United States of America v. Government Of Guam et al, No. 1:2010cv00025 - Document 19 (D. Guam 2010)
Court Description: Order granting United States Declaratory and Permanent Injunctive Relief. (related document(s): 2 Motion for TRO; Motion for Preliminary Injunction). Signed by Chief Judge Frances M. Tydingco-Gatewood on 10/13/2010. (fad, )
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United States of America v. Government Of Guam et al Doc. 19 1 2 3 4 5 IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF GUAM TERRITORY OF GUAM 6 7 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, CIVIL CASE NO. 10-00025 8 Plaintiff, 9 vs. 10 GOVERNMENT OF GUAM; THE GUAM ELECTION COMMISSION; and JOHN F. BLAS, its Executive Director, in his official capacity, 11 12 13 ORDER GRANTING UNITED STATES DECLARATORY AND PERMANENT INJUNCTIVE RELIEF Defendants. 14 This matter comes before the court on the United States’ Motion for Temporary 15 Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction and the trial on the merits.1 After reviewing 16 the Motion and hearing from both parties, the court declares that the Defendants violated 17 Sections 102(a)(8)(A) and 102(f)(1) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee 18 Voting Act of 1986 (UOCAVA), as amended by the Military and Overseas Voter 19 Empowerment Act, and hereby ORDERS that: 20 (1) To ensure that Guam’s UOCAVA voters will have the option to 21 receive an absentee ballot by electronic transmission for the November 22 2, 2010 Federal general election, the Defendants shall take the 23 24 1 On October 8, 2010, pursuant to Rule 65(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the court consolidated the trial on the merits with the preliminary injunction hearing. See Docket No. 15. 1 Dockets.Justia.com 1 following actions: (a) The Defendants shall establish email as Guam’s 2 electronic transmission option for UOCAVA voters; (b) The 3 Defendants shall contact each UOCAVA voter by email for those 4 voters for whom they have email addresses on file and by telephone 5 for all other UOCAVA voters for whom they have telephonic contact 6 information on file, and inform each UOCAVA voter of the option to 7 request to receive an absentee ballot by email transmission, and 8 provide electronic email and cost-free telephonic contact information 9 to such voters so that those voters may make the request to the Guam 10 Election Commission; and (c) The Defendants shall promptly transmit 11 an absentee ballot by email to all UOCAVA voters who request it as 12 provided above. 13 (2) To ensure that Guam’s UOCAVA voters will have sufficient 14 opportunity under Federal law to receive absentee ballots they have 15 requested and submit marked absentee ballots in time to be counted for 16 the November 2, 2010 Federal general election, Defendants shall count 17 as validly cast ballots in the November 2, 2010 Federal general 18 election all those ballots cast by absent uniformed services voters and 19 overseas voters qualified to vote in Guam pursuant to UOCAVA, 20 including ballots that were transmitted to the voter by email and 21 Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots, provided such ballots are executed 22 and sent by November 2, 2010, received by November 15, 2010, and 23 are otherwise valid. 24 2 1 (3) To ensure that UOCAVA voters who received a ballot by mail and by 2 email will have their ballot validly counted, the Defendants shall 3 establish a procedure providing which ballot shall be counted if both 4 ballots are returned, and notify all UOCAVA voters of these rules. 5 (4) The Defendants shall take such steps as are necessary to afford 6 UOCAVA voters eligible to participate in Guam’s November 2, 2010 7 Federal general election a reasonable opportunity to learn of this 8 Court’s order by sending a notice to every UOCAVA voter. 9 Defendants shall provide the notice by email or telephonically if such 10 information is available. The notice shall, at minimum: (a) explain 11 that the deadline for the ballot to be executed and sent is November 2, 12 2010; (b) explain that the deadline for receipt of the ballot has been 13 extended to November 15, 2010; (c) explain the rules for counting the 14 ballots referenced in the preceding paragraph; and (d) provide 15 appropriate contact information at the Guam Election Commission for 16 assistance. 17 (5) Upon the entry of this Order, the Defendants shall issue a press 18 statement for immediate release, posted immediately on Guam’s 19 election information website, and distributed to the Federal Voting 20 Assistance Program; International Herald Tribune 21 (http://www.iht.com); USA Today International 22 (http://www.usatoday.com); Military Times Media Group 23 (cvinch@militarytimes.com); Overseas Vote Foundation 24 (http://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/intro/); Stars and Stripes 3 1 (www.estripes.com); and any other appropriate newspaper or news 2 media in Guam. The news release shall, at a minimum: (a) announce 3 that UOCAVA voters may request to receive their absentee ballots by 4 email and explain how such a request should be made; (b) summarize 5 this order, including a notice that the deadline for receipt of the ballot 6 has been extended to November 15, 2010; and (c) provide appropriate 7 contact information at the Guam Election Commission for assistance. 8 (6) The Defendants shall provide a report to the United States Department 9 of Justice no later than three business days following entry of this 10 order concerning the transmittal of UOCAVA absentee ballots. The 11 report shall (a) certify that absentee ballots were transmitted no later 12 than October 1, 2010 to all qualified UOCAVA voters whose 13 applications for ballots have been received and approved by that date; 14 and (b) indicate the number of requests received and the number of 15 UOCAVA absentee ballots transmitted, and the method of transmittal 16 thereof. 17 (7) The Defendants shall file a report with this Court no later than 18 December 17, 2010 concerning the number of UOCAVA absentee 19 ballots received and counted for the November 2, 2010 general 20 election for Federal office. The report will set forth the following 21 information, categorized by uniformed services overseas voters, 22 uniformed services voters within the United States, and overseas 23 civilian voters: 24 4 1 a. The number of absentee ballots from UOCAVA voters 2 received before the close of the polls on November 2, 2010 and 3 counted; 4 b. 5 received and counted after the close of the polls on November 6 2, 2010 but prior to the close of business on November 15, 7 2010; 8 c. 9 received later than the close of business on November 15, The number of absentee ballots from UOCAVA voters The number of absentee ballots from UOCAVA voters 10 2010; and 11 d. 12 that were not counted in the general election for Federal office, 13 for reasons other than late receipt. 14 The number of absentee ballots from UOCAVA voters (8) The Defendants shall take such actions as are necessary to assure 15 that UOCAVA voters shall have a fair and reasonable opportunity 16 to participate in future Federal elections, including proposing 17 legislation and taking any administrative actions needed to fully 18 remedy the potential future UOCAVA violations arising from 19 Guam’s election schedule and practices. The parties agree to 20 confer on the progress of these efforts, and Defendants shall 21 provide a status report to the United States by March 31, 2011. 22 The Court shall retain jurisdiction over this action through December 31, 2012 to enter 23 such further relief as may be necessary for the effectuation of the terms of this Order and to enter 24 such relief as may be necessary to abate any UOCAVA violation with respect to future Federal 5 1 2 3 4 elections caused by Guam’s election practices. This order shall apply exclusively to federal elections conducted on Guam and shall not be construed to have any bearing upon Guam’s local elections for local offices. SO ORDERED. 5 /s/ Frances M. Tydingco-Gatewood Chief Judge Dated: Oct 13, 2010 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 6
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