Vernon County Clerk Adrienne Lee was ordered by Circuit Judge Gayle L. Crane to remove candidates that were placed on the ballot as Republican Candidates because their filing fee was not accepted by the Vernon County Republican Committee. The Vernon County Republican Committee has setup a vetting process for candidates who wished to run as Republicans.
The Vernon County Republican Committee Chair, Cyndia Haggard, filed the suit after County Clerk Adrienne Lee placed candidates on the Ballot as Republicans whose filing fees had not been accepted by the committee. Legally a county clerk cannot place a candidate on the ballot with a party label unless the Party has accepted their filing fees. This process has become automatic, with clerks routinely placing candidates on the ballot because the Republican party has accepted basically any body whose check would clear. This has resulted in the Republican Party’s brand being severly damaged by candidates that they allowed to run as Republicans that only did so to get elected, then vote more like Democrats. Cyndia Haggard the chair of the Vernon County Republican Committee has been a leader in bringing accountablity back to the Party and working to rebuild the Republican name. Her county has lead the way by requiring all candidates that wish to run as Republicans to be vetted before their filing fees can be accepted.
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The Court Ruling
Circuit Judge Gayle L. Crane found that County Clerk Lee, did violate her “unconditional duty” to only accept candidancy of Republican candidates that the Vernon County Republican Committee had notified her that they had accepted their filing fees. Judge Crane ordered that the eight candidates in question therefore must be removed from the ballot as Republican Candidates. This is a major victory for the Conservative Grassroots Movement and for the Republicans of Missouri who want to know that the R next to a candidates name really means something!
