Major Pending Election Cases

League of Women Voters of Wisconsin v. Wisconsin Elections Commission

Filing Date:

July 22, 2022

Status:

pending

State:

Wisconsin

Topic:

Absentee Ballots

Most Recent Court:

Wisconsin Court of Appeals (No. 2024AP000166)

Issue(s):

Under Wisconsin law a voter's absentee ballot must accompanied by a witness certificate containing the witness' address, the ballot may not be counted if the address is missing. The plaintiffs ask for clarification on what constitutes "missing" and contend that partial witness addresses are not "missing".

Democratic National Committee v. Hobbs

SCOTUS Watchlist:

Yes

Filing Date:

August 15, 2022

Status:

pending

State:

Arizona

Topics:

National Voter Registration Act, Voter ID

Most Recent Court:

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona 2:22-cv-01374-GMS; For new filings, see Mi Familia Vota v. Hobbs (2:22-cv-00509)

Issue(s):

Arizona House Bill 2492 requires Arizonans using federal registration forms to provide documents proving their citizenship and requires election officials to provide the Arizona attorney general with a list of voters who do not provide satisfactory proof of citizenship for investigation. The Plaintiff argues House Bill violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments by placing and undue burden on the right to vote, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because voters will be denied an equal opportunity as other eligible voters to participate in Arizona's elections, the NVRA's requirement that states only request the minimum information necessary to register a voter, Section 8 of the NVRA by removing voter from the rolls shortly before an election and the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act because birthplace is not material to whether the applicant meets Arizona's voter qualification requirements.

Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans v. Fontes

SCOTUS Watchlist:

Yes

Filing Date:

August 15, 2022

Status:

pending

State:

Arizona

Topics:

Mail-In Voting, Redistricting

Most Recent Court:

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (No. 22-16490)

Issue(s):

Whether Arizona Senate Bill 1260, which requires county recorders to cancel a voter’s registration if they receive confirmation that the voter is registered to vote in another Arizona county, creates a process to remove voters from the state’s permanent vote-by-mail list if the voter is registered in another county and makes it a felony to forward a mail-in ballot to a voter who may be registered in another state, is constitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Republican National Committee v. Chapman

Filing Date:

September 1, 2022

Status:

resolved

State:

Pennsylvania

Topic:

Mail-In Voting

Most Recent Court:

Pennsylvania Supreme Court (No. 100 MAP 2022)

Issue(s):

The lawsuit challenges the authority of county boards to develop and implement mail in ballot cure procedures. Plaintiffs argue that Pennsylvania law does not set a procedure to cure mail in ballots and that no law has been enacted allowing for a cure procedure.

Braun v. Wisconsin Elections Commission

Filing Date:

September 15, 2022

Status:

resolved

State:

Wisconsin

Topic:

National Voter Registration Act

Most Recent Court:

Waukesha County Circuit Court

Issue(s):

The WEC approved the use of the National Voter Registration Form. The plaintiff challenges this approval arguing that the form is missing several components required by state law and contains components prohibited by state law.

DeVisser v. Benson

Filing Date:

September 28, 2022

Status:

pending

State:

Michigan

Topic:

Polling Place Challengers

Most Recent Court:

Court of Claims in State of Michigan (22-000164-MM); For new filings, see O'Halloran v. Benson (22-000162-MZ)

Issue(s):

Lawsuit challenging several new rules, set by the Secretary of State, concerning partisan election challengers are in violation of state law. These new rules include a requirement that every polling place have a challenger liaison, a restriction that only permits election challengers to communicate with challenger liaison, a regulation authorizing election inspectors to not record impermissible challenges, and a rule allowing challengers to be ejected from failing to follow instructions.

O’Halloran v. Benson

Filing Date:

September 28, 2022

Status:

resolved

State:

Michigan

Topic:

Polling Place Challengers

Most Recent Court:

Michigan Supreme Court (22-000162-MZ)

Issue(s):

Lawsuit challenging several new rules, set by the Secretary of State, concerning partisan election challengers are in violation of state law. These new rules include a requirement that every polling place have a challenger liaison, a restriction that only permits election challengers to communicate with challenger liaison, a regulation authorizing election inspectors to not record impermissible challenges, and a rule allowing challengers to be ejected from failing to follow instructions.

Republican National Committee v. Richer

Filing Date:

October 5, 2022

Status:

resolved

State:

Arizona

Topic:

Poll Workers

Most Recent Court:

Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County (CV 2022-013185)

Issue(s):

Lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee and Republican Party of Arizona against Maricopa County officials alleging that the county violated the requirements of the Arizona Equal Access Statutes by imposing strict restrictions on elections workers. The plaintiffs argue that these restrictions made it harder for Republicans to participate in election administration. They point to eleven voting centers in Maricopa County that have not Republican poll workers and that the defendants failed to contact the Republican Party to discuss and remedy shortfalls in the number of Republican election workers. The plaintiffs also allege Maricopa County imposed onerous requirements , including minimum hours and minimum durational requirements, that deter citizens from participating in the administration of elections.

Ball v. Chapman

Filing Date:

October 16, 2022

Status:

resolved

State:

Pennsylvania

Topic:

Mail-In Voting

Most Recent Court:

Pennsylvania Supreme Court (No. 102 MM 2022)

Issue(s):

A lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committees and Pennsylvania Republican Party against the Pennsylvania Secretary of State challenging guidance that allows election officials to count undated or incorrectly dated mail-in ballots if they were received on time. The petitioners claim that the guidance violates the Pennsylvania Election Code, which they argue requires undated or incorrectly dated mail-in ballots to be disqualified.

Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans v. Clean Elections USA

Filing Date:

October 24, 2022

Status:

resolved

State:

Arizona

Topic:

Voting Rights Act

Most Recent Court:

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona (CV-22-01823-PHX-MTL)

Issue(s):

Plaintiffs allege that Clean Elections USA's supporters gathered at ballot drop boxes with the intent of deterring voters from depositing their ballots. The plaintiffs cite a voter complaint that they were filmed and photographed while approaching a drop box. They also cite an incident where the Maricopa County Sherriff's office responded to a report of two armed individuals in tactical gear near a drop box. The plaintiffs argue the defendants are in violation of section 11(b) of the VRA and the Ku Klux Klan Act.

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