This morning Jim Brannon issued a press release stating he will not be a candidate for Coeur d’Alene mayor in 2013. Prior to the candidacy filing period, Brannon had stated his intention to run.
Brannon’s press release is gracious and statesmanlike.
Brannon’s election contest, filed after the 2009 election, resulted in the Idaho Supreme Court acknowledging that former Kootenai County Clerk Dan English and his Elections Department Chief Deedie Beard had been misinterpreting Idaho’s elections law for years and had been allowing persons who were not lawful residents of Coeur d’Alene to vote improperly in City elections under provisions of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). Until 2011, the Idaho legislature had not incorporated UOCAVA voting eligiblity into the municipal elections code. It took Starr Kelso to find that.
Brannon and Kelso will never get the credit and respect they are due, but thanks to their commitment and diligence, voters throughout Idaho have become more aware of the serious deficiencies in Idaho’s election law. Whether our feckless Secretary of State Ben Ysursa follows up with the legislature is beyond Jim Brannon’s control.
Well done, Jim!
Totally agree with you Bill!
And thanks to those involved in OpenCda. for opening my eyes to the flawed election laws and leaders who fail at their jobs.
Comment by LTR — September 4, 2013 @ 3:20 pm
LTR hit the nail on the head.
Comment by up river — September 5, 2013 @ 7:37 am
LTR and up river,
It wasn’t OpenCdA that opened the community’s eyes to the flawed election laws and leader who fail at their jobs (but thank you for the compliment). All we did was report in more detail what our local and regional skewsmedia chose to selectively report or ignore altogether. Give the credit to Jim and Christine Brannon and Starr Kelso for having the integrity and courage to stand up and fight for honest government in 2009 and 2010.
Comment by Bill — September 5, 2013 @ 8:13 am
Still stinks … but, you have to give Kelso and Brannon kudos for going though all the mud and muck to find out it was mud and muck but a filthier mud and muck than you thought.
Comment by Stebbijo — September 5, 2013 @ 6:53 pm