Court Hears Debate About Placing Washington Mayor on Primary Ballot

The District of Columbia’s Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case that could keep Washington Mayor Anthony Williams off the Democratic primary ballot.

The three-judge panel peppered both sides with questions and promised a ruling “in reasonable dispatch.”

The case involves a decision by the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics to reject Williams’ reelection petitions as being tainted by fraud. Needing 2,000 signatures to qualify for the Sept. 10 primary ballot, the Williams campaign turned in petitions containing 10,102. But many were clearly fraudulent--the names included U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and actor Kelsey Grammer, neither of whom is a registered voter in Washington--while other signatures appeared to be forgeries, written on page after page in the same handwriting.

The city’s registrar of voters determined that 2,235 of the signatures were valid, but the board overturned that ruling. If upheld, the board’s decision means that the first-term mayor--hailed as a reformer when he came to office four years ago, replacing the combative Marion Barry--would have to launch a write-in campaign.

In its questions, the court seemed generally supportive of the board. Judge Eric T. Washington, for instance, noted that in a city more than 80% Democratic, it is hard to imagine collecting petitions with an 80% error rate. He asked the mayor’s lawyers whether that fact alone would not justify the board’s decision to throw out the petitions.

But attorney Vincent Mark J. Policy argued that if the board was throwing out the petitions because they were fraudulent, it first had to allow the mayor’s camp to rebut the claim. The board subpoenaed a Williams aide, Scott Bishop, who was in charge of collecting the petition signatures, but he refused to testify, claiming a 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination.

The line of questioning led to courtroom speculation that the court, which reviews decisions by city administrative agencies, could return the case to the Board of Elections and Ethics for further consideration. The board separately held hearings Tuesday on whether to recommend that the U.S. attorney prosecute the petition circulators for fraud.

The court battle is holding up the printing of the primary ballots, which were supposed to have been sent Tuesday to absentee voters.

Board Chairman Benjamin Wilson said outside the courthouse he wants to delay printing the ballots “until we have a final decision.”