One Democratic candidate for coroner stormed out of the Lake County Election Board meeting Wednesday — uttering “You haven’t heard the last of me,” as he left the chambers — after he was removed from the ballot following a successful challenge by the county party chair.
Michael Myers, who filed to run in the Democratic primary for the office of coroner, abruptly left the meeting after board members unanimously voted in favor of upholding the challenge.
Jim Wieser, chairman of Lake County’s Democratic Party, said Myers did not follow the rules when filing to run in the May primary as a Democratic candidate for coroner and therefore is ineligible to do so.
Party rules and state law require an individual to vote for a specific party in two consecutive primaries in order to be eligible to run, or the individual must receive a waiver from the party chairman if that requirement has not been met.
Myers did neither, Wieser said.
Wieser said Myers did not approach him as chairman to seek a waiver to run for the Democratic party nomination for coroner. Myers’ voting history showed the last time he voted in a primary was in 2008. His voter’s registration had since been purged due to inactivity.
When he filed to be a candidate, Myers was not a registered voter. He registered to vote that day, but there is a one-week waiting period before the registration is effective. Wieser said despite that, Myers affirmed on his candidate filing under penalty of perjury he was a current registered voter.
Myers disputed the claims, saying he was a registered voter and had previously voted for Democrats.
“I’ve always voted Democrat. To me, that’s a clerical error. Somebody did something to change my voting,” Myers said.
Board president Kevin Smith, a Democrat, questioned why Myers never challenged anyone about his registration when he learned he was not registered in February.
“Do you agree on Feb. 7 — when you filed your declaration of candidacy — you also filled out an application to become a registered voter again?” Smith asked.
Board member Michael Mellon, a Republican, said an error is one of those things that can pop up at any time, but the records affirm Wieser’s testimony.
“Do you have any evidence to prove or to show that’s an error in that capacity?” Mellon asked. “He’s made a claim. There’s evidence.”
LeAnn Angerman, the Republican deputy election board director, said voting records are the official state record. Once a voter signs in, the signature confirms their choice and it is uploaded to the state system. The state is responsible for maintaining and purging voter rolls.
Incumbent Lake County Recorder Gina Pimental successfully challenged the candidacy of her lone challenger for the Democratic nomination for the seat, Joy Holliday.
Attorney Joe Sventenoff, who represented Pimentel, said Holliday had not voted in the two most recent primary elections. The last primary in which she voted was in 2008. Holliday did not appear at the hearing.
Randy Niemeyer, Lake County Republican Party chairman, successfully challenged several candidates for delegate and precinct committeeman on the grounds they did not participate as Republicans in the two most recent primaries and they did not reach out to him for an exemption.
Niemeyer said it is not about excluding people from the process but about upholding party rules and processes and state law.
“We want you to be a part of what we are doing, but there’s a way to do it. Our goal is to grow the party,” Niemeyer said, adding he would be willing to work with those who were removed from the ballot to help them find their place within the Republican party.
