Election litigation, open cases
From Ballotpedia
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This page contains information on election law cases currently going through litigation. The cases are organized by year they were filed and by the major issue being litigated. For closed cases see Election litigation, decided cases
2008
Election Contest
- McCain-Palin 2008 v. Cunningham
- Filing date- 11/03/08
- Current court- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Issue- Whether the Uniform and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Rights Act requires the Viriginia Board of Elections to count late-arriving overseas military ballots.
- Abramson v. Florida Elections Canvassing Commision
- Filing Date- 9/8/08
- State Filed- Florida
- Current Court- Leon County Courts
- Issue- Election contest over the results of an election for a seat on Palm Beach County Circuit Court. Complaint contains allegations of missing ballots.
Election Administration
- Virginia NAACP v. Kaine
- Filing date- 10/28/08
- State filed- Virginia
- Current court- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Issue- Whether the allocation of voting equipment and other resources (or lack there of) by the State of Virginia violates the federal constition or the Voting Rights of 1965.
- Garcia v. Fox-Young
- Filing date- 10/27/08
- State filed- New Mexico
- Current court- Second Judicial District Court
- Issue- Whether efforts by agents of the Republican Party to research questionable voter registrations and then subsequently disseminate the private information of those voters violate New Mexico law.
- NAACP-SCP v. Cortes
- Filing date- 10/23/08
- State filed- Ohio
- Current court- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- Issue- Whether polling locations can be required to distribute emergency paper ballots to voters when 50% or more voting machines become inoperable at a specific location.
- Project Vote v. Madison County Board of Elections
- Filing date 9/24/08
- State filed- Ohio
- Current court- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
- Issue- Whether the County Board of Elections' decision to only provide absentee ballots to voters who have been registered more than 30 days before the date they request the absentee ballot violates various provisions of state and federal law. This case is closely related to State ex rel. Colvin v. Brunner, in which the plaintiffs are attempting to challenge the Secretary of State's directive that interprets Ohio law as providing a "five-day window" in which individuals may simultaneously register and receive an absentee ballot.
- LULAC of Texas v. State of Texas
- Filing date- 5/9/08
- State filed- Texas
- Current court- U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
- Issue- Whether primary election procedures by the Democratic Party has the effect of undervaluing the vote of minority voters.
Felon Voting Rights
- Young v. Hosemann
- Filing date- 9/12/08
- State filed- Mississippi
- Current court- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
- Issue- The Mississppi Constitution, while prohibiting convicted felons from voting in general, may allow convicted felons to vote in presidential elections. The issue is whether the State's refusal to permit convicted felons to vote in presidential elections violates the Mississippi and U.S. Constitutions and the National Voter Registration Act.
Voter ID
- Common Cause v. Coffman
- Filing date- 10/25/08
- State filed- Colorado
- Current court- US District Court for the District of Colorado
- Issue- Does the practise of using post-registration address confirmation postcard to purge the registration rolls of voters who may no longer be at certain addresses, violate the National Voter Registration Act when done within 90 days of an election.
- Moyer v. Cortes
- Filing date- 10/17/08
- State filed- Pennsylvania
- Current court- Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
- Issue- Whether the Pennsylvania Secretary of State must require first time registrants to show ID before voting and whether the Secretary must provide access to voter registration information to local officials so that they can ensure the fairness of the election.
- League of Women Voters v. Rokita
- Filing date- 6/20/2008
- State filed- Indiana
- Current court- Marion County Superior Court
- Issue- Whether Indiana's Voter ID law is unconstitutional under provisions of the Indiana State Constitution.
- Democratic Party of Georgia v. Perdue
- Filing date- 5/23/08
- State filed- Georgia
- Current Court- Georgia Supreme Court
- Issue- Whether Georgia's voter ID law violates the Georgia Constitution.
Voter registration
- Brown v. Rokita
- Filing date- 11/4/08
- State filed- Indiana
- Current court- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana
- Issue- Whether the rejection of voter registrations that were made using an "old form" of the state voter registration application violates the National Voter Registration Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the U.S. Constitution.
- Green v. Doe
- Filing Date- 10/28/08
- State filed- Florida
- Current Court- Leon County Courts
- Issue- Whether the practice of purging names from the voter registration by return to sender mail violates the National Voter Registration Act
- Morales v. Handel
- Filing date- 10/9/08
- State filed- Georgia
- Current court- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- Issue- Whether the state's new voter registration list maintenance procedures, which include a citizenship check, violate the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act.
- Curley v. Lake County Board of Elections
- Filing date- 10/2/08
- State filed- Indiana
- Current Court- Indiana Court of Appeals
- Issue- Whether the Lake County Board of Election’s establishment of satellite offices for in-person absentee ballot voting violates Indiana state election law. The Board of Elections claims that it was obligated to take the challenged actions in order to comply with the Voting Rights Act.
- Ohio Republican Party et al v. Brunner
- Filing date 9/26/08
- State filed-Ohio
- Current court- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
- Issue- Whether Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's directive (2008-63), which gives voters a five-day window (30-35 days before the election) within which they may simultaneously register and receive an absentee ballot, impermissibly conflicts with state statutory election laws. Plaintiffs are also challenge Advisory 2008-24, in which Secretary Brunner advises county boards of elections that they are not required to permit party observers at polling places during this period of time. Plaintiffs are also alleging violations of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
- USSAF v. Land
- Filing date- 9/17/08
- State filed- Michigan
- Current court- U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals
- Issue- Whether certain alleged state voter purgation procedures violate Michigan state law, the National Voter Registration Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
- Van Hollen v. Government Accountability Board
- Filing date 9/10/08
- State filed- Wisconsin
- Current court- Dane County Circuit Court
- Issue- Whether the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) has met its obligations to bring Wisconsin into compliance with state and federal election laws, including the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Specifically, the Attorney General is seeking to require that the GAB run HAVA checks on voter registrations received prior to August 6, 2008.
- ACORN v. Cox
- Filing Date- 7/14/08
- State filed- Georgia
- Current Court- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- Issue- Whether provisions advanced by the Georgia State Board of Elections requiring taht require each completed application to register be (1) separately sealed before being handed to a private voter registration organizer and (2) not be copied, violate the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment, or the first amendment.
- AAPD v. Herrara
- Filing Date- 7/24/08
- State filed- New Mexico
- Current Court- U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
- Issue- Whether New Mexico's voter registration laws, which place conditions and requirements on organizations which conduct voter registration activities, violate the National Voter Registration Act and provisions of the New Mexico Constitution and U.S. Constitution.
- ACORN v. Scott
- Filing Date- 4/23/08
- State Filed Missouri
- Current Court U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri
- Issue- Whether Missouri has violated the National Voter Registration Act by failing to provide a sufficient number of forms in state public assistance offices.
2007
Election Administration
- Texas Democratic Party v. Williams
- Filing date- 2/13/07
- State filed- Texas
- Current court- Supreme Court of the United States
- Issue- Plaintiffs allege that the eSlate voting machines, used by several Texas counties, do not count votes properly. The issue in the case is whether the use of eSlate voting machines violates HAVA, the Texas Election Code, or the U.S. Constitution.
Voter ID
- Florida State Conference of the NAACP v. Browning
- Filing date- 9/27/07
- State filed- Florida
- Current court- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida
- Issue- Whether the requirement to have a person's social security card or driver's license verified before they are allowed to register to vote, violates the Voting Rights Act.
- ACLU of New Mexico v. Chavez
- Filing Date- 3/7/07
- State Filed- New Mexico
- Current Court- United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- Issue- Whether an Albuquerque staute requiring photo ID of in-person voters, but not absentee voters, violates the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment, the first amendment, or creates an undue burden on the voter.
2006
Election Administration
- Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections v. Browning
- Filang date- 9/24/06
- State filed- Florida
- Current court- Florida Supreme Court
- Issue- Whether a Sarasota County Charter amendment, which requires a more aggressive election auditing procedure than the rest of the state, is preempted by the Florida Election Code.
- Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Gonzales
- Filing date- 10/04/06
- State filed- Texas
- Current court- Supreme Court of the United States
- Issue- Whether the imposition of §5 of the Voting Rights Act requirements, 42 U.S.C. §1973c, upon Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One is improper and/or unconstitutional as the district has allegedly remedied the problems giving rise to the initial imposition of these requirements.
Voter ID
- NEOCH v. Blackwell
- Filing date- 10/24/06
- State filed- Ohio
- Current court- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
- Issue- 1) Whether Ohio's voter ID laws are unconstitutional as "confusing, vague, and impossible to apply" in violation of the right to vote; whether the laws are unconstitutional because they apply only to in-person voters and not to absentee voters; whether they are unconstitutional because they may bar voters who do not have required identification from voting on Election Day; whether they are unconstitutional because only some forms of ID must have current address; whether they are unconstitutional as a poll tax. (2) Whether Ohio's provisional-ballot laws are unconstitutionally vague and therefore violate Equal Protection and Due Process.
- Gonzalez v. Arizona; Navajo Nation v. Brewer; Purcell v. Gonzalez
- Filing date- 5/9/06
- State filed- Arizona
- Current court- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Issue- Whether Arizona's voter identification requirements disparately impact minorities in the state and, as such, are unconstitutional.
Voter registration
- Harkless v. Blackwell
- Filing date- 9/21/08
- State filed- Ohio
- Current court- U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit
- Issue- Whether the state violated the National Voter Registration Act by not making registration applications available at certain social service agencies.
Election Administration
- King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association v. Blackwell
- Filing date- 8/31/06
- State filed- Ohio
- Current court- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
- Issue- Whether the rights, privileges, and immunities guaranteed to Plaintiffs by the Civil Rights Act, and the First, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution have been violated by the past and ongoing conduct of the Secretary of State in connection with past elections in Ohio.
2005
Election Administration
- League of Women Voters v. Blackwell
- Filing date- 7/28/05
- State filed- Ohio
- Current court- U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit
- Issue- Whether Ohio's election system violates equal protection or due process clause of the 14th amendment.
- United States of America v. Brown
- Filing date- 2/17/05
- State filed- Mississippi
- Current court- U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit
- Issue- Whether Defendants have violated §2 and §11(b) of the Voting Rights Act and the 15th amendment to the US Constitution by taking actions with the intent to deny white voters and white candidates access to the political process.
1999
Felon voting rights
- Farrakhan v. Locke
- Filing date- 10/26/99
- State filed- Washington
- Current court- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Issue- Whether a felon disenfranchisement statute violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, when the primary source of discrimination complained of is caused by external sources.
