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A US District judge dismissed a case that attempted to block certain counties in Colorado from printing ballots with identifying bar-codes. (Here's a link to the source article in the Denver Post.)
After the dismissal, in what has to be a nominee for Most Interesting Unsupported Quote of the Year, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler said, "The fact is, with our new rules and guidelines, voter secrecy is better protected now than ever before." On the other hand, the election-transparency group that brought the action was shocked "to hear the court say that it is all right for the government and all of the election workers in Boulder County to have access to how we vote."
The judge said that plaintiffs had not shown any actual or potential injury and asserted that even if a ballot could be traced to a specific individual, it doesn't show that a person's voting rights were violated, as the Constitution sets forth no "fundamental right" to a secret ballot.
Golly. No talk of penumbras, no emanations, no nothing. All those must be above the judge's pay grade.
After the dismissal, in what has to be a nominee for Most Interesting Unsupported Quote of the Year, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler said, "The fact is, with our new rules and guidelines, voter secrecy is better protected now than ever before." On the other hand, the election-transparency group that brought the action was shocked "to hear the court say that it is all right for the government and all of the election workers in Boulder County to have access to how we vote."
The judge said that plaintiffs had not shown any actual or potential injury and asserted that even if a ballot could be traced to a specific individual, it doesn't show that a person's voting rights were violated, as the Constitution sets forth no "fundamental right" to a secret ballot.
Golly. No talk of penumbras, no emanations, no nothing. All those must be above the judge's pay grade.
