Ortiz v. Thompson, 6187
Decision Date | 31 July 1980 |
Docket Number | No. 6187,6187 |
Citation | 604 S.W.2d 443 |
Parties | Rudy C. ORTIZ, Appellant, v. Bob THOMPSON, Appellee. |
Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
This is an election contest case. Appellant-Contestant Rudy C. Ortiz and Appellee-Contestee Bob Thompson were the only two candidates for the position of Councilperson, Place 6, for the City of San Antonio in a municipal election held on Saturday, April 7, 1979. Thompson was certified as the winner of that election, the return thereof showing 4,186 votes cast for Thompson and 4,102 votes cast for Ortiz. Ortiz brought this suit contesting the election, alleging as grounds therefor: (1) that prior to the election "the City of San Antonio, Texas, designated new polling places", at least one of which was located in District 6, that such changes "were required to be precleared by the Department of Justice", that the city failed to obtain such preclearance, and that the changes therefore violated the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973 et seq.; (2) that "scores of voters" were denied the right to vote because they were "erroneously registered to precincts in which they did not reside"; (3) that during absentee voting, Thompson's campaign workers engaged in "fraudulent and unlawful conspiratorial actions" which "suppressed the will of the legal voters" and violated V.A.T.S. Election Code Art. 5.05 and other laws, to wit: "falsely impersonated officials and picked up completed ballots and caused the ballots not to be returned to the proper officials by suppressing same and/or destroying them; gave false information and directions regarding the procedures to vote; requested ballots for prospective electors who in fact had not requested same; fraudulently suggested to qualified voters that by filling in some ballots and other forms that such persons were in fact voting, thereby causing such voters not to cast official ballots; gave qualified voters who had not applied or received a ballot by mail, a ballot to be cast in their homes; and (4) that "several qualified electors were denied their rights to vote . . . due to the severe mechanical problems occurring shortly after the polls opened."
Trial was to the court without a jury, after which the trial court rendered judgment in favor of the Contestee Thompson. Said court made Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, which included, inter alia, the following:
We affirm the trial court's judgment.
Appellant Ortiz brings this appeal on seven points of error but the major thrust of his appeal concerns the Federal Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973 et seq., and its relationship to election contests in our Texas state courts. As stated above, Ortiz's pleadings alleged that the election in question should be set aside and a new election ordered because the City of San Antonio violated the Voting Rights Act. 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973c provides that a state or political subdivision covered by the Act which seeks to administer a change in voting standards or procedure different from those in effect on November 1, 1964, must first submit the proposed change to the Attorney General of the United States or obtain a declaratory judgment from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia that the change "does not have the purpose and will not have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color. . . ." Ortiz alleged that such preclearance had not been obtained by the City before this election. When Ortiz attempted to introduce evidence in support of this allegation, the trial court ruled the evidence inadmissible and basically held: (1) that state courts have no jurisdiction to enforce the Federal Voting Rights Act and (2) that violations of the Act are not grounds for contesting an election under our state law in our state courts. Ortiz argues that both of these conclusions are erroneous.
Ortiz relied specifically on 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973c as the basis for his alleged violations of the Voting Rights Act. We note that Sec. 1973c of said Act contains the following language:
"Any action under this section shall be heard and determined by a court of three judges in accordance with the provisions of section 2284 of Title 28 and any appeal shall lie to the (U.S.) Supreme Court."
The express language of Sec. 1973c jurisdiction in voting rights cases is limited to Federal District Courts, and state courts have no power to adjudicate such actions.
The United States Supreme Court, in Allen v. Board of Elections, 393 U.S. 544, 89 S.Ct. 817, 22 L.Ed. 201 (1969), held that "the disputes involving the coverage of Sec. 5 be determined by a district court of three judges" 393 U.S. at 563, 89 S.Ct. at 830. Following Allen, lower courts have held that a single Federal judge cannot adjudicate issues arising under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Sumter County Democratic Executive Committee v. Dearman, 514 F.2d 1168, 1170 (5th Cir. 1975). It would seem reasonable to conclude that a single state judge would also be powerless to adjudicate issues under the Act, and at least one Federal court has so held. Beatty v. Esposito, 411 F.Supp. 107 (E.D.N.Y.1976). We recognize that in Allen the Supreme Court did not expressly state that the term "district court" referred only to a ...
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...20 At least one state court has ruled that it lacks jurisdiction over claims arising under the Voting Rights Act. Ortiz v. Thompson, 604 S.W.2d 443 (Tex.Civ.App.1980). See also Beatty v. Esposito, 411 F.Supp. 107 (EDNY 1976) (finding that state court lacked jurisdiction to decide § 5 issue,......
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