Author: Matt Cooper

On Saturday, numerous news organizations including the Associated Press "called" the Presidential race, declaring that former Vice President Joe Biden had won. Nevertheless, election cases remain pending around the country, including cases filed by President Donald Trump's campaign. President Trump has not conceded and has expressed an intention to proceed with litigation. Many lawsuits were filed in the days around Election Day, including in the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Courts rather quickly dismissed a fair number of these lawsuits, though some cases remain active including the...

Minnesota: In Carson v. Simon, a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the decision of a district judge who had ruled that Republican electors did not have standing to challenge the extension by the Minnesota Secretary of State of the mail-in ballot receipt deadline. The Eighth Circuit panel concluded that the electors did have standing and that preliminary relief on their constitutional challenge to the deadline extension was warranted. The Eighth Circuit blocked the extension of the deadline and ordered that mail-in ballots arriving after...

Alabama: In People First v. Merrill, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an application of Alabama’s Secretary of State to block a district court ruling that would have permitted curbside voting due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Secretary’s decision not to authorize curbside voting because it would violate Alabama law therefore remains in place. The plaintiffs had argued that the U.S. Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act required the state to offer this service. Indiana: In Common Cause v. Lawson, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a motion filed...

Arizona: In Mi Familia Vota v. Hobbs, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion to block a district judge’s decision, which had extended Arizona’s voter registration deadline. The Ninth Circuit prospectively blocked that decision until it could hear an appeal on the merits, noting that it was not undoing voter registrations already submitted or submitted within a two-day grace period after the court’s order. In Yazzie v. Hobbs, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion affirming the district...

There were many significant developments this week. See below for details. Arizona In Mi Familia Vota v. Hobbs, U.S. District Judge Steven Logan granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, extending Arizona’s voter registration deadline from October 5th to October 23rd due to COVID-related challenges faced by citizens wishing to register. The Republican National Committee filed an appeal in the Ninth Circuit and has asked for an emergency stay of the district court’s order. In Arizona Democratic Party v. Hobbs, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals...