On Wednesday, a Third District Court judge ruled that the language in a letter from Mayor Nancy Workman's doctor was too ambiguous to comply with an election law that allows a political party to appoint a new candidate to the ballot to replace one who has withdrawn because of a mental or physical disability. As a result, write-in candidate Ellis Ivory, the Republican Party's choice to replace Workman on Tuesday's ballot, was removed from that ballot.

On Thursday, the Utah Supreme Court reversed that decision after hearing an hour of oral arguments. That puts Ivory's name back on the ballot as the official Republican candidate.

This quick action by the courts settles one issue that has been hanging over the county mayor's race for several weeks. It also should reduce confusion for county residents entering the voting booth. With Ivory's name on the ballot, people who wish to vote for him will not have to deal with a write-in procedure. They can simply mark the ballot as they would for any other candidate.

The direction from the courts also allows the county clerk's office to prepare voting materials for Tuesday's election knowing that Ivory is definitely on the ballot. The decision also means that all of the votes in all races, from U.S. president down, will be easier to tabulate on election night, because the county clerk will not have to deal with large numbers of write-in ballots, which would delay the counting process for all election races.

This last benefit - counting the vote quickly - is of minor importance, compared to guaranteeing the integrity of the election process and making sure that voters are not disenfranchised. But while the outcome of this case clearly benefits Ellis Ivory's election chances, it does not undermine the basic fairness of the election. People who believe otherwise, who are convinced that the Republicans have bent the election law to their advantage, should vote for one of the other candidates.

The Democrats should not complain too loudly, however, because their party employed the same election law to replace the late Dave Watson on the ballot for Salt Lake County commissioner in 1988 after he was charged with driving under the influence. And while it was a legitimate legal dispute to argue whether Workman's doctor's note complied substantially with the election law, the District Attorney's Office, headed by a Democrat, already had concluded that it did.