Month: September 2014

Supreme Court sends Democratic ballot replacement case to lower court

The Kansas Supreme Court today sent to a lower court a lawsuit that tries to force Democrats to name a ballot replacement for Chad Taylor in the U.S. Senate race.

The Supreme Court ordered the case now will go to the Shawnee County District Court.

A Kansas City, Kan., Democrat, David Orel, had filed suit to force Democrats to put a name on the ballot after Taylor’s withdrawal from the race. Orel’s son works for Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s campaign, according to media sources.

Orel’s suit had asked the Supreme Court to make the ruling as a deadline was nearing on sending ballots out to overseas voters, including members of the military.

The Supreme Court said while it heard the Taylor case, there was a difference in the two cases.

“Transfer is appropriate because Orel’s pleadings do not contain sworn evidence necessary to enable this court to make any of a myriad of legal determinations, including, but not limited to, ripeness, the nature of the parties, the existence of standing, and the propriety or adequacy of the mandamus relief requested. By contrast, in Taylor v. Kobach, Case No. 112, 431, uncontroverted written communications were attached as exhibits to a sworn affidavit submitted with a pleading. Two exhibits enabled our statutory interpretation, a purely legal determination.”

The timelines mentioned in this decision were that Orel’s petition stated the secretary of state’s office had originally planned to send out the overseas ballots on Sept. 20, but on Sept. 22 an amended petition stated the deadline had been extended.

There was no speculation in the court opinion on whether it is already too late to add a name to the ballot.

If it is too late, the main contest in the U.S. Senate race is expected to be between incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican, vs. Greg Orman, an independent. Libertarian candidate Randall Batson also is on the ballot. Some political observers believe that if Taylor had stayed in the race, a three-way split of the vote would have been to Roberts’ advantage.

The Orel petition for a writ of mandamus is case No. 112, 487.

The decision is online at http://www.kscourts.org/Cases-and-Opinions/opinions/SupCt/2014/20140923/112487.pdf

Rematch with Real Esteli FC set for tonight at Sporting Park

Sporting Kansas City plays host to Real Esteli FC on Tuesday night at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan., as the reigning MLS Cup champion continues its run in the 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League tournament.

A limited number of tickets may be available for the match and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or the Sporting Park box offices on game day.

The match is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. and will be televised on FOX Sports 1 (English) and Univision Deportes Network (Spanish).

Sporting KC was drawn into Group 2 and is the only MLS team to make back-to-back appearances in the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 editions of the tournament. Sporting KC and Real Esteli are joined by Costa Rican side Deportivo Saprissa.

Saprissa (1-1-1, 4 pts) and Sporting KC (1-0-1, 4 pts) sit atop Group 2 with four points each, although Sporting Kansas City holds the head-to-head tie breaker after defeating Saprissa 3-1 at Sporting Park on Thursday.

Sporting KC opened this year’s CCL campaign on the road, securing a 1-1 result at Estadio Independencia last month.
Real Esteli opened the scoring in the sixth minute in Nicaragua but Sporting KC winger Antonio Dovale equalized 10 minutes later on a perfectly placed free kick.
Dovale went on to notch two more goals in Sporting KC’s 3-1 victory at Sporting Park last week and his three CCL goals moves him into a tie with Roy Lassiter for second place on the club’s all-time chart for most goals scored in international competitive matches. Dovale is now one goal shy of tying the club’s all-time record currently held by Chris Brown.

Real Esteli has never won in the CCL (0-10-5), but 12 of its 15 games all-time have been decided by one goal or less. The Nicaraguan champions have won seven consecutive Primera Division titles and are off to a perfect start in the Nicaraguan Primera Division’s 2014 Apertura season (4-0-0).

The CONCACAF Champions League features the top club teams from across North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The winner of the tournament earns a berth in the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup. The tournament started in 1962 and was originally called the CONCACAF Champions Cup before switching to the current format in 2008.

Fans are encouraged to arrive early on Tuesday as the first 10,000 supporters will receive a commemorative Dom Dwyer poster courtesy of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City. In-game updates will be available online at SportingKC.com/GameOn or by following @SKCGameday on Twitter.
– Story from Sporting KC