Candidate too late to officially withdraw

Alhough Ron Weddell has announced he is no longer in the race for Carson City justice of the peace, Nevada has no process for a candidate to officially withdraw from an election at this point in the process.

Carson City Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover said Saturday the last date for withdrawal was in May.

"If he would get enough votes to win the election, he'd be elected. You can't officially withdraw," Glover said. "I can't think of an instance where that's actually happened, though."

Sample ballots for the Sept. 5 primary election have been printed with Weddell's name on them, and overseas ballots have been mailed, Glover said.

Weddell, a controversial figure who is spearheading a campaign to call a grand jury to investigate several local officials, announced Friday he was withdrawing from the race.

He cited a candidates' forum last week in which he believed the room was "stacked" against him.

Incumbent Justice of the Peace Robey Willis, one of the officials named in Weddell's grand jury petition, had only a brief comment when asked Saturday about Weddell's withdrawal.

"I'm not surprised," Willis said.

Richard Kreider, a third candidate for the justice of the peace position, could not be reached Saturday for comment.

Weddell said Saturday he doesn't know what to tell anyone who had planned to vote for him.

"I feel badly for that person because I dropped out," Weddell said. "I think the best suggestion to make is to wait and see what the grand jury will do, because the board of supervisors may very well end up appointing a JP if the grand jury issues indictments for these individuals."

Weddell is collecting signatures on a petition calling for a grand jury to investigate a man he attempted to place under citizen's arrest, as well as several local officials and city employees Weddell alleges interfered with his attempt to conduct a citizen's arrest in 1997.

In addition to Willis, they include District Attorney Noel Waters, Deputy District Attorney Anne Langer and Carson City sheriff's deputies Steve Johnson, Ken Sandage, Bill Callahan, Fred Schoenfeldt and Rod King.

Weddell said he believes the grand jury process will be started before the primary election.

"The district court only has five days, as I understand it, after we get the signatures to the court, to order that the grand jury be empaneled," Weddell said. He said he has more than 4,000 of the 4,209 signatures needed on the petition and he expects it soon will be filed with the district court.

Weddell said a comment he made to the Nevada Appeal when he announced his withdrawal Friday was misreported.

"I said that overthrowing Willis would be difficult with his strong court community support, but the 'court' part got left out," Weddell said. "There I was at a public candidate's forum and the fact was that nobody from the 'public' showed up - it was almost all people who work at the courthouse."

Voter Information:

Voter registration for the Sept. 5 primary election closes Saturday.

The voter registration office will be open 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday at the Carson City Courthouse, 885 East Musser St.

Registered voters who have moved or who need to request absentee ballots must notify the office in writing with a signature.

Early voting begins Aug. 19.

To check on your voter registration, call 887-2087.