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Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Indiana Decisions - Even more on District 46 ballot dispute

As I posted yesterday (three entries down):

The Court of Appeals was scheduled to hear arguments on Marion County Judge Gary L. Miller's ruling in the House District 46 ballot dispute at noon today [Monday]. If/when I obtain further information on the argument, I will post it here.
I have just received an email authored by attorney James Bopp, Jr., representing the Republicans/LaPlante in the case, stating that the Court of Appeals denied the requested stay, except for:
paragraph 3, which required the county election boards to send out replacement ballots. This is the paragraph which was misconstrued to void all previously cast absentee ballots, which the judge had clarified as only applying to votes cast in the House District 46 race. The court of appeals also vacated their expedited briefing schedule.
Here is a link to Judge Miller's 13-page ruling, originally referenced in this Oct. 22nd entry. Here again is the conclusion to that order (including para. 3):
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that:

1. Defendant Robertson is hereby mandated and ordered to immediately certify R. Brooks LaPlante as the Republican House District 46 candidate to the Clay, Monroe, Owen, and Vigo County Election Boards without any qualification.

2. The Defendant County Election Boards are hereby mandated to immediately remove Jeff Lee’s name from the ballot, to place R. Brooks LaPlante on the ballot as the Republican candidate for House District 46, to henceforth provide ballots to voters with R. Brooks LaPlante on the ballot as the Republican candidate for House District 46

3. In addition, the Defendant County Election Boards are hereby mandated to immediately send notice and replacement ballots to all absentee voters who have been provided absentee ballots advising them that their previously completed ballots are void and will not be counted.

4. Defendants to pay costs pursuant to Indiana Code § 3-27-1-4.

All of which is ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED on this the 21st of October 2004.

To access earlier entries, type "LaPlante" (no quotes) in the search box in the right column. Check back here later for any additional information I may obtain today.

[More, both published before the Court of Appeals ruling] Here is an opinion piece dated today in the Decatur Daily Democrat, headlined "New lows for Rep. LaPlante, Hoosier House GOP." A quote:

Legislative and Republican Party leaders would best serve all Hoosier voters if they acted in ways that reinforced the integrity of this voting process. Instead, they've engaged in a power play that flies in the face of voters who cast ballots in a process they thought could be relied on.
And here is a report from the Indychannel.com, RTV6, dated yesterday.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 26, 2004 12:53 PM
Posted to Indiana Decisions