the 2000 Presidential Election. Despite Plaintiffs’ assertions, Bush does not stand
for the proposition that every rule or system must ensure uniform treatment. In
fact, the Supreme Court explicitly said so, explaining: “[t]he question before the
Court is not whether local entities, in the exercise of their expertise, may develop
different systems for implementing elections.”135 Instead, the Court explained that
its holding concerned a “situation where a state court with the power to assure
uniformity has ordered a statewide recount with minimal procedural
safeguards.”136 Where a state court has ordered such a remedy, the Supreme Court
held that “there must be at least some assurance that the rudimentary requirements
of equal treatment and fundamental fairness are satisfied.”137 In other words, the
lack of guidance from a court constituted an equal-protection violation.
In the instant matter, Plaintiffs are not challenging any court action as a
violation of equal protection, and they do not allege that Secretary Boockvar’s
guidance differed from county to county, or that Secretary Boockvar told some
counties to cure ballots and others not to. That some counties may have chosen to
implement the guidance (or not), or to implement it differently, does not constitute
an equal-protection violation. “[M]any courts that have recognized that counties
may, consistent with equal protection, employ entirely different election
135
136
137
Bush, 531 U.S. at 109 (emphasis added).
Id.
Id.
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