[EL] an example of an election overturned

Sun Dec 13 17:44:29 PST 2020

I have long believed that the only effective deterrent to wrong-doing in the electoral process is forfeiture of office. Fines mean nothing as they are paid with fundraising efforts. Prison rarely happens. 

Larry

From: Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> On Behalf Of Huefner, Steven
Sent: Sunday, 13 December 2020 5:32 PM
To: Rob Richie <rr at fairvote.org>; Josh Blackman <joshblackman at gmail.com>
Cc: J Morgan Kousser <kousser at caltech.edu>; Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
Subject: Re: [EL] an example of an election overturned

Rob is correct that in a judicial protest of the 1997 Miami election, the state trial court did order a new election. But the state appeals court rejected that remedy. Agreeing with the trial court that widespread fraud had infected the absentee voting (which by 2020 standards involved a very tiny proportion of the total vote), the appeals court instead threw out all the absentee ballots and ordered that the results of the already concluded election be determined exclusively on the basis of the “machine vote,” i.e. the in-precinct vote. The result was to award the original election to the candidate who had protested the election. See 707 So. 2d. 1170 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998).

Steve

From: Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu <mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> > On Behalf Of Rob Richie
Sent: Sunday, December 13, 2020 8:03 PM
To: Josh Blackman <joshblackman at gmail.com <mailto:joshblackman at gmail.com> >
Cc: J Morgan Kousser <kousser at caltech.edu <mailto:kousser at caltech.edu> >; Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu <mailto:law-election at uci.edu> >
Subject: Re: [EL] an example of an election overturned

The 1998 mayoral election in Miami was thrown out, and a new election called due to absentee ballot fraud. But it's another case where they didn't just set aside those disputed ballots. See the first part of the story here:

https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/05/us/fraud-ruling-invalidates-miami-mayoral-election.html <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.nytimes.com/1998/03/05/us/fraud-ruling-invalidates-miami-mayoral-election.html__;!!KGKeukY!mkj_JYBQLrT_NrPn7oTzmi20vasqOfa7DVWC67J42pJq-CpRXDXsa1qIIfhP7SSa$> 

Fraud Ruling Invalidates Miami Mayoral Election
By Mireya Navarro, March 5, 1998

Citing ''a pattern of fraudulent, intentional and criminal conduct'' in the casting of absentee ballots, a Florida judge voided Miami's mayoral election today and ordered a new vote to be held in 60 days. The ruling, which overturned first-round balloting on Nov. 4 that led to the runoff election of Mayor Xavier L. Suarez, leaves the city without a mayor until the City Commission appoints one in the interim. Under the city charter, the commission, which is the city's legislative body and which is to meet on Thursday, has 10 days to make such an appointment. The judge, Thomas S. Wilson Jr. of Circuit Court here, ruling in a lawsuit brought by the defeated incumbent, Joe Carollo, said there was no evidence that Mr. Suarez knew about the fraud.....

On Sun, Dec 13, 2020 at 7:34 PM Josh Blackman <joshblackman at gmail.com <mailto:joshblackman at gmail.com> > wrote:

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

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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/ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/peoplepill.com/people/richard-fulton/__;!!KGKeukY!mkj_JYBQLrT_NrPn7oTzmi20vasqOfa7DVWC67J42pJq-CpRXDXsa1qIIQ11fDX4$> .

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