Smith County candidate removed from ballot

SMITH COUNTY– One of the candidates running for County Clerk in the upcoming Smith County Republican Party Primary election has been removed from the ballot after she lacked the required signatures needed to be eligible.

According to our news partner KETK, on Dec. 8, Terry Morrow filed her application and petitions to challenge the incumbent Karen Philips for the county clerk spot. In lieu of paying the $750 filing fee, Morrow obtained 500 signatures and her application was accepted on Dec. 11. Phillips also submitted her application for re-election on Nov. 8, which was the first day of candidate filing. She also received the 500 signatures required to appear on the ballot and her application was approved on Nov. 14.

While the county chair is required to verify the total number of signatures, they are not required to confirm the validity of each signature unless challenged by an opponent.

Due to Morrow’s decision to obtain signatures, Phillips informed David Stein, the Chairman of the Smith County Republican Party, that she would challenge the validity of the signatures Morrow had obtained.

During the review of Morrow’s signatures, it was revealed that there were several significant errors, including missing printed names, incorrect dates of birth and a missing or incomplete affidavit of circulator statement of intent.

Because of the errors discovered, 139 signatures were declared invalid, leaving Morrow short of the required 500 to run. Morrow was later declared ineligible and she was not certified to be on the ballot.

“The job of the Party Chairman is to conduct this process under the requirements of
the law and while difficult for both candidates, I appreciate their professionalism
through this process,” Stein said.