On May 9th, Vernon County Republicans win a major victory as Judge Gayle Lee Crane ruled that a Permanent Order in Mandamus be issued to the Vernon County Clerk Adrienne Lee. She must remove the eight individuals who failed to be vetted by the Vernon County Central Committee from the Republican ballot for the August 2024 primary election.
The Judgment states that the ministerial duties of the County Clerk are to collect the fees from the potential candidates, forward them to the party they wish to run under and obtain a receipt from the party’s central committee accepting the fee. Only candidates for whom the party’s central committee accepts the filing fees and provides a receipt back to the county clerk can be listed on the ballot from that political party.
Judge Crane ruled that the Vernon County Clerk failed to perform the ministerial duty imposed by statute for accepting the declaration of candidacy before obtaining the proper verification from the Vernon County Republican Committee.
Vernon County Republican Committee Chair Cyndia Haggard posted, “We hope this puts this to bed. Adrienne said she wanted her day in court. She got it. She said she wanted the judge to tell her what she did wrong. She got it. She said she wanted an order without the word “preliminary” on it. She got it. So, why has she filed an appeal? More wasted taxpayer dollars.”
Complete Court Ruling
