Court told votes don't have to be counted, certified

Miriam Raftery
Published: Monday August 28, 2006

San Diego, CA -- A motion to dismiss a congressional election challenge in California took on national implications last week when defense attorneys argued that no court has jurisdiction to intervene in an election after Congress has sworn in a member, RAW STORY has learned.

Superior Court Judge Yuri Hofmann heard arguments Friday on a motion to dismiss the election challenge lawsuit filed by voters seeking a full hand recount in California’s 50th Congressional district.

Paul Lehto, a nationally prominent election law attorney representing two voters who filed the suit, called the motion an “invitation to the Court to ratify a seizure of power” that amounts to “invading the sovereignty of a state.”

Republican Brian Bilbray was sworn into Congress just seven days after a special election against Democrat Francine Busby – before all ballots were counted and a full 16 days before the election was certified. On Friday, attorneys David King and Jim Chapin (representing Bilbray and San Diego Registrar of Voters Mikel Haas) argued that a lawsuit brought by two voters should be dismissed because only Congress has the power to seat or unseat its members. (See previous RAW STORY coverage of this case.)

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