On April 19, U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis, a Bush Jr. appointee, ordered that a candidate for city council be placed on the ballot in a special election, even though that candidate, Wellington Sharpe, had not completed the mandatory petition. The election was a special election, and the law required all candidates to submit 1,002 valid signatures in just 13 days. The case is Sharpe v Como, 07-cv-1521, eastern district.

The basis for the decision was that Sharpe’s main opponent in the April 24 special election, Mathieu Eugene, had advance knowledge of the special election, whereas his opponents did not. Therefore, Eugene had the benefit of all 13 days to collect signatures, but Sharpe did not. Furthermore, during the 9 days available to Sharpe, the weather was very bad. The key element in the decision is the judge’s conclusion that denying a candidate a spot on the ballot is an “injury of great magnitude.” Thanks to Bill Van Allen for this news.