[fvc-wat-disc] Can anyone recommend a ProBono Lawyer for a local election problem?

[Laurel L. Russwurm]

This isn't about voting systems, but it is something that might warrant 
electoral reform: why do City Clerks answer to no one?

My friend Regan Sunshine Brussé is running for Kitchener Ward 2 
Councillor.  The City Clerk pulled the rug out from under her campaign 
by not allowing her (legal) middle name on the ballot.  But nobody told 
her, so she planned her whole campaign around "Sunshine."

After 5 months of canvassing and telling people to look for "sunshine" 
on the ballot, she only discovered this by chance: she was never notified.

The default is legal names go on the ballot, there is no written rule 
anywhere saying candidates can't use middle names.  If Candidates want 
to use something else, they can if the Clerk allows it.    One Candidate 
has her legal name and a nickname in parentheses included on the ballot.

When she saw a list of the names as they will appear on the ballot, she 
thought it was an accident, and asked them to correct the mistake.  
Regan was told there is a "no middle names" policy because it would make 
names too long on the ballot.  But if space is the main consideration, 
one of the candidates listed on the ballot has a hyphenated surname 
making her name longer than Regan's full name.

This is an unwritten practice no one bothered to mention to a first time 
candidate-- a candidate who indicated in the right place on the 
nomination papers that she wanted her middle name on the ballot.

Even if, as it appears, the Clerk does have the power to refuse to allow 
a candidate to use her full name, the Clerk woudl then have the 
obligation to inform the candidate when accepting her nomination 
papers.  Regan believed that when her fill name appeared on the City of 
Kitchener Candidates List that her nomination had been accepted.

There is nowhere she can go to appeal.  What the Clerk says is final.  I 
imagine the real issue here is that the Clerk doesn't want to incur the 
costs to reprint the ballot.   After the election the Clerk will think 
about how to fix the problem  for next time.  In the meantime, Regan is 
screwed.

The only court of appeal seems to be the court of public opinion. It's 
gotten a little news coverage, but not nearly enough to get the Clerk to 
reverse her decision. 
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/kitchener-election-regan-sunshine-brusse-no-middle-name-1.4833246

CTV actually filmed a segment with Regan, but dumped it because that was 
the day of the school shooting.  The campaign is almost over so there 
isn't time to crowd fund a lawyer (she's a single mom: she took the 
semester off to run, and all her money is tied up in election materials).

Regan has been told that a strongly worded letter from a lawyer might 
help the Clerk reconsider, but she can't afford a lawyer. Does anyone 
knows a local lawyer interested in democratic fairness who might be 
willing to write such a letter Pro Bono?

Regards,
Laurel






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♦ *Laurel L. Russwurm, Author <http://laurel.russwurm.org/blogs/>*  ♦ 
*Libreleft Books* <http://libreleft.com> ♦ *Laurel L. Russwurm's Free 
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