Election law is a tricky thing. While the basics are laid out in statute and in the constitution, much of it is still worked out through the courts. Such is the case with the outcome of last year’s election for a seat on the Adams 12 Five Star school board. 
Remember back in October of last year when we told you about school board candidate Amy Speers, who realized a week before the election that she didn’t live in the district for which she was running? Even if it were solely because of Speers’ stupidity, wouldn’t you expect her opponent to be the automatic winner in the race?
Apparently, it’s more complicated than that. A recent court ruling created a vacancy on the school district’s board of education claiming November’s election had no winner because the other candidate in the race, Rico Figueroa, didn’t get a enough votes to be declared the victor.
Mario Nicholas, one of the state’s top election law attorneys, is defending Figueroa and calling foul on the judge’s interpretation of the law, telling The Denver Post:
“The judge seems to be requiring that to win an election you have to win a majority of votes and that’s just never been true in Colorado.”
Nicholas is exactly right. Winning a plurality has never been a requirement in Colorado. The judge’s ruling is based on opinion not legal precedent. If it sticks, this could have potentially far reaching implications for future elections.
Regardless of how all that turns out, however, we would like to propose a new rule that should apply to all elections. We’re going to call it “The Stupid People Rule.” Basically, if your opponent is stupid and runs for a seat she is ineligible for, then you get to win. Plain and simple.