After listening to Tim James's press conference yesterday evening I was baffled by the fact that he just wants to recount 26 counties rather than all 67 if he true intent is to "count all the votes". Further, it would seem that this style of recount (while allowed in the Code of Alabama) would violate "equal protection" as determined by the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore. Here are the most relevant parts:
the right to vote as the legislature has prescribed [direct election] is fundamental; and one source of its fundamental nature lies in the equal weight accorded to each vote and the equal dignity owed to each voter.
The right to vote is protected in more than the initial allocation of the franchise. Equal protection applies as well to the manner of its exercise. Having once granted the right to vote on equal terms, the State may not, by later arbitrary and disparate treatment, value one person's vote over that of another. See, e.g., Harper v. Virginia Bd. of Elections, 383 U.S. 663, 665 (1966) (“[O]nce the franchise is granted to the electorate, lines may not be drawn which are inconsistent with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment”). It must be remembered that “the right of suffrage can be denied by a debasement or dilution of the weight of a citizen’s vote just as effectively as by wholly prohibiting the free exercise of the franchise.” Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 555 (1964).It seems plain to me that the Code of Alabama violates this ruling when it states that someone may "petition a county" (note the singularity of county) for a recount of the votes. I called the Attorney General's office and was told they were "looking into all election legalities" and called the Secretary of State's office and spoke with the "Elections Manager" who cited the Code of Alabama, which is still relevant if there is no constitutional challenge by someone who voted in the GOP primary, but did not address the constitutionality of the recount. It looks as if everyone is going to take this robbery laying down.
