Judicial qualifying dispute goes to Supreme Court

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A Clay County judicial candidate who was kept off the ballot because she was 12 minutes late in filing paperwork has taken the issue to the Florida Supreme Court.

Lucy Ann Hoover, who had sought to run for county judge, is appealing an Aug. 8 ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal that said Hoover should not be on the ballot.

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Initial documents posted Thursday on the Supreme Court website do not detail arguments Hoover will make.

Hoover, who planned to challenge Clay County Judge Kristina Mobley, rushed May 4 to meet a noon qualifying deadline for the race, according to the appeals-court ruling.

But a required financial-disclosure document was not notarized at the county elections supervisor’s office until 12:12 p.m. -- 12 minutes late.

The elections supervisor initially qualified Hoover as a candidate on the basis that she was in the supervisor’s office before the qualifying deadline, according to the appeals court.

But Mobley challenged the qualification, and a circuit judge ruled Hoover should not be on the ballot.

A panel of the appeals court issued an eight-page opinion upholding that decision.


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