Following the year 2000 presidential election debacle, Mr. Pawa filed a class action case on behalf of Florida voters challenging the use of the Votomatic punch card voting system in all future elections in the state. The case contended that punch card voting machines are defective, fail to properly count votes, and therefore deny citizens' of their fundamental right to vote. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in Bush v. Gore that government must strictly ensure equal treatment of voters but had suggested in its opinion that the rule of law it was announcing would not necessarily apply in other cases where Mr. Bush was not the plaintiff. See Bush v. Gore 531 U.S. 98, 109 (2000) ("our consideration is limited to the present circumstances"). Acting on the belief that, in our legal system, rules made by courts must be applied equally to all people and therefore cannot be limited as "one case rulings," Mr. Pawa framed the case as a test of the Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision. Mr. Pawa aggressively pushed the case forward by moving for an immediate trial in which a permanent injunction was sought against use of the defective punch card machines. The State then promptly passed a law prohibiting the use of punch card machines in voting.
To read the complaint filed in this case, which extensively documents the decades of problems with the punch card machines, click here (PDF).
To read the brief filed by Mr. Pawa in this case, click here (PDF).
To read an article in the American Bar Association Journal about the case, click here (PDF).