Ballots have been sent as lawsuit to disqualify Weber County candidate winds through court

OGDEN — As legal efforts by three Weber County Commission candidates continue to disqualify a fourth hopeful, ballots with all four candidates' names have been sent to voters.

"I asked the question this morning if the ballots have been mailed, and they were mailed today," Chris Crockett, an attorney representing Weber County, said Tuesday at a hearing in the court case. Some people have reported receiving their ballots, he added, which means the only alternative if the court ultimately disqualifies James Ebert, vying for a seat on the Weber County Commission, is to disqualify the ballots with votes for him.

Three Weber County Commission hopefuls, Richard Hyer, Katrina Gibson and Jon Beesley, filed a suit last week in 2nd District Court asking that Ebert be disqualified due to their contention that he didn't properly file his candidacy paperwork. Ebert has rejected the charges, same as Weber County Clerk/Auditor Ricky Hatch, also targeted in the lawsuit, and a preliminary hearing was held in the matter Tuesday.

Hyer, Gibson and Ebert are all vying in the Republican primary for the County Commission A post, same as Duane Kearsley, who's not involved in the suit. Beesley is running in the Republican primary for the County Commission B seat against incumbent Sharon Bolos, who's also uninvolved in the suit.

The lawsuit, filed last week, comes late in the primary process, and Judge Craig Hall, overseeing the case, noted the timing at Tuesday's hearing. The case involves several established names in Weber County politics and suggestions from Ebert that the lawsuit may be politically motivated.

"The ballots seem to be in mailboxes. People may be voting as quickly as today, but I don't see any reason why this could not have been filed a month ago, because everything in the petition happened at least a month ago," Hall said. Candidacy paperwork was due last January while primary voting starts with the mailing of ballots, culminating on June 23.

Matthew Koyle, the lawyer representing Hyer, Gibson and Ebert, didn't respond to the judge's comment. But he had earlier stressed the importance of resolving the matter given the impact on potential validity of ballots cast in the race for the County Commission A post, also a concern for Ebert.

"Folks who may have wanted to vote for me that are concerned that their vote won't be counted may vote for somebody else," Ebert said. The issue needs to be resolved, he said, so voters "feel like there's trust in the election."

A formal hearing on the matter, when Hall said he would issue a decision, is set for Thursday. Meantime, though, Koyle expressed a willingness to meet with Crockett and other Weber County representatives after Tuesday's hearing to review the records and paperwork at dispute related to Ebert's filing to run for the Weber County Commission.

At issue are Ebert's filings last January to run for the commission seat. In their suit, Hyer, Gibson and Beesley say Ebert filed the required conflict-of-interest declarations too late or improperly filed them because they weren't included with his candidacy declaration.

Hatch's office has said Ebert met the requirements and met the Jan. 8 deadline. Ebert has suggested the lawsuit may be politically motivated.

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