Montana State Senator John Cobb has introduced SB 117, to protect candidates who are told they won a close election, and who are then sued by the loser. Under existing law, when that happens, and the recount reverses the outcome, the original “winner” must pay all the court costs associated with the recount.
The bill, if passed, would be retroactive to cover the 2004 election, so would spare Rick Jore the need to repay $18,000. Jore is the Constitution Party’s only state legislator in the nation. He appeared to have won his 2004 election as a Constitution Party nominee, but after the 2004 election, the Montana Supreme Court had ruled that six of his votes were too unclear to count, and therefore he just barely lost the 2004 election. Sympathy for his plight probably helped him win over that same opponent in November 2006.
Senator Cobb says Jore did not ask him to introduce SB 117. The bill was Cobb’s idea.
This is just a beautiful thing! So much thanks to Senator Cobb, for bringing this refreshing bill forward.
I was a first-hand witness to all of the people who donated money to help Rick pay for his own legal fees, which he shouldn’t have had to pay, since all he did was run for office.
Then, when the Supreme Court ruled that he had to pay the fees of those who brought the suit, the injustice of it was so blatantly obvious and shocking that numerous people instantly raised their hands with money, wanting to help Rick again.
Then I saw Rick clench his teeth, as if mentally drawing a line in the sand, saddened at the thought of advantage again being taken of those generous friends and friendly strangers on his behalf. Then, rather than accept the offerings to pass on to the grossly unjust, he decided to risk his own freedom and property by refusing to pay, even with other people’s money.
They eventually came for his bank accounts, confiscating a meager amount (relative to the size of the bill), and we all waited, some from afar, and some from near, with baited breath, for them to show up at his home and start taking more, but thankfully, perhaps by Providence, perhaps by healthy fear of the public, they never came.
Please, legislators, pass this bill! Do your duty of keeping the judiciary in check, and never let such an injustice blot this state again!
As someone who watched this from outside of Montana, with disgust, I can only say: “Well said, Kurtis!”
Kudos to Senator Cobb! What is needed now is for someone to sponsor the bill in the state house. Then the bill ought to passed unanimously in both houses. It is regretable that Rick had to be elected before such a measure was introduced to reign in the power of the judiciary .
We in Utah are deepley indebted to Rick Jore. In August of 2001 he came to Utah at his own expense and helped us to officially organize the Constitution Party here in the state. Since then the party has mushroomed in Utah with one of our U. S. congressional candidates getting nearly 9% of the vote in a four way race. Montana is indeed fortunate to have a statesman like Rick serving in the state legislature.
Actually, the House also has a bill with strong support that would protect candidates from unjust legal fees without forcing taxpayers to foot the bill.
HB52 passed overwhelmingly on two votes a couple of weeks ago. Props to Sen. Cobb for trying to do something, but Rep. Jacobson’s bill is superior, I think.
It is indeed a strange law which will punish a candidate when those who count the votes are at fault.
I was unaware of HB 52 at the time of my previous message. I think you’re right, Mr. Gettis–much better to have those who brought the suit pay their own bill.
Back when those who brought this suit were publicly pretending to feel sorry for Rick (only after a huge public outcry, of course) because of how “the system” unjustly made them name him in the suit, I (and probably others) publicly challenged them to put their money where their mouth was and give Rick the money to pay their own bill, but they were predictably silent.
Had the republicans ran a candidate this time (2004) we probably wouldn’t see Rick Jore in office. Rick had been elected as a Republican, so people knew him. Rick could have ran on the Libertarian ticket and still would have been elected.
However, it was the Republicans who were the spoilers for three elections in a row–not Jore. Jore, as a Constitution Party candidate, got more votes than the Republicans who ran against him in 2000, 2002, and 2004. Finally, in 2006, the Republicans got out of the way and let him win.
This is ironic, since many conservative voters said that they agreed more with Jore than with the Republicans but voted against him because they didn’t think he could win. If they had only checked the numbers after having voted in the first cycle, they would’ve known better.