Sr. v. Neal - .

• Decision Date: 23 June 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-1404.,09-1404.
• Citation: 614 F.3d 635
• Parties: Arthur PARRA, Sr., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Langdon NEAL, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

614 F.3d 635

Arthur PARRA, Sr., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
Langdon NEAL, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 09-1404.

United States Court of Appeals,Seventh Circuit.

Argued June 5, 2009.
Decided June 23, 2010.
As Revised on Denial of Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc July 19, 2010.

614 F.3d 636

Nicholas C. Kefalos, Adolfo Mondragon (argued), Attorneys, Vernor Moran, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

James M. Scanlon, Attorney (argued), Scanlon & Associates, Chicago, IL, for Defendants-Appellees.

Before MANION, ROVNER, and TINDER, Circuit Judges.

ROVNER, Circuit Judge.

The plaintiffs, all registered voters in the Chicago Municipal Consolidated Primary Election on February 27, 2007, sued the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago and its members under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming that the defendants invalidated their votes in violation of their rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court granted summary judgment for the defendants. We affirm the judgment.

At summary judgment, the plaintiffs filed an opposition to the defendants' motion but did not bother to respond to their statement of material facts. See N.D. Ill. L.R. 56.1(a)(3), (b)(3). The district court thus accepted the defendants' statement of material facts as true. See id. R. 56.1(b)(3)(c); Cracco v. Vitran Exp., Inc., 559 F.3d 625, 632 (7th Cir.2009); Smith v. Lamz, 321 F.3d 680, 683 (7th Cir.2003). We do as well.

In December 2006, Ambrosio Medrano, Daniel Solis, and five others filed nomination papers with the Election Board to be placed on the ballot for the February 27, 2007, primary election as candidates for alderman of the 25th Ward in Chicago. One month later, three voters filed objections to Medrano's nomination papers on the ground that Illinois law barred him from holding office due to a prior felony conviction. See 65 ILCS 5/3.1-10-5(b). The Election Board disagreed with the objections, however, and placed Medrano on the ballot as a candidate for alderman. The Circuit Court of Cook County affirmed the Board's decision, but on February 23, four days before the election, the Supreme Court of Illinois overturned the judgment of the circuit court and ordered the Board to reject Medrano's nomination papers and remove his name from the ballot. The state supreme court further directed that, “if removal of Mr. Medrano's name from the ballot cannot be accomplished prior to election day, the Election Board shall be required to disregard any votes cast for him in determining the winner of the election.” Delgado v. Bd. of Election Comm'rs, 224 Ill.2d 481, 309 Ill.Dec. 820, 865 N.E.2d 183, 189 (2007).

The Election Board determined that it was incapable of reprinting paper ballots and reprogramming touch-screen voting machines to remove Medrano's name from the ballot for the thirty-one precincts in the 25th Ward. The Board decided instead to post signs explaining in three languages that votes for Medrano would not be counted....