Draper City Council candidate who missed filing deadline loses legal fight to get on ballot

A judge has rejected the request of a Draper City Council candidate to force the city to put him on the ballot after he missed a filing deadline.

FOX 13 reported Hubert Huh had requested a restraining order to make Draper City put his name on the November ballot. A judge on Friday said he should have known all of the disclosure details and met them.

“Mr. Huh knew, or should have known, the deadline to submit his campaign finance statement was August 6, 2019, at 5:00 p.m. He had run for Draper City Council once before in 2017. He was familiar with the process and with the requirements to timely file various declarations and disclosures, including his campaign finance statement,” 3rd District Court Judge Keith Kelly wrote in a ruling.

Huh had arrived at Draper City Hall at 5:01 p.m. on Aug. 6 to file the required campaign finance disclosures, missing the 5 p.m. deadline. “Therefore, Mr. Huh’s disqualification was proper,” the judge said.

Huh filed a lawsuit against the city saying the clock in the administrative building was two minutes fast and the city recorder provided the wrong date in a notification of the deadline. Huh’s attorney Todd Weiler had brought a number of election officials to testify about leeway that had been given to candidates in the passed who had barely missed the deadline.

“I feel bad for Mr. Huh. He would have been a great servant for the citizens of Draper City,” Weiler told FOX 13 in a text message following the ruling.

In a statement, Draper City Mayor Troy Walker said he was pleased with the ruling.

Judge Keith Kelly ruled in favor of Draper City today by dismissing the petition brought by Mr. Hubert Huh, the disqualified City Council candidate who failed to provide the necessary campaign finance disclosure information required by state law. pic.twitter.com/fGVtNT3seG

— Draper City (@drapercity) September 6, 2019

“We hope this ruling serves as a reminder that no one is above the law,” he said in the statement. “We didn’t make the law but we are required to strictly enforce it.”

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