Elections staff errs in accepting candidate filing

There will not be seven candidates for District 1 county commissioner.

Kootenai County Clerk Cliff Hayes announced today that his elections staff did not follow all of its procedures when handling the candidacy declaration for Steven Peter Benner. 

"We allowed Mr. Benner to file for County Commissioner District 1 without verifying his residency within that district," Hayes said, in a prepared statement.

County commissioners are elected countywide, but Idaho Code 34-617 requires them to reside in the commissioner district for which they declare candidacy. Mr. Benner resides in commissioner District 2, which isn’t up for election in 2012.

“Mr. Benner has been very gracious about our mistake”, said Hayes. “I apologize to Mr. Benner again, and to the public. We are evaluating our procedures to prevent this error from recurring.”

Mr. Benner’s name will not appear on the ballot for the May 15 primary election.