Case Updates: Week of Nov. 16-20

23 Nov Case Updates: Week of Nov. 16-20

Arizona:

• In Arizona Republican Party v. Fontes, a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss in a case involving the hand count sampling method Arizona law required the county recorder to use.

Georgia:

• In Wood v. Raffensperger, a U.S. District Judge denied plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order seeking to block the certification of Georgia’s vote due to an allegedly unlawful settlement agreement earlier entered into by the Secretary of State.

Michigan:

• In Donald J. Trump for President v. Boockvar, the Trump campaign voluntarily dismissed its complaint seeking to block the certification of Michigan’s vote, indicating that its goals were met when the Wayne County canvassing board refused to certify the county’s election results, though the board later did certify the results.
• In Costantino v. City of Detroit, the plaintiffs filed an application for leave to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, pressing forward with their assertions that due to violations of Michigan law, the court should order an independent audit of the integrity of the election in Detroit.
• In Michigan Welfare Rights Organization v. Trump, the plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging federal Voting Rights Act violations by the President and his campaign in pressuring state and local officials not to certify election results.

Nevada:

• In Election Integrity Project of Nevada v. Cegavske, the plaintiffs filed a motion for an emergency permanent injunction, attempting to prevent certification of the state’s election results due to alleged widespread fraud made possible by unconstitutional mail-in voting legislation. A Clark County District Court Judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion.
• In Law v. Whitmer, the plaintiffs filed a complaint in Carson City District Court alleging that due to various alleged irregularities, improprieties, and fraud, Nevada should not certify its election results.

Pennsylvania:

• In Donald J. Trump for President v. Boockvar, a U.S. District Judge granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss a complaint brought by the Trump campaign alleging violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Trump campaign filed notice of its intent to appeal to the Third Circuit.
• The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear two cases involving whether certain mail-in ballot lacking some of the technical requirements set forth by Pennsylvania law should be counted. One case originated in Philadelphia County, filed by the Trump campaign: In Re: Canvass of Absentee and Mail-in Ballots. The other case originated in Allegheny County, filed by a candidate for state senate: In Re: 2,349 Ballots in the 2020 General Election. In a third case, the Allegheny County Board of Elections filed a petition for the court to hear a matter brought by the same state senate candidate involving whether certain provisional ballots should be counted, even if voters did not sign in all the required places on the outer envelope. That case is In Re: Allegheny County Provisional Ballots.
• In Kelly v. Commonwealth, Pennsylvania Republican legislators and others filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State and Governor, alleging that the 2019 Act of the Pennsylvania legislature establishing mail-in voting procedures is unconstitutional and therefore the state should not certify the results of the 2020 election.