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Continuing the Use of Punch-Card Ballots for a Special Election

Robert Timothy Reagan, Margaret S. Williams, Marie Leary, Catherine R. Borden, Jessica L. Snowden, Patricia D. Breen, Jason A. Cantone
September 1, 2023

Southwest Voter Registration Education Project v. Shelley (Stephen V. Wilson, C.D. Cal. 2:03-cv-5715)
Two months before a gubernatorial recall election, a federal complaint challenged the use in some jurisdictions of punch-card ballots. The district judge denied immediate relief because the election would be held before a previous consent decree’s decertification of punch-card ballots would go into effect. A three-judge panel of the court of appeals reversed the district court's ruling, but an eleven-judge en banc panel subsequently affirmed the district court's decision. The governor was recalled.
Subject: Voting procedures. Topics: Voting technology; intervention; laches.

One of many Case Studies in Emergency Election Litigation.