Barbour Trying to Manipulate Election Law

From the Hill:

Timing of Sen. Trent Lott’s (R-Miss.) resignation has opened legal questions about the date of the special election, which state officials were still trying to clarify Monday afternoon.Gov. Haley Barbour (R) said in a statement Monday that he would schedule the special election for the same day as the November 2008 general election. State law, however, appears to require an earlier date if Lott retires this year, as he said he would.

While Lott sneaks in under the wire for the extended ban on lobbying Congress by retiring this year, the secretary of state’s office said Monday that state law appears to require a special election within 90 days if he does so.Conversely, if Lott were to wait and retire in 2008, the law allows for the special election to be held the same day as the general. Of course, he would then be subject to the new two-year ban on lobbying his former colleagues, instead of the current one-year ban.Secretary of state spokesman Kell Smith said the fact that 2007 was a statewide election year could affect how the language of the law is interpreted. He added that the office is checking that law to make sure the 90-day window still applies.A spokesman for Barbour said the governor’s statement “speaks for itself.”An earlier special election would likely produce smaller turnout, which would probably benefit Democrats in an overwhelmingly GOP state with a concurrent presidential election.Either way, Barbour will be required to appoint someone within 10 days to fill the vacancy until an election can be held.Barbour said in the statement that he would not appoint himself and that he would not run in the special election.



Looks like Barbour is trying to manipulate MS Election Law. If Lott resigns in 2007, the law (according to the SOS) requires a special election within 90 days. If Lott waits til January 1, 2008, then Barbour could legally place that election on the ballot in November to coincide w/ the Presidential race. Wow!! This one is just getting started. What does Trent Lott do? Does he stick it to his party who hung him out to dry 5 years ago? Or does he suck it up, wait, and then be subject to the new lobbying laws? We'll find out.