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Sunday, October 05, 2008

Ind. Decisions - Remote voting sites at issue in Lake County [Updated]

John Byrne reported Saturday in the Gary Post-Tribune:

HAMMOND -- Lawyers for the major political parties spent Friday battling in state and federal court over a plan by Lake County Democrats to open satellite voting centers in three Democratic strongholds.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen convinced the political antagonists to cease hostilities for the weekend after attorneys for the Democratic Party agreed not to launch early in-person voting Monday morning in Clerk's Offices in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago.

Van Bokkelen scheduled a hearing for Thursday morning on a Republican request for a temporary restraining order to stop the satellite offices from opening.

If Van Bokkelen does not grant the restraining order, the Democrats plan to open the remote voting sites Friday.

The Democratic-controlled Lake County Election Board voted 3-2 on Sept. 23 to allow early voting at the Clerk's Offices.

Both Republicans voted against the move, and party representatives contend it required a unanimous vote. * * *

Democratic lawyer Fred Work characterized the dispute as a federal voting rights issue for residents of Lake County's poorer northern end who may have trouble getting to Crown Point, the only place in the county where early in-person voting now is allowed.

"I think everyone in this room knows what this is about," Work said. "This is designed to allow people in the more affluent southern end of the county to vote absentee."

The issue's import -- to both political parties -- was evidenced by all the out-of-area legal talent in court Friday.

The Democrats countered [Republican attorney David Brooks of Indianapolis] by bringing in attorneys Terrence Truax and Gabriel Fuentes from the downtown Chicago law firm Jenner & Block to represent Lake County Clerk Thomas Philpot during the federal hearing.

The hearing in Van Bokkelen's court came after Lake Superior Court Judge Calvin Hawkins granted the restraining order during a morning hearing in East Chicago.

Hawkins carried through with the hearing even though he knew the case had been assigned to Van Bokkelen in the afternoon and that any ruling he made likely would be voided when the issue reached federal court.

He was right.

"There is no state temporary restraining order," Van Bokkelen declared as the federal proceedings got under way.

But Hawkins could yet play a part in the saga, as Brooks plans to argue the federal court has no jurisdiction to hear a case which he contends hinges entirely on interpretation of state statutes.

For commentary on the dispute, see this item from Progress Illinois.

[Updated 3:13 PM] Here is the federal docket, the notice of removal, complaint.pdf, tro motion. Also, Lake County Judge Hawkin's TRO.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 5, 2008 01:24 PM
Posted to Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions | Indiana Government | Indiana Law