Robert Mallett

In the two days since Mayor Vince Gray’s nominee to head the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics was all but sunk over questions relating to his residency, city officials have announced that they will start reviewing the “legal sufficiency” of all nominees before making them public.

According to Linda Wharton Boyd, Gray’s Director of Communications, the change in the timing of the review, which was being done after nominations went public, would help catch issues such as the residency concerns that could well disqualify Robert Mallett from serving on the city’s election board. After the announcement of Mallett’s nomination on Wednesday, it quickly emerged that he didn’t meet a required three-year consecutive residency standard outlined in a 2009 election reform law, as he had only returned to the city last May after a decade-long stint in New York. Prior to that, he had lived in the District for 17 years.

“By moving that review up on the timeline, we should be able to help catch any legal issues before we go public with a nominee,” Boyd wrote in an email. “Going forward, the [chief of staff] will not sign off on any nominees and will not allow any nominees to be announced until we’ve completed this important process step.”

Boyd said that Mallett’s nomination is still being reviewed, but it’s unclear how it could possibly proceed at this point. Despite originally saying that an exemption could be granted, Councilmember Mary Cheh’s (D-Ward 3) staff later said that it didn’t seem like there was room for one in the 2009 law. Moreover, Councilmember Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), who runs the committee that will hold Mallett’s confirmation hearing, didn’t sound inclined to grant much flexibility in his case.

Two other nominees for the board, Devarieste Curry and Republican Stephen Danzansky, seem safe at this point. The board currently has an empty seat, a retiring member and a member whose term has ended. It needs at least two people to function; it will be vital for the April 3, 2012 D.C. primary.