Todd v. Oklahoma State Democratic Central Committee

361 F. Supp. 491, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12924
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedJune 29, 1973
DocketCiv. 73-50-D
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 361 F. Supp. 491 (Todd v. Oklahoma State Democratic Central Committee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Todd v. Oklahoma State Democratic Central Committee, 361 F. Supp. 491, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12924 (W.D. Okla. 1973).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION ON MOTIONS TO DISMISS OF ALL DEFENDANTS AND ORDER

PER CURIAM.

This is an alleged class action wherein this three-judge court was convened pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2281, 2284. The Plaintiffs are Democratic electors. They claim that their constitutional right as Democratic electors of “one person one vote” has been invalidly diluted. They seek declaratory and injunctive relief in two counts against Oklahoma *493 State Democratic Central Committee; Guy Thompson, Chairman of the State Democratic Party; David Hall, Governor of the State of Oklahoma; Larry Derryberry, Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma. Each Defendant has moved to dismiss.

Political parties are voluntary organizations in Oklahoma. A political party in Oklahoma is defined as “an affiliation of electors representing any political organization which, at the next general election preceding, polled for President or Governor at least five per centum of the entire vote cast for either of said respective officers, or any such political organization which may have polled at least ten per centum of the vote of as many as three other states at the last election held in such states.” 26 O.S. § 111. The statutes further provide that “political parties in this state shall select or nominate their respective candidates for the various national, state, district, county and township offices by a primary election or elections. . . .” 26 O.S. § 112a.

The organization of the Democratic Party of Oklahoma is structured by the constitution of the party. The organizational structure is as follows:

1. A Precinct Committee consisting, among others, of a Precinct Chairman, Co-chairman, and Secretary-Treasurer, elected by the Democratic electors of the precinct.
2. A County Central Committee for each county, consisting of the Precinct Chairmen and Co-chairmen, and the County Chairman, Co-chairman and' Secretary-Treasurer.
3. A Congressional District Committee for each congressional district within the state, consisting of the County Chairmen and Co-chairmen of each county within the congressional district and the Congressional District Chairman, Co-chairman and Secretary-Treasurer.
4. A State Central Committee consisting of the County Chairman and Co-chairman of each county, the Congressional District Chairman and the District Co-chairman of each congressional district within the state; and a State Chairman, State Co-chairman and State Secretary-Treasurer. The last three are elected by the State Central Committee.

At the precinct level all duly qualified Democrats of the precinct are permitted to vote. At the county level, however, only precinct chairmen and co-chairmen in the county can vote for County Chairman, Co-chairman and Secretary-Treasurer. At the Congressional District level, only the chairmen and co-chairmen of the counties in the Congressional District can vote for the Congressional District Chairman, Co-chairman and Secretary-Treasurer. At the state level, only the county chairmen and co-chairmen of the seventy-seven counties in the state, and the Congressional District Chairmen and Co-chairmen can vote for the State Chairman, Co-chairman and Secretary-Treasurer.

The foregoing structural organization and rules of the Democratic Party of Oklahoma are mandated by the constitution of the Party and not by state statute. The existence of the Defendant State Democratic Central Committee is recognized by statute in that there is a statutory State Election Board of three members of whom the State Central Committee of each of the two political parties casting the highest number of votes at the last general election for state offices “have the privilege of selecting and presenting to the Governor . the name of as many as five electors, from which said committee may request the Governor to name one which shall be the representation to be accorded to its party upon said election board. . . .” 26 O.S. § 12. The State Election Board also selects the secretaries of the County Election Boards. 26 O.S. § 21. The County Election Boards “create, alter, divide and discontinue voting *494 precincts . . . as in their judgment is best and proper” providing, however, that a precinct must “embrace a minimum of [250] and a maximum of [600] electors.” 26 O.S. §§ 25, 102.2. And if a party nominee for state office should die or decline to stand as the party nominee Defendant State Democratic Central Committee may fill the vacancy. The constitutionality of the foregoing statutes is attacked by the Plaintiffs in a two-count Complaint.

Count One alleges that “all members of the Defendant Central State Democratic Committee are elected on a disproportionate population (sic) basis,” in that each precinct, regardless of the number of registered electors, elects a Chairman and Co-chairman who, as members of the County Central Committee, elect the Chairman and Co-chairman thereof, and also elect the Chairman and Co-chairman of the Congressional District Committee, which County and District Chairmen and Co-chairmen are members of the Defendant Oklahoma State Democratic Central Committee. “WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs pray that this Court declare the process by which the Constitution of the Oklahoma State Democratic Party selects the members of the State Central Committee to be null and void as a violation of the one person, one vote rule of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

Count Two of the Complaint alleges that the Governor and Attorney General are responsible for the enforcement of the laws of the State by their oath of office and as such have permitted the County Election Boards of the several counties to draw precinct lines as authorized by statute in a disproportionate manner so as to dilute the votes of the Plaintiffs in the selection of the members of the Defendant State Central Committee. “WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs pray that this Court grant a temporary injunction and a permanent injunction ordering the Defendants Hall and Derryberry to declare the present apportionment of precincts in Oklahoma as being violative of the one person, one vote principle and to specify to the County Election Boards of each county in the State of Oklahoma to reapportion each precinct of each county as nearly as possible on the basis of one person, one vote.”

Count One complains of the method of selection, under the Constitution of the Democratic Party, of the Defendant Oklahoma State Democratic Central Committee and Chairman of said Committee, Defendant Guy Thompson. The Plaintiffs predicate Count One on the doctrine of Baker v. Carr, 1962, 369 U.S. 186, 82 S.Ct. 691, 7 L.Ed.2d 663 and its progeny, Reynolds v. Sims, 1964, 377 U.S. 533, 84 S.Ct. 1362, 12 L.Ed.2d 506; Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964, 376 U.S. 1, 84 S.Ct. 526, 11 L.Ed.2d 481; and Gray v. Sanders, 1963, 372 U.S. 368, 83 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
361 F. Supp. 491, 1973 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12924, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/todd-v-oklahoma-state-democratic-central-committee-okwd-1973.