"HOLY HEADACHE , BATMAN!"- ACEB CIRCUS

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COLUMN

Sure it was a political circus, but the ringmaster made a point

System for vetting candidates invites abuse if not reformed

By Kevin Leininger of The News-Sentinel

Saturday, February 21, 2015 - 7:58 am

After the would-be mayor in the Batman shirt rambled on for nearly two hours about residency, alleged criminal records, middle names and even more bizarre reasons why nine names should be removed from the May 5 ballot, the exasperated members of the Allen County Election Board eliminated just one: mayoral candidate John Roberson, who voted in last year's Republican primary and had not received the party's permission to run this year as a Democrat.

"Just doing my part to clean up 'Gotham City,' " David C. Roach quipped after Wednesday's colossal waste of time that might almost have been funny had it not exposed serious flaws in the manner in which political candidates are vetted and challenges to their qualifications investigated.

Frankly, I would rather not draw even more attention to a man whose candidacy for various local offices invokes the memory of Harold Stassen, who among other things sought the Republican presidential nomination 10 times between 1940 and 1992. As Democratic City Council at-large candidate Kevin Brown told the board, "This has no merit, (but) I get pulled in by someone's passion to occupy your time."

But, in fact, Roach did occupy the board's time -- a lot of it -- even though much of what he said was simply wrong or irrelevant. On the other hand, he did provide the evidence that led to Roberson's dismissal and made other charges that couldn't be proven or debunked because, as board member and attorney Tom Hardin noted, "The challenger has the burden of proof. You can't just raise whatever you want. Your saying it doesn't make it so." Added member Tim Pape, also an attorney: "It's not our role" to investigate whether candidates meet legal requirements.

So whose job is it, then?

Political parties and candidates often research their opponents, of course, and in fact the board this week considered a 10th challenge filed by Wayne Township Assessor Bev Zuber on behalf of the Democrat Party against Democratic City Clerk candidate Brian Thornton. Zuber claimed that Thornton, like Roberson, had failed to vote in previous Democratic primaries, and Thornton withdrew his candidacy Thursday before the board could consider the matter next week. But such challenges are usually strategic in nature, intended to help certain candidates at the expense of others.

There is, in other words, no impartial system to review of candidates' legal legitimacy unless somebody files a challenge with the Election Board. And even then, the challenger is solely responsible for providing proof -- proof that, as Roach pointed out, is not always easily available to the public. Pape was right when he said that many of Roach's allegations came "close to an abuse of the process. It's like getting accused of a crime, and it creates a stigma." But Roach did not invent that process, he merely exploited it. And there are likely to be similar if not even more egregious examples in the future if nothing changes.

In our system, even obviously unqualified candidates -- and there are at least a handful on the May ballot -- cannot be barred from seeking office. But there should be a systematic and non-partisan way to assure that the people on the ballot have met all the legal requirements. The media could do a better job of that, of course, but not even reporters have access to all information.

Case in point: Roach questioned the residency of two candidates, suggesting they may be transients. One of them, current Democratic City Council at-large candidate Tommy Schrader, was nominated for that position in 2011 but was removed from the November ballot by the Election Board at the party's request after it was learned he also voted in Wisconsin. Isn't that the kind of question that deserves a definitive answer even if Roach was unable to provide one?

Background checks take time and money, but such a process by local election officials or others would protect the process while minimizing the chance of a replay of what happened this week. So would Pape's suggestion that challenges filed without proper documentation be dismissed in a sort of "summary judgment."

Holy headache, Batman! Either would be preferable to what happened this week, which could dissuade credible candidates from seeking office while protecting others from the scrutiny they, and the public, deserve.

This column is the commentary of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The News-Sentinel. Email Kevin Leininger at kleininger@news-sentinel.com or call him at 461-8355.