McMullin's Utah filing may spark change to state law

(KUTV) Evan McMullin is banking on Utah for his long shot strategy to win the White House; but what he did in filing for office here has raised “confusion” and talk of changing state law.

“As an elected official, when we file to run for office, we not only have to show ID, we have to fill out papers and sign them,” said State Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay. “And we have to hold our hand uppledging under oath that what we wrote was true.”

2News previously reported McMullin listed Nathan Johnson as his running mate, though he had no intention of running with Johnson. Instead, McMullin announced Mindy Finn would be his vice presidential candidate, but Johnson’s name is still on the ballot in Utah and other states.

“I started having concerns when people were contacting me asking who Nathan Johnson was,” said Moss, who has opened a “bill file” at the Utah Capitol, with plans to seek more VP disclosure.

2News has repeatedly requested Johnson’s contact information from McMullin’s campaign, but it has not been provided.

Sunday, the campaign posted a letter on its website, said to be from Johnson, in which he states he’s a “veteran, a father and proud to call Evan McMullin a friend.”

In response to our inquiries about Johnson, the campaign also said, “This is another example of the State Republican Party thinking they own your votes. We won’t be threatened by them. While our campaign has been unconventional, it has been legal and ethical from day one.”

Moss is not a Republican, but a tenured Democrat in the Utah House.

“Yes, we ought to look at this,” said Mark Thomas, Utah Elections Director. “Are we getting all the information we need, and should have from them (candidates)?”

Thomas said the issue is specific to running mates for “unaffiliated” candidates for president. In the case of political parties, the parties attest to the candidates whose names will appear on the ballot.

2News asked if McMullin could have put down ‘Daffy Duck’ as his running mate?

He replied, “There’s really nothing in statute that would allow us to reject that.”

McMullin has said he needed to produce a name for VP when he filed to run, so he could get on the ballot, and that Johnson was a “stand-in” for the role.

Moss insisted running mates should be at the Capitol “signing papers too, divulging who they are.”

“We’ve received quite a few calls from voters who are really confused more than anything, trying to understand what’s going on,” said Thomas. “‘How come we have Nathan Johnson on the ballot, when we recently heard there’s another vice presidential candidate?’”

Though he has actively campaigned with Mindy Finn -- and left no doubt she is his choice as a running mate -- McMullin’s website has urged voters in states where he is a write-in candidate for president to “make sure to write-in ‘Nathan Johnson’ as the VP candidate.”