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Election Law @ Moritz

Election Law @ Moritz


Litigation

Union County Board of Elections v. Brunner

Case Information

Date Filed / Ended: February 5, 2008 / February 29, 2008
State: Ohio
Issue: Voting Technology
Courts that Heard this Case: Union County Common Pleas Court (Case 08 CV 0068); U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio (Case 2:08cv112); Franklin County Common Pleas Court (Case 08-CVH-02-2032); Ohio Supreme Court (Case 2008-0410)

Issue:

Whether the Ohio Secretary of State has the authority to require a county board of elections to use paper ballots in elections and whether such requirement violates the Help America Vote Act.

Status:

Complaint filed 2/5/08. Motion for Removal and Transfer filed 2/5/08. TRO issued 2/6/08. Case transferred to Franklin County Common Pleas Court. Notice of removal filed with U.S. District on 2/6/08. Motion to dissolve TRO filed in U.S. District court on 2/6/08. TRO dissolved by Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Ohio Supreme Court Documents

Franklin County Common Pleas Court Documents

U.S. District Court Documents

Union County Common Pleas Court Documents

Related Links

Top 10 Election Issues

Commentary

Daniel P. Tokaji

A Poster Child for Dysfunctional Districting

Daniel P. Tokaji

 

Fifty years ago next month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Baker v. Carr (1962), inaugurating the “reapportionment revolution” which led to the redrawing of legislative districts across the country. This milestone provides the opportunity to reflect not only on what has been accomplished, but also on what still needs to be done.

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In the News

Daniel P. Tokaji

This week: Bama voting rights case in DC courtroom on Thursday

Professor Daniel Tokaji, a senior fellow at Election Law @ Moritz, was quoted by The Birmingham News in an article about a local county's crusade to end 47 years of federal government oversight of its election returns.

Shelby County is hoping a federal appeals court will agree that the county no longer needs the U.S. Justice Department to approve changes in the ways elections are conducted because the area has progressed from its discriminatory past. It is unclear whether the case would be the vehicle with which justices of the U.S. Supreme Court would review the constitutionality of Section 5.

"I am reasonably confident they're going to take up the question of Section 5 constitutionality within the next few years," Tokaji said. "It could be Shelby County, it could be South Carolina, or some other."

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Info & Analysis

Edward B. Foley

Federal Court Finds Equal Protection Violation

In the Hunter case, involving provisional ballots in a local Ohio election from 2010, the federal district court has ordered that ballots must be counted if they are otherwise eligible if they were miscast because of poll worker error. 

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