Opinion

Summit County Democratic Central & Executive Committee v. Blackwell

  • 388 F.3d 547
  • 2004 WL 2434733
Court
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Filed
Nov 2, 2004
Status
Published
Author
Ryan
On the bench
Ryan, Cole, Rogers
Cited by
1 cases
Authority
More cited than 11.8%

The opinion

RYAN, Circuit Judge,

concurring.

I join Judge Rogers in granting the motion to expedite the appeal, consolidating the captioned cases, and staying the orders of the district court in each of the cases, which declared Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 3505.20 unconstitutional and directed that persons appointed as challengers may not be present at the polling places in Ohio for the purpose of challenging the qualifications of voters. I do so, however, solely for the reason that, in my judgment, the plaintiffs have not shown the requisite standing to warrant the injunctive relief granted them by the district courts. By that, I mean that the plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that they have suffered any “injury in fact” that is “actual or immi *552 nent, not conjectural or hypothetical.” Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs. (TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 180 , 120 S.Ct. 693 , 145 L.Ed.2d 610 (2000).

The plaintiffs have pleaded and .the district courts have found a possible chamber of horrors in voting places throughout the state of Ohio based on no evidence whatsoever, save unsubstantiated predictions and speculation. The statute allowing for the presence of challengers at the polling place has been on the books for decades. In neither of the cases before us have the plaintiffs shown that the intimidation, chaos, confusion, “pandemonium,” and inordinate delay they allege will occur tomorrow is “actual or imminent [and] not conjectural or hypothetical.” Id.

The statute authorizing the presence of challengers at the' polling places is presumed to be constitutional. The plaintiffs have offered no evidence that the injury they allege will occur tomorrow, has ever occurred before in an Ohio election or that there has been any threat by the defendants or anyone else that such injury will occur. The “injury” the district courts found that the plaintiffs will suffer tomorrow is wholly speculative, conjectural, and hypothetical.

Quite aside from the presumption of the constitutionality of the statute authorizing the presence of the challengers at the polling places, the people of the State, of Ohio are entitled to anticipate that tomorrow’s election will be conducted in a lawful, orderly, and-suitably expeditious fashion, to preserve every elector’s right to vote. Should the inordinate delay and related horrors the plaintiffs posit become a reality tomorrow, the federal courts will..be open to respond to proof-supported allegations of an unconstitutional burden on Ohio citizens’ right to vote.

I agree that the temporary restraining orders issued by the district courts must be stayed.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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