Friday, December 8, 2000

Three Florida voters who supported George W. Bush today filed an appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court to expeditiously take up their case and enjoin Florida officials from using the results of manual recounts that could give the Presidency to Vice President Gore.

The three voters from Brevard County, Florida, are represented by the James Madison Center for Free Speech. In the case (Touchston v. McDermott), the voters argue that the Florida law that allows selective manual recounts violates their federal constitutional rights to equal protection of the law and due process of law.

Today's appeal argues that "there is an imminent threat" that the Florida Supreme Court will order the results of manual recounts to be added to the state's certified totals. As a result, "the legitimacy of the Presidential election -- and perhaps the choice of the President -- are jeopardized by the unconstitutional [manual recount] statute," the voters state.

On Wednesday, December 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta denied the voters' request for an injunction. By a vote of 8-4, the court said that the voters had not demonstrated that they had suffered "irreparable harm," a requirement for an injunction, because George W. Bush had already been certified as the winner in Florida. (The appellate court also denied an injunction in a similar case brought by Governor Bush, Siegel v. LePore.)

Explaining today's request that the U.S. Supreme Court review the matter, James Madison Center General Counsel James Bopp, Jr., said, "The U.S. Supreme Court ought to accept this appeal, because there is immediate danger that the election results may be reversed on the basis of a state law that unconstitutionally enlarges the votes in some counties and thereby harms voters in other counties."

The James Madison Center for Free Speech is a public interest organization that defends the rights of citizens to participate in our democracy. Mr. Bopp has participated in more than 60 election-related cases, including recounts, redistricting, and constitutional challenges to state and federal election laws. The Madison Center's brief can be viewed on the Center's website, www.jamesmadisoncenter.org.