Hi Tim - I don't know enough law, let alone FL and IL laws, to make a judgement, so you think this [an excerpt of the FL opinion on the ruling] is wrong based on the FL legal tradition by citing the Illinois case as support?
In addition, an accurate vote count is one of the essential foundations of our
democracy. The words of the Supreme Court of Illinois are particularly apt in this
case:
The purpose of our election laws is to obtain a correct expression of
the intent of the voters. Our courts have repeatedly held that, where the
intention of the voter can be ascertained with reasonable certainty from
his ballot, that intention will be given effect even though the ballot is not
strictly in conformity with the law. . . . The legislature authorized the
use of electronic tabulating equipment to expedite the tabulating
process and to eliminate the possibility of human error in the counting
process, not to create a technical obstruction which defeats the rights
of qualified voters. This court should not, under the appearance of
enforcing the election laws, defeat the very object which those law are
intended to achieve. To invalidate a ballot which clearly reflects the
voter's intent, simply because a machine cannot read it, would
subordinate substance to form and promote the means at the expense
of the end.
The voters here did everything which the Election Code requires
when they punched the appropriate chad with the stylus. These voters
should not be disfranchised where their intent may be ascertained with
reasonable certainty, simply because the chad they punched did not
completely dislodge from the ballot. Such a failure may be attributable
to the fault of the election authorities, for failing to provide properly
perforated paper, or it may be the result of the voter's disability or
inadvertence. Whatever the reason, where the intention of the voter can
be fairly and satisfactorily ascertained, that intention should be given
effect.
Pullen v. Milligan, 561 N.E.2d 585, 611 (Ill. 1990)(citations omitted).
best, Bosco |
