PROVO — Calling it "baseless" and "fundamentally flawed," a 4th District judge has denied a Provo candidate's request to delay the November municipal election, now 11 days away.
Shari Holweg, who is running against incumbent Barbara Sandstrom for the District 4 seat, said the City Council deliberately violated state election laws in an attempt to maintain the city's current leadership.
In a lawsuit filed this week, Holweg claimed that "council members purposefully seek to disenfranchise an identifiable voting bloc in (an) effort to retain the current council membership and in specific the re-election of Sandstrom and (Stan) Lockhart."
Judge Lynn Davis denied the request Thursday for a temporary restraining order that would have delayed the election until January 2004.
Holweg failed to name Provo city in the suit — a fatal flaw, Davis said, because she wants to restrain the city from holding an election.
Neil Harris, Holweg's attorney, responded with an amended complaint late Thursday, asking a judge to reconsider. The initial complaint cited the wrong legal code, Harris admitted. The amended version fixes the mistake and asks for a hearing. The judge had not responded to the new filing as of Friday afternoon.
"Part of my problem is with the election coming up so soon I've been trying to get (the lawsuit) out as fast as possible," Harris said. "It was a typographical error. The judge was completely correct. I was completely wrong on that."
Amy Naccarato, director of the State Elections Office, said lawsuits like these are just part of the growing trend in politics. Ever since the "hanging chad" debacle in the 2002 presidential campaign, lawyers have been heavily involved in the election process.
"Courts are very involved in the election process," Naccarato said. "It's just part of life now."
And Holweg is no stranger to controversy. She led a group of residents in 1999 in the fight against construction of a grocery store on Provo's west side. Holweg was also involved in tales of purported wiretapping in former Rep. Merrill Cook's 1996 campaign, never verified.
The current complaint will not help her candidacy in any way, Holweg said.
"I don't believe this will help my race," Holweg said. "It's never popular to have to go to court to force a legislative body to follow the law."
Holweg's complaint contains a clause that asks for an injunction "prohibiting the opponent of Holweg from benefitting (sic) from her illegal activities."
The City Council approved voting locations on Sept. 16, which Holweg claims violated Utah Code. The law says polling places must be designated at least 90 days before the election.
Naccarato said the election provision cited in Holweg's complaint applies only to county elections.
Holweg also claims some of the designated polling sites violate election law.
"You shouldn't have to hunt for your polling place," Holweg said. "It's voter disenfranchisement any way you look at it."
The city didn't do anything wrong, said city attorney David Dixon. He and Councilman Dave Knecht said Holweg voted for the same polling locations during her previous eight years as a city councilwoman.
"Well, it sounds like we've never been legal in Provo," Knecht said. "This has been going on since Shari was in office."
E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com