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Bilingual Ballots in Puerto Rico

Robert Timothy Reagan, Margaret S. Williams, Marie Leary, Catherine R. Borden, Jessica L. Snowden, Patricia D. Breen, Jason A. Cantone
August 30, 2023

Diffenderfer v. Gómez-Colón (José Antonio Fusté, D.P.R. 3:08-cv-1918)
Three weeks before ballots needed to be printed for a 2008 election, a federal complaint objected to Puerto Rico’s ballots and their instructions being provided only in Spanish. The court certified the case as a class action and ordered that ballots be printed in both Spanish and English. While an appeal was pending, Puerto Rico enacted legislation requiring bilingual ballots in future elections.
Subject: Voting procedures. Topics: Ballot language; class action; attorney fees; case assignment.

One of many Case Studies in Emergency Election Litigation.

Downloadable file:
PDF icon Case Study 1 page

Tags:
Attorney Fees | Class Actions | Election Litigation | Ballot Language | Case Assignment | Voting Procedures | Emergency Proceedings | U.S. District Courts | D.P.R.