Case: 12-2145
Document: 00116452609
Page: 4
Date Filed: 11/04/2012
Entry ID: 5687743
improvident to grant plaintiff’s requested relief [i.e. that all I-8 voters be allowed to cast a vote] with only eighteen days remaining before the general election”)—but the “uncertainty and confusion [that the ruling will have] in the Puerto Rico electoral process” (id., p. 1) is gravely magnified by: (1) the district court’s timing just one day before the election (an abnormality, as Judge Cerezo herself had recognized “that it will be feasible to get the ballots to the polling places if the Court of Appeals acts by this Friday, October 19, 2012, for it will take 10 to 12 days to do so, but if the Court waits to act until Tuesday of next week it would not be feasible,” Dkt. 60); (2) the district court’s failure to address the concerns regarding recusal procedures—effectively depriving the political parties of this right (id., p. 10-11); and, (3) the fact that the district court’s ruling is in stark conflict with an opinion issued on November 2, 2012 by the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, see Mundo-Ríos v. SEC, et al., P.R.S.CT. No. CT-2012-020 p. 11 (discussing the Opinion of this Court and explaining that the I-8 voters “cannot vote in an added by hand college unless they present an official document issued by the SEC evincing that they have a right to cast a vote” (translation ours)).4
4
An official translation of the relevant excerpts of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court’s opinion is attached to this brief. Because of obvious time-constraints, a complete translation of the document could not be obtained. 4