The Election Case – Making My Vote Count

Canvassing Boards v. Secretary of State

After the election for President of the United States, the vote count in four largeFlorida counties was very close. To make sure the vote count in these four counties was correct; the canvassing boards (the group of people in each county in charge of counting the votes) recounted the votes to double-check the results. The first count and the second count were both done by machines and the results of the two machine counts were different.

Because of the difference, one of the parties running for the presidency asked to have a small number of ballots counted by hand to compare the results to make sure every vote was counted correctly. Again there was a difference.

Because of the differences in vote count results, the canvassing boards decided that there was a problem with the machine vote counts. So now, under Florida law, the canvassing boards in these counties must recount all the ballots by hand. Each of these four counties had thousands of ballots to count and counting them by hand could take a long time.

Additionally, another Florida law says all voting results must be officially delivered to the Florida Secretary of State by 5 p.m. on the seventh (7th) day after the election. The Secretary of State told the canvassing boards that the hand recount results had to be completed within the seven-day deadline or else they would not be included in the final vote count for Florida to determine who won the election.

Because of the Florida law that required counting all the ballots by hand, the county canvassing boards in these counties felt they could not finish the hand recount within the seven-day deadline. The county canvassing boards filed a lawsuit in the trial court asking for an extension of the seven-day deadline.

TRIAL COURT RULING: The trial court ruled that the Secretary of State had the authority to apply the seven-day deadline. This meant that the Secretary of State could ignore the votes in the counties that did not turn in their results within seven days.

THE APPEAL: The canvassing boards filed an appeal asking the District Court of Appeal to order the Secretary of State to accept the vote counts after the seven-day deadline. The District Court of Appeal, without even hearing the case, immediately sent the case directly to the Florida Supreme Court to resolve because it was so important.

Now, the Florida Supreme Court agrees to hear the case and is ready for oral arguments.

Legal Question

If there is an error in the vote count, which law should the County Canvassing Boards follow? Should they follow the law that says all votes must be counted by hand or should they follow the law that says all election results must be turned in within seven day deadline?

Florida Law Conflict

Law #1:

102.166 (5)(c) If the manual recounts indicate an error in vote tabulation that could affect the outcome of the election, the county canvassing board shall manually recount all ballots.

and

Law #2:

102.111(1) …If the county returns are not received by the Department of State by 5 p.m. of the seventh day following an election, all missing counties shall be ignored, and the results shown by the returns on file shall be certified.

Reference: Florida Constitution

Article I, SECTION I. Political power

All political power is inherent in the people. The enunciation herein of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or impair others retained by the people.

PETITIONER ARGUMENTS

– The Election Case –

MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT. MY NAME IS ______AND I REPRESENT THE PETITIONER, THE COUNTY CANVASSING BOARDS, WHO ARGUE THAT THE SECRETARY OF STATE MUST ACCEPT THE MANUAL RECOUNTS AND WE ASK FOR AN EXTENSION OF THE SEVEN DAY DEADLINE.

Canvassing Board’s Arguments (for extending the deadline to accept manual recounts) include:

  1. The election for President of the United States is so important that the counting must be accurate. It is unfair to ignore people’s votes.
  1. Florida law says that ALL votes MUST be counted.
  1. The Florida Constitution gives the political power to the people of Florida. The “will of the people” and determining the accuracy of the votes is more important than a seven day deadline.
  1. Laws are intended to protect the right of each voter to make their vote count. Requirements - like seven day deadlines – are not more important than this fundamental right to vote.
  1. Manual recounts can provide a better overall counting of votes. We should not rely on machines to provide a vote count. Using humans to recount can correct machine errors.
  1. When the law for the seven day deadline was written, our lawmakers did not realize that hand counting ballots in large counties could take longer than seven days.

Try to think of other arguments in favor of extending the deadline.Write these arguments on the note pad at your seat.

The Election Case

Supreme Court Justices - Questions for the Petitioner
(for extending the deadline)

Directions: Justices ask questions to the attorneys to understand the arguments and to clarify any legal interpretations. Your job is to listen to both sets of arguments, ask questions for understanding, interpret the law presented and make a decision.

Justices may take notes, ask their own questions, use the questions below or reword them. Questions must be relevant to the case and to the attorney’s position that is arguing.

  1. What makes you think you can’t recount all the votes within the seven day deadline?
  1. Is it fair to hand recount the votes in only 4 out of Florida’s 67 counties?
  2. What makes hand recounting more accurate than machine recounting? Can’t humans make mistakes too when recounting votes by hand?
  1. Don’t you think that it is the job of the Secretary of State to make the decision about whether or not to enforce the deadline and not a decision for the court system?
  1. Aren’t deadlines imposed for a reason? Wouldn’t this be changing the rules in the middle of the game?
  1. How do we decide which law is more important – the hand recounting of all the votes or the deadline?
  1. Doesn’t the law say that the Secretary of State’s Office shall ignore any county’s election results if they are not turned by 5 p.m. on the 7th day?

Try to think of other questions for the attorneys who are in favor of extending the deadline.

RESPONDENT ARGUMENTS

– The Election Case –

MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT. MY NAME IS ______AND I REPRESENT THE RESPONDENT, THE SECRETARY OF STATE, WHO ARGUES THAT THE ELECTION RESULTS MUST BE SUBMITTED NO LATER THAN THE SEVENTH DAY AFTER THE ELECTION.

The Secretary of State’s Arguments (against extending the deadline) include:

  1. The election for President of the United States is so important that the rules for elections, as written in Florida Law, must be followed.
  1. Florida law provides a specific time frame of seven days so it should over rule the statute that has no time frame.
  1. The law is very clear regarding the seven day time frame and should not be changed by the Court. Seven days means seven days.
  1. Extending a deadline could make the counting go on for a long time.
  1. Rules cannot be made up - such as extending deadlines or ignoring deadlines - as we go along to fit our needs.
  1. The Florida Constitution gives the Secretary of State the power and authority to apply the seven day deadline. The trial court agreed with this.
  1. To make every vote count, the rules must be followed.
  1. The Canvassing Boards need to find a way to make the counting work within the time frame of seven days.

Try to think of other arguments against extending the deadline. Write these arguments on the note pad at your seat.

The Election Case

Supreme Court Justices - Questions for the Respondent
(against extending the deadline)

Directions: Justices ask questions to the attorneys to understand the arguments and to clarify any legal interpretations. Your job is to listen to both sets of arguments, ask questions for understanding, interpret the law presented and make a decision.

Justices may take notes, ask their own questions, use the questions below or reword them. Questions must be relevant to the case and to the attorney’s position that is arguing.

  1. Isn’t it important to make sure that every vote counts?
  1. Shouldn’t we give the Canvassing Board enough time to count ALL the votes to make sure the outcome is correct?
  1. In your opinion, what should the Canvassing Boards do to make sure all the ballots are counted in the seven day time frame?
  1. Don’t machines make errors? Would a manual recount produce better results?
  1. What harm can be done if we give the canvassing boards more time to count all the votes?
  1. Do you think that in some circumstances deadlines are too strict?
  2. How do we decide which law is more important – the hand recounting of all the votes or the deadline?

Try to think of other questions for the attorneys who are against extending the deadline.

MARSHAL’S SCRIPT

(You must call Court to order in a very loud voice.)

All rise.(Wait until every stands before continuing)

Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye!

The Supreme Court of Florida is now in session.

All who have cause to plea, draw near, give attention, and you shall be heard.

God save these United States, this great State of Florida, and this honorable Court.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Florida Supreme Court.

Please be seated.

– The Election Case –

CHIEF JUSTICE’S SCRIPT

1. The Court is ready to hear the case of the Canvassing Boards v. Secretary of State.

2. Are the attorneys ready to proceed?
(Wait for the attorneys to answer YES.)

3. Attorneys for the Petitioner may begin – 2 minutes each attorney.

(You now become a regular justice asking questions.
After both attorneys have their turn, move on to #4.)

______

4. Attorneys for the Respondent may begin – 2 minutes each attorney.

(You now become a regular justice asking questions again.
After both attorneys have their turn, move on to #.5)

______

5. Attorneys for the Petitioner may present rebuttal – 1 minute total.

(You now become a regular justice asking questions again.
After the petitioner’s attorney present their one minute rebuttal, move on to #6.)

______

6. Attorneys, thank you for your arguments. The Court will announce its decision shortly.

CLERK SCRIPT

Directions: After the arguments, the Justices will vote on the case. Check the corresponding box for each justice’s vote, count the votes for the Petitioner and Respondent and complete the decision form below.

Votes: / For the Petitioner: / For the Respondent:
Chief Justice
Justice 2
Justice 3
Justice 4
Justice 5
Justice 6
Justice 7

Decision Form:

(Directions – Stand up and READ in a very loud voice):

The Florida Supreme Court has reached a decision in this case. By a vote of ______to ______the Court rules in favor of the ______.