EVERETT — A Snohomish County judge found the front-runner in the race for an Everett City Council seat ineligible to hold the position in a hearing Tuesday.
The bombshell ruling means Niko Battle, who received the most votes in the August primary, will not appear on the November ballot. His opponent, Alan Rubio, will face off against Luis Burbano, the third place candidate.
Battle can still appeal the ruling and plans to, he said after Superior Court Judge Richard Okrent issued his ruling Tuesday.
“We will not stop fighting until the lady sings, and she has not even taken the stage yet,” Battle told press following the hearing.
State law allows residents to challenge the rights of candidates to appear on ballots based on if they are ineligible to hold the seat. Battle’s challenger, south Everett resident John Dimas, alleged Battle wasn’t living at the address he listed in his voter registration. Dimas did so after he reached out to the south Everett apartment building Battle listed on his voter registration and received a letter back from a manager who stated there was no record of Battle living there.
In court Tuesday, Battle said he lived at the building but was not on the lease. He declined to state the unit he was living in, citing privacy concerns.
When considering the case, Okrent said Battle did not provide any evidence to dispute Dimas’ claims. Okrent said filing a declaration from the friends Battle lives with, submitting a piece of mail, phone bill, driver’s licence or library card could have served as supporting evidence to show he was a District 4 resident. Once Dimas filed the declaration from the south Everett apartment’s property manager, Okrent said Battle had the obligation to refute that by showing some form of proof he lived in south Everett.
“You filed nothing that would demonstrate that you are actually a resident there,” Okrent said. “… The accumulation of all those records, the totality of the circumstance demonstrates you don’t have a residence in District 4.”
Battle said the ruling was ignoring the will of the people who voted for him in the election. He also said a burden of proof was not met.
Dimas, who filed the challenge, said he didn’t see it as a victory, rather it was “the judge’s ruling.”
Battle also faced a challenge to his voter registration on Monday, also filed by Dimas over similar concerns regarding Battle’s address. Snohomish County Auditor Garth Fell is expected to issue a written ruling on the voter registration challenge this week.
At the court hearing Tuesday, Battle said the court proceeding was a “political weaponization of this process.” Okrent pushed back, saying residents have a right to bring a challenge to ensure candidates meet city laws regarding residency.
“Any elector who believes that the person who is a candidate is not a proper candidate has the right to challenge that so the process is clear, so that the elections are fair, so that elections are not overturned because of issues of residency,” Okrent said. “Which clearly, under the case law, means you must demonstrate that you’ve lived there.”
Battle earned 42 percent of the vote in the August primary, while Rubio earned 33 percent. The third place candidate, Luis Burbano, earned 25 percent.
After the hearing, Burbano said he was “super happy District 4 will have a candidate that is honest.”
Battle said he believes he will succeed upon appeal.
Ballots are set to be printed by the Snohomish County Auditor’s office beginning tomorrow. Election day is Nov. 4.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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