This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A third rejected candidate for the Utah State Board of Education asked a federal judge on Tuesday to order that his name be placed on the November election ballot.
Joel D. Wright, a Utah County resident and an attorney, is asking U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups to order his name on the ballot just as Waddoups did last week for two other applicants. They had sued when their names were rejected by the committee that screens candidates or by Gov. Gary Herbert, who makes the final decision on who goes on the ballot.
Waddoups ruled recently that the procedure for selecting state education board members violates the constitutional guarantee of free speech because it allows the committee appointed by the governor, and then the governor, to reject candidates for any reason.
Waddoups last Thursday ordered that rejected candidates Breck England and Pat Rusk be placed on the ballot for the Nov. 4 election.
Wright now says his situation is exactly like that of Rusk, whose name was among three given to Herbert as possible candidates but whom the governor rejected for the ballot.
In asking to intervene in the case, Wright's attorneys argue that the request is timely because there are still 48 days before the election and that Utah County ballots have not been "locked-down, printed or mailed overseas."
They asked for an expedited procedure so their arguments can be heard.