Partido Nuevo Progresista v. Perez
Decision Date | 31 December 1980 |
Docket Number | No. 80-8094,80-8094 |
Citation | 639 F.2d 825 |
Parties | PARTIDO NUEVO PROGRESISTA et al., Plaintiffs, Appellees, v. Gerineldo BARRETO PEREZ, Administrator, Puerto Rico Elections Commission, Defendant, Appellee, Partido Popular Democratico, Intervenor, Appellant. Misc. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit |
Lino J. Saldana, San Juan, P.R., with whom Rafael Escalera Rodriguez, Rio Piedras, P.R., was on brief for appellant.
Hector M. Laffite, San Juan, P.R., for Partido Nuevo Progresista, appellee.
Miguel A. Pagan, San Juan, P.R., for Gerineldo Barreto Perez, Administrator, etc., appellee.
Before CAMPBELL, BOWNES and BREYER, Circuit Judges.
Hearing has been held upon the motion of intervenor-appellant, Partido Popular Democratico, for a stay of, and expedited appeal from, the district court's order in litigation involving a constitutional challenge to the tallying of ballots cast for local offices in the Puerto Rico general election of November 4, 1980.
The plaintiff-appellee 1 is the Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP) which alleges that counting the ballots will tip the balance against its candidates in one or more closely contested races. The PNP maintains that the ballots were improperly marked and therefore invalid under the literal terms of Article 1.033(b) of the Electoral Law of Puerto Rico, 16 L.P.R.A. § 3033(b), which provides in relevant part:
(Emphasis added.)
In the present case, the disputed ballots contained marks outside the designated spaces and squares. Most such marks were evidently placed directly above the list of candidates of the Partido Popular Democratico, the only major party with space above its ballot heading for such mismarks.
The Administrator of the Election Commission ruled the ballots invalid, a decision upheld on appeal by the Commonwealth's Electoral Review Board. The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico reversed. Popular Democratic Party v. State Elections Commission, No. 0-80-646, 108 D.P.R. (Dec. 2, 1980). That court construed 16 L.P.R.A. § 3033(b), despite its literal prohibition of the tallying of mismarked ballots, to permit such tallying where the intent of the voter was clear.
Such a construction of local law by the highest court of the Commonwealth might seem to have ended the matter. The PNP, however, subsequently brought this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming constitutional violations in several particulars: 2
The court...
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