US House of Representative Robert Wexler has petitioned the US Supreme Court to review his case seeking to prove his claim that voters who cast intangible electronic ballots are being denied the protections afforded voters who mark paper ballots that can be manually recounted.
Ironically, the case hinges on the infamous Bush v. Gore decision in which the Supremes effectively handed George W. Bush his seat in power.
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Wexler points to Bush vs. Gore, in which the Supreme Court determined that inconsistent recount standards among Florida's 67 counties violated the equal-protection rights of voters. The state's different procedures for recounting electronic and paper ballots create a similar violation, Wexler contends.
Federal courts have disagreed.
U.S. District Judge James Cohn rejected Wexler's arguments following a three-day trial in 2004. After Wexler appealed, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta upheld Cohn's ruling June 20.
Aside from contending the lower courts erred, Wexler says the 11th Circuit ruling conflicts with an April ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an Ohio voting case that also centered on equal-protection issues.
"We have two federal appellate courts that disagree," Wexler attorney Jeffrey Liggio says. "I think the constitutional stage is set for the U.S. Supreme Court."