Last updated on 2018-04-16
After invalid notary seals caused the decertification of her nominating petition, Brookings Democrat Mary Perpich was feeling queasy about switching her voter registration* from her beloved party to independent status so she could circulate a new petition and make the ballot.
Fortunately, Perpich now appears to feel more queasy about letting Republican political rookie V.J. Smith coast to the District 7 Senate seat unopposed:
As you can see, Perpich will be at the Brookings Public Library this Tuesday, April 17, over the lunch hour collecting signatures. Since this new petition is for an independent bid, any registered voter can sign. Perpich needs 50 signatures from District 7 voters on her sheets, notarized and either in the hands of or sent by registered mail to the Secretary of State, by next Tuesday, April 24.
No word yet on whether Perpich’s District 7 Democratic counterparts in the House race, Bill Adamson and Zack Kovach, are also taking up Plan B and circulating independent petitions in case any interested party (and there are many) take their invalidly endorsed petitions to court and get them thrown off the ballot.
Update 2018.04.16 06:35 CDT: And super-fortunately for Perpich, a partisan need not change registration to run as an independent! Following Perpich’s comment below, I reviewed statute and rule and found no requirement that an individual running as an independent actually be an independent. Neither Title 12-7 nor the declaration of candidacy on the independent nominating form mention party affiliation. Partisan candidates do sign a declaration on their petitions that they are members of their party.
The Secretary of State’s webpage for independent candidates says on its first line, “Independent candidates do not have to be registered as an Independent. A candidate may be registered with a political party and run as an Independent candidate by submitting an Independent Nominating petition.” The Legislature made it possible for party members to run as independents without switching in 2016 with HB 1033, which added to SDCL 12-1-3 these definitions of “independent” and “independent candidate”:
(16) “Independent (IND)” or “no party affiliation (NPA),” any voter who writes independent, I, Ind, the field is blank, no party affiliation, no party, no choice, nonpartisan, or line crossed off in the choice of party field on the voter registration form;
(17) “Independent candidate,” notwithstanding the definition of independent as stated in this chapter, any registered voter regardless of party affiliation who declares to be an independent candidate for public office pursuant to this chapter [SDCL 12-1-13].
Perpich can thus be an independent on the ballot but a Democrat on the books. It will be interesting to see how she decides to brand herself in her advertising.
Let us all hope that Mr. Hawley helps these fellows and the lady get many, many signings from real people. He should be out there standing in front of the Student Union in Brookings getting libbie journalism students to all sign up.
What is this? Mayberry? There should be a civil suit filed against Rep. Spencer Hawley for misrepresentation, malfeasance and malpractice. The damages incurred by these three candidates is life long and could easily be in the million$. It may not have been nefarious but who know what lurks in the hearts of anyone. It certainly was negligent and needs to be addressed.
i am still a registered Democrat and always will be.
Perhaps my mistake, Mary, but doesn’t one have to be registered independent to circulate an independent candidate petition?
FYI … Errors and Omissions Insurance
Most notaries are required to have Errors and Omissions Insurance, also known as notary E&O Insurance or Professional Liability Insurance. This policy can pay for your legal expenses if you’re sued over mistakes in your work.
For example, this policy may step in when someone claims you…
Failed to properly notarize documents.
Failed to fulfill your obligations.
Were negligent in performing your notary duties.
-Let’s say one of your clients is applying for an international trademark, and they need an apostille for a document. An error in your work causes their international trademark to fail. They could sue you to recover the cost of their expensive international application process, legal fees, and the damage it does to their international sales.
-If that happens, your notary Errors and Omissions Insurance can pay for your legal defense, court costs, and judgments awarded to your client.
Mr. Hawley is only nefarious when he’s dealing with common sense, conservative issues. He would not be nefarious at these people.
Motive needs not be an issue. A mistake was made that caused monetary damage to a client. That’s why insurance exists. People make mistakes. Even Democrats, but rarely. #joke
But if you’re not actually a notary, can you have notary insurance?
If you had a policy the policy would have an expiration date. If you renewed the policy it would probably be in effect since forgetting to renew your license would probably be one of the things covered. If you didn’t renew the insurance and also didn’t renew your license questions as to your intent to end your service as a notary would arise.
I’ll be darned: spelled out at the top of the Secretary of State’s webpage for independent candidates, “Independent candidates do not have to be registered as an Independent. A candidate may be registered with a political party and run as an Independent candidate by submitting an Independent Nominating petition.” I’ll revise above!
Does that sound like something candidate Cory might explore, I thought. Probably not, I surmised.
Cory has character ’til eternity. He knows he could soften on women’s rights, for votes. He knows he could soften on helping the needy, for even more votes. On a state income tax. He could. But then, what would be the difference between Cory and the “position pliable”, “self-serving” Al Novstrup? When it’s all done and you’re in a rocker on the porch these are things you can be proud you stood for.
“could soften”—impossible, many people who know me will say. I will join them in saying so.
I do not conflate Mary’s circulating an independent petition while retaining Democratic registration with “softening” on any principles or policies. Ballot access rules and one invalid notary’s error have prevented her from making the ballot as a Democrat. Statute allows a Plan B for ballot access that requires no compromise of beliefs.
My comment had nothing to do with the highly unfortunate situation Mary finds herself in. My comment was how “impossible” it seems to be for a Democrat to be any more palatable than a cow pie. If running as unaffiliated would make it easier, with no change in position, it could be an option.
Wouldn’t the Republicans just pursue their usual strategy and demonize “independent” and “unaffiliated” as surely as they have demonized “Democratic,” “liberal”, and “progressive”?