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Last Updated: May 18, 2012 at 11:18 AM

King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association v. Blackwell

Case Information

Date Filed: August 31, 2006
State: Ohio
Issue: Improper Election Administration
Current Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Case 2:06-cv-00745-ALM-TPK)

Issue:

Whether the rights, privileges, and immunities guaranteed to Plaintiffs by the Civil Rights Act, and the First, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution have been violated by the past and ongoing conduct of Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell in connection with past elections in Ohio.

Status:

Motion for Reconsideration of Opinion and Order filed 12/3/10.  Responses in Opposition to Motion for Reconsideration filed 12/17/10.  Plaintiffs' Replies in Response to Motion for Reconsideration filed 1/3/11.  Notice of Developments in the Northern District of Ohio in Regard to Plaintiff's Proposed Filing filed 1/19/11.  State's Notice Opposing any Discover and Requesting a Status Conference filed 2/8/11.  Plaintiff's Response to Motion Requesting Status Conference filed 2/25/11.  Order Setting Status Conference entered 5/12/11. Plaintiff's Brief on Jurisdisction, Discovery, and Evidence issues filed 7/15/11.  Reply to Plaintiff's Brief on Jurisdisction, Discovery, and Evidence issues filed 8/16/11. Opinion and Order Dismissing Case filed 2/7/12.

Summary

Individual voters and three voters' rights groups sued Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell alleging that Blackwell allocated election resources in a racially discriminatory manner and instituted racially discriminatory procedures for provisional voting, purging voters from the statewide voter registration database, and maintaining the chain of custody of ballots. The complaint alleged that these actions led to the dilution and/or cancellation of plaintiffs' vote due to ballot cancellation and tampering, long poll lines, mechanical difficulties with voting machines, and unclear precinct boundaries. The complaint claims that plaintiffs reasonably fear these problems will recur in the November, 2006, election, and asks the court to appoint a special master to perform Blackwell's election administration duties in that election.

District Court Documents

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Commentary

Provisional Ballots, Consent Decrees, and the Balance Between the Federal and State Governments

Owen Wolfe

A recent mandamus action filed by the Ohio Senate President and House Speaker Pro Tempore to require the Ohio Secretary of State to rescind directives issued in response to a consent decree issued in a federal case dealing with counting provisional ballots raises questions about the mechanics of state election law, the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the relationship between federal and state courts, the law of consent decrees, and more. I have attempted in this article to grapple with these issues in a fair and unbiased manner. Given the complexity of this problem, however, these matters are open to a variety of interpretations and this is just one approach. I hope, however, that this article can provide a useful starting point for a discussion about the future of provisional voting in Ohio and in the nation at large.

This paper is a first look by a student member of the Election Law @ Moritz team and reflects one possible perspective on the issue. Stay tuned, as more analysis from the team will follow as the litigation develops. Owen Wolfe is affiliated with the Ohio Democratic Party and the Obama ’12 campaign, but is not in any way associated with any litigation team working on this case. EL@M has posted the document because we believe it has public value and adds to the discourse on this topic.

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Davidoff said this could create a pattern: "In the meantime, one thing is certain. The clear trend in technology companies is to deny shareholders this choice and a real vote. In other words, expect more Google followers."

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