R.I. State Board of Elections
50 Branch Avenue
Providence, R.I.
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Wilbur W. Jennings, Jr. :
Complaintent :
Vs. :06-
Leon Tejada and Providence Board of Canvassers, :
R.I. State Board of Elections :
Respondents :
__________________________________________ :
Motion for a New Election Based on Failure To Count Provisions Ballots.
Now comes Wilbur Jennings, of 115 Sinclair, Providence, R.I., a voter in Eighth Ward Democratic Primary, and a Candidate in the Election for Eighth Ward Democratic Council person, and moves that the R.I. State Board of Elections (1)void the Democratic Primary for the Eighth Ward Democratic Council Person, and (2) conduct a new Democratic primary election in the Eight Democratic Ward in Providence on the basis there were more votes on provisional ballots whose votes were not counted than the eleven (11) vote difference in the count of the machine and mail ballots. There were no provisional ballots counted, although there are more than 20 provisional ballots without names on the front and with names in the ballot envelopes not counted. The failure to count those provisional ballots due to administrative error require a new Democratic Primary for Eight Ward Council person.
The candidacy of Wilbur Jennings was unconstitutionally denied by the failure to count provision ballots in the possession of election officials who are unwilling to remove the application names on the provisional ballot applications from their envelopes where election officials improperly placed such applications together with the uncounted ballots.
Wilbur W. Jennings, Jr., was denied his Federal and State Constitutional and statutory rights by the improper voting procedures in the Democratic Primary for the Eighth Council person, as protected by the Due Process and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, as secured by the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the State Constitution, Article I, §2, and by Article II, §1, and 2 of the State Constitution. Pursuant to statute and court holdings, administrative errors of election officials, which impact the outcome of his primary election, require a new election. See Griffin v. Burns, 431 F. Supp. 1361. (1977); Griffin v. Burns, 570 F.2d 1065 (1st Cir. 1978); See also Ayers-Schaffner V. DiStefano, 37 F.3d 726 (1st Cir. 1994).
No vote should be lost due to administrative error.
Wilbur W. Jennings, Jr.
By His Attorneys
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Keven A. McKenna, #662
Keven A. McKenna, P.C.
23 Acorn Street
Providence, R.I. 02903
401 273-8200 Tel
401 521-5820
KevenM@McKennalaw.cc
September 25, 2006
Notice
Notice is hereby given that this motion shall be called for a hearing at the R.I. State Board of Elections, on Wednesday, September 27, 2006, at 4:00 p.m. as previously scheduled or as soon thereafter as counsel may be heard.
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Certification
I the undersigned hereby certified that I emailed or mailed or faxed copies of the above motion to Robert Kando, Executive Director, R.I. State Board of Elections, 50 Branch Avenue, Providence, R.I. 02904, (Fax: 222-2324); Robert Marcaccio, Counsel to the R.I. State Board of Elections, 55 Dorrance Street, Providence, R.I. 02903 (Fax (401 861-2922), RAM@om-rilaw.com; and Angel Taveras, Counsel for Candidate Leon Tejada, on Monday, September 25, 2006, addresses unknown.
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