Also, remember that she went on vacation after mailing in her filing, and didn’t return until after the deadline. I don’t know what she was thinking, but I’m sufficiently anal retentive that I’d have made at least one call to Thode while I was out of town to make sure he got my application.