Huckleberries Online

Update: Brannon Challenges Election

Posted by DFO

Nov. 30, 2009 5:48 p.m. • 50 comments

Update: You can read a copy of Brannon’s lawsuit here (sorry it’s upside-down)

The losing candidate in a Coeur d’Alene City Council race on Monday filed a lawsuit challenging the race, naming all council members as defendants, along with the mayor, the city clerk, and Kootenai County’s clerk and elections manager. In the November general election, Jim Brannon lost to incumbent City Councilman Mike Kennedy by five votes, according to results tallied and published by the Kootenai County elections office. Brannon said in a news release that he didn’t intend the lawsuit as an indictment, but said with a race that close, he owed it to the voters to ensure the race was conducted correctly/Alison Boggs, SR. Complete story below.

In the November general election, Jim Brannon lost to incumbent City Councilman Mike Kennedy by five votes, according to results tallied and published by the Kootenai County elections office.

Brannon said in a news release that he didn’t intend the lawsuit as an indictment, but said with a race that close, he owed it to the voters to ensure the race was conducted correctly.

“The facts revealed that built-in election safeguards were not completely followed,” Brannon said. “Given the closeness of the published results, these failures have compromised the election process to the extent that the totals and the result of the election would change.”

Mayor Sandi Bloem, a defendant, and City Attorney Mike Gridley said they hadn’t seen the lawsuit yet and couldn’t comment. Councilman Kennedy said he hadn’t seen it yet either, but added: “I’ll be getting lawyers and responding appropriately.”

The lawsuit filed Monday in First District Court in Kootenai County seeks to “set aside, void, annul” all or part of the election. The majority of the issues concern the county’s handling of absentee ballots. However, Brannon’s attorney, Starr Kelso said that, under Idaho law, it was illegal for the county to run the city’s election.

The lawsuit delineates a long list of ways in which the defendants allegedly mishandled the election. They include: failing to determine whether people seeking ballots in the city of Coeur d’Alene were residents of the city; failing to maintain a poll book for absentee voters, including voter names and addresses; not addressing discrepancies between the number of ballots received and the numbers of ballots scanned; and even allowing a Kootenai County resident to vote in a Coeur d’Alene city precinct.

50 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

The Onset on November 30 at 4:11 p.m.
Bet ya a Starbucks Kelso DQs Mitchell.
Dogwalkmusings on November 30 at 4:12 p.m.
A lawsuit is a far cry from a recount! This could get ugly.
Phaedrus on November 30 at 4:17 p.m.
Are they going to go after more of our service men and women stationed overseas and try to invalidate their votes?
Cabbage Boy on November 30 at 4:23 p.m.
Probably going after the Canadian votes. I don’t agree with how this was handled (specially by the rogue spencer) but if Canadians are voting in our city election, I wanna know.
Sisyphus on November 30 at 4:36 p.m.
Heh. No surprise there other than the new level of stupidity of simply requesting a recount before filing suit. Starr isn’t in uncharted territory. He handled the election contest by Jack Noble against Jim Risch who won by 40 votes. I think it was more votes after the trial. Needless to say, Kelso failed. As I recall the wingnuts, headed by the illustrious Laird Maxwell, later convinced Kelso to run for the Supreme Court. That failed as well in similar fashion.

I’m so sorry Dan. This scrutiny won’t be fun. But I’m confident you will be vindicated. You have a fine attorney. Starr will rely heavily on the Larry Spencers and Mary Souzas for details so makes sure these witnesses are excluded from the courtroom lest they craft their strategy on the fly.
factchecker on November 30 at 4:45 p.m.
so nowJim Brannon who ran because he was opposed to wasteful spending is going to cost the county how much in attorney fees to defend themselves in this frivolous lawsuit?
hmoffsuite on November 30 at 4:53 p.m.
Good point, factchecker.
Pip on November 30 at 4:56 p.m.
It will probably cost the county a lot less than the frivolous lawsuits brought by the city’s attorneys over the last eight years… besides…. what if the election was messed up (intentionally or not)? I think it would benefit ALL of us to make sure our elections are carried out as the law mandates, this time, and always.
florined on November 30 at 5:07 p.m.
ok, I need some clarification. I believe I’m right on these 2 points: 1) the election being contested is a CITY election, not a county one and 2) the only reason the county clerk’s office is involved is because the city pays them to manage city elections. If these 2 things are true, then I don’t see that the county would bear any expense. Dan, I’ll look forward to hearing how it sorts out, once you’ve had the chance to chart the course in this “new territory.”

And, Dan, remember that no one, that’s NO ONE, with any historical experience or common sense questions your integrity or your competence.
Phaedrus on November 30 at 5:21 p.m.
Pip, that is a totally ignorant comment ( don’t be offended, I’m not calling you ignorant, I’m just saying those types of comments based only upon your feelings about the city attorney and no real eveidence are ignorant.)

And please don’t try to sell the idea that Jim Brannon is doing this out of a sense of duty to protect the integrity of the election process in Idaho, everyone knows that the truth is Jim Brannon is doing this because he lost. I guess if you can’t win at the ballot box then you hope for an activist judge to win in the courtroom.
hmoffsuite on November 30 at 5:26 p.m.
Phaedrus. I tend to agree with you on that point, actually.
Phaedrus on November 30 at 5:26 p.m.
He’s suing John & Jane Doe a thru Z, does that mean he is suing everybody in Coeur d’Alene? What a schmuck!
Phaedrus on November 30 at 5:27 p.m.
hmoffsuite, thanks for commenting. I’ve decide that I need not attack you constantly, it isn’t healthy for me. Truce?
hmoffsuite on November 30 at 5:46 p.m.
Phaedrus >>> “ Truce?”

Fair enough. :~)
Pip on November 30 at 5:52 p.m.
Phaedrus,
Your acting so hypocritical (don’t be offended, I’m not calling you a hypocrite, I’m just saying those types of comments based only upon your feelings about Brannon and no real eveidence are ignorant.)
If Kennedy were trailing by five votes you would support him doing exactly what Brannon is doing. Let’s find out who really won the election.
IdahoDad on November 30 at 6:01 p.m.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if Brannon wanted to “find out who really won the election,” wouldn’t he just ask for a recount?

By filing a lawsuit, doesn’t that mean he’s alleging that someone broke the law? Who, exactly, is he claiming has broken the law?
Soaf on November 30 at 6:04 p.m.
******By filing a lawsuit, doesn’t that mean he’s alleging that someone broke the law? Who, exactly, is he claiming has broken the law?********

Everyone who didn’t vote for Brannon Idahodad…

;-)
Stickman on November 30 at 6:29 p.m.
I love truces, as I was involved in one years ago that involved keith and bob. Now we have Phaed and hmo, which of course I like. This family grows on me daily.
florined on November 30 at 6:34 p.m.
disclaimer: the following opinions/questions are based on gut feeling, not known facts.

Am I the only one that doubts that Brannon is actually spearheading this suit? It just has the “feel” of other crusaders, not Mr. Brannon. Is a candidate the only entity who can legally challenge an election?
Digger on November 30 at 6:34 p.m.
I found a typo. In the first statement of fact it says that Brannon is “competent”.

Hiring Starr Kelso proves otherwise.

Case dismissed.
spokelooneh on November 30 at 6:47 p.m.
No one should be surprised by this. Still reading for evidence of their asserted wrong doing.

“Update: You can read a copy of Brannon’s lawsuit here (sorry it’s upside-down)”

Most any .pdf reader has a rotate 90 degrees button, just rotate it twice.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/
MamaJD on November 30 at 6:48 p.m.
Florined - any elector could have challenged this in court. Only Brannon could have requested a recount where the costs were covered.
spokelooneh on November 30 at 7:03 p.m.
” … are not the residency police … ”

heh, funny line.

Having been responsible for resolving a contested University student body election decades ago, I’ve always found these election challenges interesting. The Franken thing last year was fascinating.
nic on November 30 at 7:05 p.m.
@ florined re: If these 2 things are true, then I don’t see that the county would bear any expense.

The county will incur expenses as they are listed as defendants in the lawsuit.
nic on November 30 at 7:10 p.m.
“Who, exactly, is he claiming has broken the law?”

Well, for starters (According to the wonderful world of Brannon) The mayor, each and every member of the city counsel, the members of counsel that ran for re-election, the City of Cd’A, KootCo, DOTC, DOTC’s staff, Dee Dee Beard, and John & Jane Doe A thru Z (aka anyone who has an interest in this issue that opposes Brannon). I guess that makes Dave John Doe D, I’m John Doe N, Phaedrus is John Doe P…
Bent on November 30 at 7:10 p.m.
“Jim Brannon is doing this because he lost” — Phaedrus

You know if it really was Jim Brannon “doing this,” you wouldn’t know it.

In fact, I wonder if Jim Brannon is still alive. It’s reminds me of a bad Weekend at Bernie’s movie. All I ever hear from this guy comes from the fringe group that supported his campaign. Does this guy ever speak for himself…???

Cabbage, I know that you like this guy and all, but come on, how can you get behind someone who still hasn’t come out from behind his mama’s skirt? A little controversy and this guy is looking for rocks to crawl under… Partisan politics aside, don’t you want leadership in tha position…???

I’ll admit, I saw leadership in Gookin this time around, but I certainly haven’t seen anything that could even remotely resemble leadership in Brannon…
Bent on November 30 at 7:12 p.m.
Ha! florine, I wrote my comment before reading your’s … so no, you are not alone.
spokelooneh on November 30 at 7:23 p.m.
I wonder if Notary Public Jeannie Wood is any relation to Sgt. Christie Wood.

Somebody crossed out Rick and substituted Elmer R. (Currie) in the contract between the City and County.
Cindy_H on November 30 at 7:24 p.m.
Best comment of the day: “In fact, I wonder if Jim Brannon is still alive. It’s reminds me of a bad Weekend at Bernie’s movie.”

Bent’s the man :-)
Bent on November 30 at 7:39 p.m.
I was kind of partial to the teabag comment (I made myself laugh with that one), but thanks Cindy…
spokelooneh on November 30 at 7:42 p.m.
There were apparently 18 undervotes in the Kennedy/Brannon race, defined for this purpose as 18 fewer votes were cast for either than were cast in the mayoral race. For the Woody/Adams race, the figure is 147, and for the Deanna/Gookin race, the figure is 83.

If I’m reading this right, that’s almost 250 people who voted in the Mayoral race, but not in the Council races.
spokelooneh on November 30 at 7:54 p.m.
“If I’m reading this right, that’s almost 250 people who voted in the Mayoral race, but not in the Council races.”

No, that’s not correct, it’s 250 instances where a voter voted in the Mayoral race, but not in one or more of the Council races.

You do have to have some sort of absentee poll book, to prevent a person from voting twice, one by mail, and one in person.
bcnqrgd on November 30 at 9:37 p.m.
I certainly hope that the city, the county, and anyone else countersues forexpenses when Brannon loses. At least the governmental entities can put a lien on his property…
Phaedrus on November 30 at 10:19 p.m.
I was right, they are going after the Master Sergeant that is serving in a war zone in Iraq.

“It is alleged upon the information available to Plaintiff
Jim Brannon at this time, and beliel that ballots that should not
have been counted include, but are not limited because others may
be identified through discovery or trial, the following; …; Gregory Proft Precinct numbers 0054 and/or 0073;”

First Jim allows his supporters to trash the reputation of H4H after the let him go because he wasn’t able to perform his job well enough to cover his own salary and now he is allowing them to go after a Master Sergeant serving in Iraq. Shameless.
Phaedrus on November 30 at 10:21 p.m.
“He (Jim Brannon) went on to say that the filing of the lawsuit is not an indictment of the city of Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai County, Dan English, Deedie Beard, or Mike Kennedy.”

Hogwash! That is exactly what this lawsuit is, in fact in a number of sections he claims that Dan English and Deedie Beard ‘Failed to’ conduct a legal election. Not an indictment? Is Jim that clueless?
Phaedrus on November 30 at 10:24 p.m.
“The difference in these absentee ballot totals
would change the outcome of the election”

If you assume that all of these votes went to Kennedy, if they all went to Brannon it would not change the outcome of the election, only the margin of defeat that Brannon suffered.
christiewood on November 30 at 10:43 p.m.
No relation. But I do know a lady by the name of Jeanne Wood. I wonder if she is the same person I am thinking of. I hope all of the people named in the lawsuit keep their spirits up and do not dwell on this.
The court will decide. Meanwhile the daily tasks of the County offices, the City, and many other local goverment entities keep them all very busy. Our elected officials are doing a good job and I think many of our citizens appreciate their efforts.
spokelooneh on November 30 at 11:10 p.m.
Phadreus, a Master Sgt. serving overseas, I don’t care if he’s a genuine hero, that has NOTHING to do with his right to vote in the proper jurisdiction.

I still haven’t seen the Sgt. or anyone else including DOTC say DEFINITIVELY that the Sgt. has valid ties to the City of CdA.
Idaho, yes, Post Falls, apparently so.

This isn’t about who wins or loses. It’s about the integrity of the process. The Brannon camp has made some likely baseless charges, but they’ve also pointed out some arguably valid complaints which should be investigated.

Again, no one should be surprised by this. In this close of an election, the normally harmless errors that may occur are in fact relevant to determining the actual winner to the greatest extent possible.

I expect there will be a hand recount, a detailed investigation into any election anomolies, and a considered decision rendered on these matters.

I think that DOTC generally dots every i and crosses every t in methodically following election procedures, but we’re talking about thousands of I’s and t’s, and nobody’s perfect.
bpoole on November 30 at 11:18 p.m.
“Crazy” is on the rise around this town. We should all try to get out while we can. Just a joke. This lawsuit seems pretty far fetched and I wouldn’t be to concerned, it is just a way in which Jimbo can try and have the election results thrown out and then in turn be allowed for an entirely new election. Which he would lose again!
OrangeTV on December 01 at 1:36 a.m.
I’m speechless. Until the morn…
nic on December 01 at 7:17 a.m.
@ Spoke - re: “still haven’t seen the Sgt. or anyone else including DOTC say DEFINITIVELY that the Sgt. has valid ties to the City of CdA.
Idaho, yes, Post Falls, apparently so.”

Let’s assume that Larry’s “research” is accurate, and this soldier did own a house in Post Falls. He’s been deployed and sold that house, so he doesn’t have a home anymore.

From the way I’ve understood DOTC’s explanation, if a soldier sells his/her house when they’re deployed or they are no longer renting their house and it is rented out to someone else they have no permanent address. Since they do not have a physical home, they need to have some sort of physical address in order to vote. So he’s registered @ the county court house.

Besides having “valid ties to the City of CdA” is irrelevant. That is not cause to overthrow an election due to the fact that he was registered ACCORDING TO THE LAW. Brannon & handlers would be better serve to try and change the law. But since they’re trying to prove that the law was broken, they’re (in my opinion) failing miserably. All they’ve done so far is prove that the law might need changed.

Perhaps it would make sense to have him registered @ PF City Hall, but the CURRENT law states he should be registered @ the county court house. But who’s to say he’ll buy another house in PF when he returns? He’s a resident of KootCo, but what city? Isn’t it possible that he’ll buy a house in Cd’A or Hayden of Rathdrum instead of PF?
Phaedrus on December 01 at 8:00 a.m.
that has NOTHING to do with his right to vote in the proper jurisdiction.-Spoke

Okay. But the statues cited by DOTC in his comments in response to LarrySpencer do and according to those the Sgt voted exactly where he was supposed to vote. Same with the two voters currently living in Canada, their votes were recorded according to state law, so if you, or anyone else (Brannon) has a problem with that you need to change the law in Idaho.

BTW if Brannon were to succeed in this challenge by getting some activist judge to overrule state laws and throw out the election, then I am going to court to sue every currently sitting elected official (99.9% GOP) and ask to have all the elections that put them in office invalidated for the same reasons these guys are using
Cabbage Boy on December 01 at 8:24 a.m.
@spookealooh, indeed, rotate the dang PDF. It is so easy. Pretty lame IMO.

@Bent,
Since you are a reasonable man, I will give you my best reasonable response. You need to understand that Brannon has spoken. He has addressed issues, but you won’t read it here. He has spoken to the Coeur d’alene paper. I don’t care much for the Press, but at least they are local. The S-R decided to ax their CdA coverage some time ago. Of course there is this blog, but I don’t blame Brannon for not responding to DFO’s sensationalism.

Nobody here gave him a chance in hades to win the election. With the coverage and perception here, he deemed incompetent and a coward. But he ignored the sensational garbage spewed here and came within 5 votes of beating Kennedy who spent 5 times as much money.

Now nobody here gives him any chance on this challenge. I am sure he doesn’t give a lick about opinion on this blog and if the election is any indication, rightfully so.

Spencer has been asked to take his issues elsewhere. I don’t understand that guy and he may have helped Kennedy win some votes. But as we all know, once Spencer is on a scent, it is hard to quiet his baying. So don’t judge Brannon by the Spencer’s bark, nor think he is silent because he doesn’t comment here.
coeurgenx on December 01 at 8:37 a.m.
In fact, I wonder if Jim Brannon is still alive. It’s reminds me of a bad Weekend at Bernie’s movie. All I ever hear from this guy comes from the fringe group that supported his campaign. Does this guy ever speak for himself…???

This is so true! Especially for someone who wants to have a public position and speak for the people but cant find a way to speak for himself.
Bent on December 01 at 8:55 a.m.
CB he issued a press release. He didn’t grant interveiws to the press or the SR. This is precident setting in kootenai County according to DOTC and Brannon couldn’t TALK to the press??
Cabbage Boy on December 01 at 9:08 a.m.
Bent, sometimes it is better to control the conversation than giving the control to the reporters. Not saying I agree with everything he does or how it was all handled, but he scared Kennedy and surprised most everyone including me. So I will give him credit where it is due.
alisonb on December 01 at 9:28 a.m.
Just for the record, Jim Brannon did call me back last night in a timely fashion and left a message. I was on the phone with his attorney at the time, then with Dan English, etc., so I didn’t have time before deadline to call him back again and had to rely on his press release. For what it’s worth…
Cabbage Boy on December 01 at 9:44 a.m.
Alison, no use for facts here. We have a formed opinion that Brannon doesn’t exist.

Thank you for that update by the way.
hhuseland on December 01 at 5:35 p.m.
Regarding the fear that Spencer & friends might show up in court and muddy the waters? Bring em on. I’ve spoken with Spencer many times. He almost always doesn’t have his facts straight a good attorney would make hash out of him
LarrySpencer on December 01 at 5:54 p.m.
>Spencer has been asked to take his issues elsewhere…

By whom?

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.