By Antonio D. French
Filed Thursday, April 6 at 2:13 PM
The two newly elected members of the St. Louis City school board were sworn in this afternoon by Judge John Riley in the Civil Courts building downtown. But the ceremony might have been a bit premature.
Officials at the St. Louis City election board have not yet certified the election. And while the outcome is not expected to change, the official results of the election that gave victory to parents Peter Downs and Donna Jones have not yet been submitted to the state.
The Board of Elections has 14 days to certify the election. Before that happens, the Board must conduct accuracy tests on the voting machines and perform internal audits. Scott Leiendecker, the Board's Republican director of elections, said they were shooting to get all of that done by Wednesday.
"But they've kind of stepped on our shoes on this one," said Leiendecker. He said today's events have upset some down at the Board and they may now take the full 14 days.
Leiendecker said he returned a call yesterday from an attorney with the school district informing him of the things that still needed to be done before the candidates were sworn in -- including filing all outstanding campaign finance reports. That information apparently did not get passed on.
Downs and Jones should expect a letter of certification from the Board of Elections sometime before April 18. Until then, they are not "officially" elected officials.
UPDATE: There will be another swearing in on April 18, before that day's school board meeting.
2 Comments:
"[Director of Elections Scott] Leiendecker said he returned a call yesterday from an attorney with the school district informing him of the things that still needed to be done before the candidates were sworn in -- including filing all outstanding campaign finance reports. That information apparently did not get passed on."
Do I detect a little petty foot dragging by attorneys employed by the ousted board majority?
10:20 PM, April 06, 2006
"Do I detect a little petty foot dragging by attorneys employed by the ousted board majority?"
I thought that too, Oracle. But my sources say that it might actually be that they want the new members on the board ASAP to oversee the superintendent, who they are not fans of.
I've also heard that there is still disagreement over whether yesterday's swearing-in was "official" or "ceremonial."
Some say that the one to be done on April 18 is just ceremonial and the one done yesterday was official. Officials at the Board of Elections strongly disagree.
8:54 AM, April 07, 2006
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