[EL] an example of an election overturned

[larrylevine at earthlink.net]

In Brooklyn NY in June 1972 former Rep. Allard Lowenstein opposed Rep. John Rooney in a Democratic Primary Election. Rooney won a close election but the Lowenstein campaign sued. Among the allegations were that elections officials failed to provide the required number of voting machines in many precincts that were favorable to Lowenstein, causing backups that discouraged people from waiting to vote, and that many polling places in areas favorable to Lowenstein didn’t open until many hours late. There were three positions on the Board of Elections at the time. One was vacant because of the death of a commissioner. The other two commissioners had actively campaigned for Rooney. The court ruled there had been “substantial mischief” in the conduct of the election. The result was set aside and a new election was ordered. I was brought in from Los Angeles as one of the consultants for the Lowenstein campaign. I returned home after the Primary, was not around for the court hearing and did not return to Brooklyn for the re-held election in mid-August. Rooney won the rerun easily when Lowenstein could not raise the necessary funds to be competitive. 

Larry Levine

 

From: Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> On Behalf Of Josh Blackman
Sent: Sunday, 13 December 2020 4:34 PM
To: J Morgan Kousser <kousser at caltech.edu>
Cc: Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
Subject: Re: [EL] an example of an election overturned

 

Thank you for that great example. Was the lawsuit in state court, or federal court?

 

My hypothetical was a bit different. The federal court does not order a do-over of the election. The court simply invalidates the disputed ballots (assuming they could be segregated). Could a federal court even order this sort of remedy? (The sort of relief Trump requested).


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Josh Blackman

Unprecedented: The Constitutional Challenge to Obamacare <https://amzn.to/2JDPbUL> 

Unraveled: Obamacare, Religious Liberty,  <https://amzn.to/3l9QcC4> & Executive Power

 <https://amzn.to/34ASPou> An Introduction to Constitutional Law: 100 Supreme Court Cases Everyone Should Know

 

 

On Sun, Dec 13, 2020 at 6:29 PM J Morgan Kousser <kousser at caltech.edu <mailto:kousser at caltech.edu> > wrote:

  In Nashville in 1962, State Senator Richard Fulton challenged incumbent Congressman J. Carlton Loser (pronounced LOHser) in the Democratic primary, winning on election day, but losing when a suspicious number of absentee ballots were counted from a machine-controlled ward run by Gene ("Little Evil") Jacobs.  An investigation by the Nashville Tennessean newspaper found that Jacobs had stuffed the ballot box in support of Loser, and a subsequent lawsuit overturned the election results and ordered a rerun of the election, which Fulton won handily, boosting a long career in which Fulton was twice elected mayor.  He was one of two congressmen from Middle Tennessee to support the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a courageous act that opponents unsuccessfully sought to use against him in subsequent political campaigns.  Without the local political celebrity that overcoming fraud lent to his name, he might have become a country songwriter.  See, e.g., https://peoplepill.com/people/richard-fulton/.

-- 
Prof. of History and Social Science, Emeritus
1818 Craig Ave.
Altadena, CA 91001-3430

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