Erwin Chemerinsky - An Act of Courage

( I disagree with Janet Clayton and the LA Times board
that this delay becomes an intolerable limbo for CA.
I agree with Erwin.) Justice delayed is not justice denied.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-erwin16sep16,1,4058975.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

An Act of Courage
9th Circuit ruling guards the precious right of voter equality

By Erwin Chemerinsky
Erwin Chemerinsky, USC professor of law and political science, was co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the punch-card voting case.

September 16, 2003

No principles in a democracy are more precious than the right to vote and the right to have every vote counted equally. In December 2000, in Bush vs. Gore, the United States Supreme Court stopped the recounting of votes in Florida in the presidential election rather than risk the mere chance that similar ballots would be treated differently.

-snip-

The 9th Circuit simply held that the election could not occur until constitutionally adequate voting machines were in place. The fact that this may be disruptive does not justify going forward with an election that violates the basic guarantee of equal protection of the laws. The alternative, disenfranchising voters, is far worse than delaying the election until new voting machines are in place throughout the state. For more than 90 years after the 14th Amendment was added to the Constitution, the Supreme Court rarely used its equal protection clause. But since the 1950s, it has been put to use to overcome segregation and to assure voting rights.

In 1964, the Supreme Court declared that "he right to vote freely for the candidate of one's choice is of the essence of a democratic society, and any restriction on that right strikes at the heart of representative government." On Monday, the 9th Circuit, in an act of courage, followed that lead and the law, properly ordering a delay in the election until voting machines are in place that will equally count every ballot.

Can I just say that Natalie Morales on MessyNBC
embellishes what is already an interesting and bizarre
story....just stick to the facts Natalie.