Supreme Court upholds taking candidate off ballot

The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld the district court decision to remove John Michael Schaefer’s name from the primary election ballot and disqualify him as a candidate for state controller.

A Clark County judge agreed April 3 that Schaefer should be disqualified based on his admission that he ran for the Los Angeles City Council in 2013. The Los Angeles city/county clerk also confirmed that Schaefer declared himself a California resident when he filed for that post.

Scott Gilles, elections deputy to the Secretary of State’s office, said Schaefer’s defense was that he has always had a Las Vegas address.

He appealed the decision, arguing that the statute requiring candidates for constitutional offices to be Nevada residents for at least two years was unconstitutional.

That leaves Las Vegas accountant Andrew Martin as the only Democrat in the race.

The speedy review of the case by the Supreme Court means the Schaefer-Martin primary race can be left off the ballot. Gilles was concerned about that issue because printer ballots must be mailed to overseas military and other voters not in the country by April 25.

There will, however, be a Republican primary in the controller race; three candidates from that party have filed to replace termed-out Democrat Kim Wallin.