FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY and
BROWARD DEMOCRATIC EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE
Petitioners,
JANE CAROL, SUZANNE GUNZBERGER,
and ROBERT WILLIAMS LEE, individually as
Members of the Broward County Canvassing Board,
Respondents.
I, Michael E. Lavelle, state under oath as follows:
1. I have been a practicing attorney and a member in good standing of the Illinois bar since 1970.
2. Between 1973 and 1978, I served as the Chairman and then Vice Chairman of the Illinois State Board of Elections. Between 1978 and 1988, I was a member of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. I have also represented numerous candidates in elections, including Patrick Buchanan in Illinois during the 2000 Presidential election, on ballot issues. By serving in these capacities, I have become generally familiar with the laws governing elections.
3. In 1990, I represented Penny Pullen who was running for the Republican nomination for the office of Representative in the General Assembly for the 55th Representative District of Illinois. After the Illinois State Board of Elections certified her opponent Rosemary Mulligan as the Republican candidate, Ms. Pullen filed a Petition of Election Contest and I represented her in that action. The cite for this case is Pullen v. Mulligan, 138 Ill. 2d 21 (Sup. Ct. Ill. 1990).
4. On behalf of Ms. Pullen, I argued that the trial court erred in refusing to visually inspect the indented or dimpled ballots cast in the primary election that were unable to be counted by the automatic tabulating equipment. The Supreme Court noted that:
"In some instances, the chad did not completely detach from the ballot, but the voter instead punctured a round hole in the chad, partially dislodging the chad or made a strong indentation in the chad.
The testimony at trial suggested that such perforations and indentations may occur if a voter punches the ballot while it is outside the device, punches the ballot which is not properly attached to the four corners of the device, or, because of feebleness, does not apply the stylus to the ballot with sufficient force to dislodge the chad. If sufficient quantities of light cannot pass through these perforations or indentations, the electronic tabulating equipment treats the ballot as blank."5. The Supreme Court of Illinois directed the trial court to make a visual inspection of each of the ballots unable to be counted by the automated tabulating equipment and to determine voter intent on these indented or dimpled ballots. The trial court determined that seven (7) indented ballots or dimpled ballots reflected the voter's intent to vote for Pullen and one (1) indented or dimpled ballots reflected the voter's intent to vote for Mulligan. As a result of the visual inspection of the dimpled ballots, Pullen was named the Republican nominee by a margin of six (6) votes.
6. As the Supreme Court said, "To invalidate a ballot which clearly reflects the voter's intent, simply because a machine cannot read it, would subordinate substance to form and promote the means at the expense of the end."
FURTHER, your Affiant sayeth not.
[signature]
Michael E. Lavelle
STATE OF ILLINOIS
COUNTY OF COOK
The foregoing instrument was acknowledged before me this 22 day of November,
2000, by Michael E. Lavelle who has produced ILLINOIS DRIVERS LICENSE as
identification and who did take an oath.
[signature]
Carolyn J. Mangan [seal]
Notary Public
State of Illinois