Urgent Request for Judicial Review: Election Cancellation and Ballot Nullification

[argonian 14254]

REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW

SAMUEL T. SAVOYARD
As Represented by HIMSELF

 

DESIRES TO SEE THE LEGAL CONTEXT OF THE FOLLOWING REVIEWED

The Ministry of Civil Affairs' early closure of polling stations, destruction of ballots, and cancelling and rescheduling of the election.

 

ON THE BASIS OF THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPLE(S), DOCTRINE(S), EDICT(S) OR ARTICLES OF LAW:

 

The Council of State Edict of Establishment, as reinforced and clarified by the Pompourelian Reforms, grants the Secretary of Civil Affairs broad powers to administer elections. As per the ORC 601.094, the Secretary has "the duty to administer, freely, openly and fairly, all censuses, elections and voter registration on behalf of the Crown". What constitutes the fair administration of an election is not so legally clear however and, while the Secretary's powers in this regard are not clearly limited, the ORC 301.041 states that all citizens maintain the right to suffrage in national elections.

 

This “right to suffrage” and “right to vote” heavily implies that there is a broader legal argument for how elections should be managed and run. It is the opinion of myself, as represented by myself, that the act of throwing out legally cast ballots in an election undermines these rights. If a citizen’s vote may be discarded by the Secretary at any time for any reason, in particular a vote that the Secretary has maintained as valid, this would infringe upon that right to suffrage.

 

It is the belief of myself, as represented by myself, that the “right to suffrage” does not merely endow the citizen a right to vote, but for their vote to be counted. It is my client's belief that it places an undue burden on a citizen’s right to have their vote actually counted if they must be forced to vote repeatedly at the whim of the Secretary, unlimited by the law in his supposed capability to scrap all ballots, for their vote to be counted, even if their vote was maintained as valid by the Secretary himself.

It is the opinion of myself, as represented by myself, that the Secretary's unprecedented move to cancel the election and indiscriminately throw out all the ballots that had to that point been cast unduly affected the right to suffrage of the citizens who had already voted, and compromised the fairness and integrity of the election. Not only has such an action no precedent in any past election, but it poses serious questions as to the fair administration of elections. If the Secretary can unilaterally cancel the election when he believes there is fraud, what's to stop him from cancelling the election at any time or for any reason he sees fit? Who is to hold him accountable to ensure that his reasons given for stopping the vote were truthful and lawful? It is the opinion of myself, as represented by myself, that this capability was not granted to the Secretary under the law, that the usage thereof constitutes an unfair and unfree administration of elections, contrary to the law's prescription, and that the Secretary being able to unilaterally cancel elections and throw out ballots violates the citizenry's right to suffrage, as their votes may be nullified at any time for any reason without due process.

 

It is the conclusion of myself that the action of the Secretary is an overreach of a power that is not lawfully bestowed upon him, and which constitutes an unfair and therefore unlawful administration of elections. Furthermore, that the precedent of scrapping an election’s preliminary results undermines the process and the integrity of our legally entrenched system. Even where there has been alleged fraud, this does not grant the Secretary powers to throw out legal ballots and indeed we see no precedent for this prior to the current election.

 

The party of Samuel T. Savoyard seeks to have the nullified ballots restored and the cancelled election resumed under the same conditions it was originally run under. Further, my client requests an injunction be made against the legal certification of the results of the election until this issue is resolved.

 

YOURS HUMBLY,
Samuel T. Savoyard
 

 

[Draeris 3124]

"Stop the steal!" Adrian would exclaim.