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from Ballot Access News
7th Circuit Affirms Importance of All Valid Votes, Whether They Affect Who Wins or Not
January 7th, 2009
On October 8, the 7th circuit handed down a decision in Kozuszek v Brewer, 546 F 3d 485. The issue was whether two particular voters should have been allowed to vote, back in November 2003. The U.S. District Court had ruled against the two voters, and had also added that “there is no evidence that any elected position in the election was decided by two or less votes”, implying that even if the two voters had been unjustly prevented from voting, so what?
The 7th circuit denied relief to the two voters, but it explicitly disagreed with the U.S. District Court’s philosophy. The 7th circuit wrote, “An official who willfully interferes with an individual’s ability to express his or her political preferences at the ballot box violates the Constitution.” This language will be helpful if and when any lawsuits are filed against jurisdictions that willfully refused to count valid write-in votes for president in last November’s election. Such lawsuits are likely to be filed against both the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania.
This decision should have a very positive affect on third-party, independent, and write-in voters, who want to make sure that their votes are counted and recorded.
Filed under: 3rd party, Ballot issues, election, Election 2008, elections, News, Political Websites, progressive politics, third party, US Politics, write-in vote
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