Subject: Re: ACLU sees the light!
From: Rick Hasen
Date: 9/24/2003, 10:00 AM
To: Roy Schotland
CC: "Lowenstein, Daniel" <lowenstein@LAW.UCLA.EDU>, "Election-law Listserver (election-law@majordomo.lls.edu)" <election-law@majordomo.lls.edu>
Reply-to:
rick.hasen@mail.lls.edu

There have been numerous reports that there will be extensive problems on polling day, particularly in places like Los Angeles, which is consolidating from 5,000 precints down to about 1,800.  The issue was raised in Gov. Davis's suit (also challenging punch cards, and the recall itself as a violation of the Guarantee Clause---ha!), in connection with Monterey County in the Section 5 suit (leading Monterey to back off on consolidation in order to gain preclearance), and it came up in the ACLU suit, raised as part of the argument why punch cards would be particularly problematic in this election.  Here's what I wrote on that point in my amicus brief:

No doubt, the time taken to cast a ballot will be higher than normal. It will take voters — particularly those voters with
poor eyesight or difficulty reading — some time to wade through the list of the 135 candidates on the ballot, listed, pursuant to state law, randomly on the ballot (rather than alphabetically or in order of perceived chances of success). In a county such as
Los Angeles, that is consolidating 5,000 precincts down to 1,800, Katherine Q. Seelye, A Notorious Ballot Returns in Recall, N.Y. Times, Aug. 10, 2003, at A23, the time it will take to get one’s chance to vote and to actually cast a ballot will be increased further. Turnout is also predicted to be high. Daren Briscoe, L.A. County Braces for a High Voter Turnout, L.A. Times, Aug. 20, 2003; Public Policy Institute of California, PPIC Statewide Survey, (August 2003) 25, available at
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/S_803MBS.pdf (77 percent of voters say they will vote in recall election).
For these reasons, we can expect long lines at the polling place. Long lines will put pressure on voters to vote faster, which plausibly will increase the rate of errors in casting these punch card ballots.
The bottom line is this: the chances of someone in Los Angeles county (and other counties using punch card ballots) being able to cast a vote that actually counts is going to be much lower than the chances facing someone voting in a county using
more reliable voting equipment, especially in counties using superior technology and not consolidating their precincts.

Rick

Roy Schotland wrote:
May I raise a question about a different kind of timing-- how much time voters will need to get thru the maze and cast votes?  This has been raised before, but as I look at the Alameda County ballot Richard Winger has published (Ballot Access News), I can't help thinking that voting will be slow.
    Was no suit brought attacking the reduction of polling places?  If not, why not?
    Do our Californians on the list expect a smooth or messy Election Day?
    Thanx,  roy

"Lowenstein, Daniel" wrote:

 

        The ACLU says:

        With the election just two weeks away, we do not believe we should prolong the uncertainty any longer. At this point, it is important that the candidates, the campaigns, and the voters know that the election will be held on a date that is certain.
 

        This is very true.  It was equally true last Monday.
            Best,
            Daniel Lowenstein
            UCLA Law School
            405 Hilgard
            Los Angeles, California 90095-1476
            310-825-5148
 


-- 
Professor Rick Hasen
Loyola Law School
919 South Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA  90015-0019
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(213)380-3769 - fax
rick.hasen@lls.edu
http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html
http://electionlaw.blogspot.com