Gamza v. Aguirre

A candidate for the school board of a Texas independent school district and four of his supporters contend they are entitled to relief in federal court under section 1983 because the election votes were improperly counted and, as a result, the candidates opponent was improperly declared to be the winner. The district judge concluded both that he had jurisdiction over the action and that the candidate seeking federal relief had been denied office by acts involving "scienter bad faith and deliberate disregard of a state court order." He ordered the candidate who had been declared loser installed as a member of the Board of Trustees of the school board, in place of his opponent, the declared winner. Because the evidence does not establish a deprivation of federal constitutional rights, we reverse.