the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. On October 26, 2004, the Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed in part and reversed in part. The court agreed with the plaintiffs and the District Court that Blackwell's directive violated HAVA to the extent that it empowered poll workers to withhold a provisional ballot based on their "on-the-spot determination at the polling place." The court ruled that if a subsequent review concluded that the voter was not entitled to vote in that precinct, then the provisional ballot would not be counted. (pdf) (pdf) In accordance with the Court of Appeals ruling, provisional ballots cast in the wrong precincts were not counted in Ohio's 2004 elections. Democratic members of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary asked Blackwell to explain irregularities in the Ohio election in two letters, (pdf) (pdf) and requested his presence at a Public Congressional Hearing. (pdf) He did not attend the hearing, but responded to the first letter, refusing to comply with their requests for explanation, noting that he was already responding to requests from the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Justice. (pdf) On December 27, 2004, Blackwell requested a court order to protect him from being interviewed in the Moss v. Bush case, a challenge of the presidential vote. He fought a subpoena, arguing that the litigation was frivolous. List of legal suits and rulings As Ohio Secretary of State, Blackwell has been a party to many election-related lawsuits. Some of these include: Moss v. Bush; Dismissed at request of plaintiff after certification of electoral votes Beacon Journal Publishing Company, Inc. and Charlene Nevada v. J. Kenneth Blackwell and the Board of Elections; Ohio was ordered to permit reporters to enter polling places during the Fall 2004 election, notwithstanding ORS § 3501.35.(pdf) Lucas County Democratic Party et al. v. Blackwell The Sandusky County Democratic Party v. J. Kenneth Blackwell; Blackwell was forced to pay nearly $65,000 in legal fees to the Sandusky County Democratic party. The League of Women Voters of Ohio et al. v. Blackwell Miller et al. v. Blackwell et al. Spencer v. Blackwell Summit County Democratic Central and Executive Committee et al. v. Blackwell et al. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. et al. v. Blackwell State of Ohio Ex Rel. Matthew Wolf, et al. v. Blackwell Sarah White v. J. Kenneth Blackwell and the Board of Elections of Lucas County, Ohio Nader