High court dismisses Ashjian ballot appeal

The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the appeal seeking to remove Scott Ashjian's name from the ballot.

Ashjian is listed as the Tea Party of Nevada candidate for U.S. Senate but the Independent American Party has tried several ways to get his name taken off the ballot including charging that his declaration of candidacy contained a false statement since he didn't change his voter registration from Republican to Tea Party until after filing for the office. Carson District Judge Todd Russell rejected that argument, noting that Ashjian changed his party affiliation the same day after returning to Las Vegas.

The IAP appealed.

The secretary of state's office argued the appeal is moot since absentee ballots already have been distributed and the June 15 deadline for altering ballots has passed. They said removing Ashjian's name now would disenfranchise absentee and early voters.

IAP lawyers argued even if the name can't be removed from the ballot, Ashjian can be declared unqualified for office.

The high court Thursday agreed with the state and rejected the appeal as moot.

The Supreme Court also unanimously rejected the argument Ashjian could be declared unqualified for the office because that argument was never raised during the district court hearing.

Although not part of the lawsuit, Sharron Angle's campaign wanted Ashjian out of the race because he could take votes from her and help Sen. Harry Reid win re-election. Angle even offered to help Ashjian with access to Republican leadership in Washington if he would voluntarily withdraw and throw support to her.

He not only refused the offer but taped the conversation and turned the tape over to the media.