Judge rules Everett council candidate cannot appear on Nov. ballot

Published 5:08 pm Tuesday, September 9, 2025

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, is set to 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.

The Snohomish County Auditor’s Office received a written order from the court on Wednesday, spokesperson Sierra Cornelius wrote in an email Wednesday. Rubio and Burbano will appear on the November ballot.

Staff at the auditor’s office can’t recall a time in recent history where a Snohomish County candidate has been removed by the court between a primary and general election, Cornelius wrote.

State law allows residents to challenge the rights of candidates to appear on ballots if they suspect 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. He then received a letter back from an apartment 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 and harassment he said he’s received since he began his campaign.

Dimas’ case centered on casting doubt over Battle’s residency. Battle’s defense focused on trying to poke holes in Dimas’ evidence, saying Dimas’ claims did not meet a burden of proof Battle said should be extraordinarily high.

“This is about allowing people in their district to choose their representatives, instead of a few privileged individuals who try and disqualify candidates that have proven to resonate with their community,” Battle said.

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.

Dimas said he didn’t see the court’s decision as a victory, rather it was “the judge’s ruling.”

Battle also faced a challenge to his voter registration on Monday, filed by Dimas over similar concerns regarding Battle’s address. Because state law does not require individuals to be listed on a lease to prove residency, Battle said the letter from the apartment manager represented a private dispute, not a matter that disqualified him from being able to vote.

“These documents do not undermine my registration,” he said Monday. “They only prove that my housing situation is perhaps unconventional, but not illegal.”

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 said he believes he will succeed upon appeal.

Battle earned 42 percent of the vote in the August primary, while Rubio earned 33 percent. The third place candidate, Burbano, earned 25 percent.

After the hearing, Burbano said he was “super happy District 4 will have a candidate that is honest.” Before Tuesday’s hearing, he had scheduled a campaign kickoff event set to take place Wednesday evening.

Rubio declined to comment.

Election day is Nov. 4.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.