Jore did no wrong; so why should he pay?

Sometimes the legal system produces results that are so wrong-headed and unjust that they demand attention and correction.

That's the case with the legal bill that's been thrust upon Rick Jore, a Constitution Party candidate who dared to run for the state Legislature in Lake County last year.

That political race got a lot of attention, of course, because it ended up in court and it ended up deciding the balance of power in the Montana House of Representatives.

What didn't get a lot of attention were the eye-popping legal bills that Jore received when the case was decided.

First off, the Lake County Sheriff confiscated $543 from Jore's bank account in Ronan. The bank tapped the last $25 in the account as a fee for the transaction. Then on Aug. 25, District Judge Kim Christopher issued an order directing the sheriff to collect an additional $15,663 to cover various legal bills associated with the 2004 House District 12 election.

One would think that Jore tried to steal the election, through bribery or some other sordid illegal activity, and that he was being forced to pay up for his crime. But that's not the case. Jore didn't file any lawsuits. He didn't cheat. He didn't hurt anybody. He quite simply did nothing other than run a campaign for public office.

Here's how it happened: After the November election, it appeared that Jore had tied dead even with Democrat Jeanne Windham. But Windham, with the Democratic Party behind her, filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of several ballots that had been twice marked, for Jore and a third candidate in the race.

Judge Christopher ruled that county election officials had the authority to determine the validity of ballots cast in the election. The election thus appeared to be a tie between Jore and Windham, and that gave outgoing Gov. Judy Martz the prerogative to appoint the winner. She picked Jore.

But the matter was not settled. A voter in the district, Anita Big Spring, filed an appeal on Windham's behalf with the Montana Supreme Court, which ruled the questionable ballots were invalid. The House seat shifted to Windham, the House makeup was split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, and Jore was left with the legal bill, even though he was the innocent victim in all this.

Any competent attorney could make an argument that it was the responsibility of county election workers to have sound judgment and immediately disqualify ambiguously marked ballots rather than trying to divine the intent of voters who cast questionable ballots. That was the ultimate direction from the Supreme Court, after all.

But the court was not asked to parcel out responsibility for the mistake, so it didn't. But we will.

People of all political stripes should be outraged, and demand that Lake County foot the bill, regardless of any feeble, hand-wringing excuses about everlasting struggles with tight budgets. It was the county that held the election that was found to be faulty. Why it was faulty doesn't really matter anymore. What matters is the obvious: It wasn't Jore's fault.

It would also be worthwhile for state lawmakers to consider legislative remedies to prevent anything like this from happening again. The legal bills leveled at Jore have been misdirected, with the potential of discouraging Montanans from seeking public office in the future. It's hard enough to get citizens involved; the threat of a foreclosure sale on your house if you lose an election won't help turn that around.