Judge Ezra orders the new vote
after declaring the ’96 vote flawed

By Linda Hosek
Star-Bulletin

Saying the 1996 vote for a constitutional convention was fundamentally flawed, U.S. District Judge David Ezra this morning ordered a new election to occur within 60 days.

Ezra said state voters could not have foreseen that blank votes would have been counted as "no" votes.

He said that although the state Supreme Court ruled in March that blank votes had to register as "no" votes, the practice for 30 years was not to count blank ballots for any purpose.

Ezra said voters were provided with incorrect information by election officials and that even the chief elections officer acknowledged that he could have not known what his vote could have meant before the election.

"This election amounted to one that was fundamentally flawed and unfair under the federal Constitution," he said. "Voters were deprived of an opportunity to understand what their votes would mean."

Ezra rejected certifying the election as passed, saying it would impose the same unfairness and would violate the state Supreme Court's interpretation of the state Constitution.

"It is now the law of the state and must be respected," he said. "It is also imminently correct and true."

Deputy Attorney General John Dellera denied comment, saying he would have to read the written opinion.

The state had argued that the Con Con election was a state issue and that the federal Constitution doesn't provide remedies.

Mark Bennett, an attorney for Let the People Decide, Citizens for a Constitutional Convention and several individuals, said he was pleased.

He also said he believed Ezra's ruling could survive an appeal, saying, "The judge was so clearly correct that there was a federal constitutional violation."

Estimates for a new election range from $6 million to $12 million.