JUAN E. "J.P." PLANAS, CANDIDATE FOR FLORIDA HOUSE, DISTRICT 115 SEAT, APPELLANT,
v.
JUAN CARLOS "J.C." PLANAS AND LESTER SOLA, SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, AND SUE M. COBB, FLORIDA SECRETARY OF STATE, APPELLEES
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Florida appellate court affirmed the disqualification of a candidate for state representative who used a name designation intended to confuse voters by similarity to the incumbent's well-known name, holding that such conduct violates the good faith requirement for candidates.
A candidate who designates a name not previously adopted or used in business to deceive voters by similarity to an incumbent's name violates the good faith requirement and may be disqualified.
[1] A candidate's designation of a name not previously adopted or used in business, intended to deceive voters by similarity to an incumbent's well-known name, violates the g…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Courts cannot ignore fraudulent conduct which is purposefully done to foul the election or corrupt the ballot.”
The court cited this principle to support disqualification of candidates engaging in deceptive conduct designed to confuse voters.
Juan E. 'J.P.' Planas sought to run for Florida House District 115 against the incumbent Juan Carlos 'J.C.' Planas, who was long and widely known by t…
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PER CURIAM.
The judgment below disqualifying appellant as a candidate for state representative is affirmed, although on a different ground than the one stated by the trial court, see Carraway v. Armour & Co., 156 So. 2d 494 (Fla.1963) (applying “tipsy coachman” rule), which relied on the argument rejected in Schurr v. Sanchez-Gronlier, 937 So. 2d 1166, 2006 WL 2521401 (Fla. 3d DCA Case no. 3D06-2125, opinion filed, September 1, 2006).
We hold that, as a matter of law, by designating a name, “J.P.” Planas, which “ha[d] not been adopted by him ... and under which [he] ha[d] not transacted private and official business,” Division of Elections Opinion 86-06 (May 1, 1986)(citing C.J.S. Elections § 161 (now 29 C.J.S. Elections § 273 (2005))), the appellant did not “aet[ ] in [the] good faith and ... honest purpose,” 26 Am.Jur.2d Elections § 293, at 109 (2004), required of all candidates. Allowing him potentially to succeed through a stratagem clearly intended to deceive and confuse voters with the incumbent, long and widely known as “J.C.” Planas, simply cannot be permitted. See In re Protest of Election Returns, 707 So. 2d 1170, 1173 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998) (“Courts cannot ignore fraudulent conduct which is purposefully done to foul the election or corrupt the ballot.” (quoting Bolden v. Potter, 452 So. 2d 564, 567 (Fla.1984))), review denied, 725 So. 2d 1108 (Fla.1998); see also Kobrin v. Leahy, 528 So. 2d 392 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988), review denied, 523 So. 2d 577 (Fla.1988).
Affirmed.*
*
This decision shall take effect and the mandate shall issue immediately without regard to any motion for rehearing.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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Donoho v. Allen-Rosner, 254 So. 3d 472 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018)…or an "attempt to confuse the voters into thinking that he [or she is] someone else." See Levey , 990 So. 2d at 693 ; Jordan , 39 So. 3d at 419. In both Levey and Jordan , we looked to an earlier decision from the Third District, Planas v. Planas , 937 So. 2d 745 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006). There, the court addressed a situation in which candidate Juan E. Planas designated the name "J.P. Planas" to be listed on the ballot as a candidate for a state representative position, challenging the incumbent J.C. Planas. The…
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Jordan v. Robinson, 39 So. 3d 416 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)…that appellant engaged in a “thinly veiled attempt to deceive and confuse the voters of Bro-ward County,” this case does not involve the type of deception that the third district found required disqualification of the candidate in Planas v. Planas, 937 So. 2d 745 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006). There, a candidate adopted a nickname he had never before used in an attempt to deceive the voters into believing he was the widely known incumbent office holder. Id. at 746. The third district affirmed a judgment disqualifying t…
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Mardi Anne Levey v. Dijols, 990 So. 2d 688 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)…a name that she had not used in her private and official business the trial court found that the use of her maiden name was “not permitted” and ordered her removed from the ballot. To reach its conclusion, the trial court relied on Planas v. Planas, 937 So. 2d 745 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006) and McLaughlin v. Cuyahoga Co. Bd. of Elections, 156 Ohio App.3d 98, 804 N.E. 2d 1004 (2004). The trial court ordered Levey stricken from the ballot for the general election and ordered that Dijols be placed on the ballot as the s…1 / 2
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Carraway v. Armour & Co. & the Fla. Indus. Comm'n, 156 So. 2d 494 (Fla. 1963)
- Kobrin v. Leahy, 528 So. 2d 392 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)
- Harrel F. Bolden v. W.L. Potter, 452 So. 2d 564 (Fla. 1984)
- Hall v. State, 707 So. 2d 1170 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)
- In re THE Matter OF THE Protest OF Election Returns & Absentee Ballots IN the November 4, 707 So. 2d 1170 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
- Schurr v. Sanchez-Gronlier, 937 So. 2d 1166 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006)