Major Pending Election Cases

OCA-Greater Houston v. Secretary of State Esparza

Filing Date:

September 3, 2021

Status:

pending

State:

Texas

Topics:

Absentee Ballots, Provisional Ballots, Voter ID, Voter Suppression, Voting Rights Act

Most Recent Court:

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (1:21-cv-00780); For new filings see, La Union Del Pueblo Entero v. Abbott (No. 5:21-cv-00844)

Issue(s):

Civil rights organizations challenge Senate Bill 1, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief based on the First and Fourteenth Amendments, the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act (VRA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Plaintiffs argue that SB1 disproportionately impacts voters with disabilities, voters with limited English proficiency, and voters of color.

U.S. v. State of Georgia

Filing Date:

June 25, 2021

Status:

pending

State:

Georgia

Topics:

Absentee Ballots, Provisional Ballots, Voter ID, Voter Suppression, Voting Rights Act

Most Recent Court:

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia; For new filings see, In Re: Georgia Senate Bill 202 (1:21-MI-55555-JPB)

Issue(s):

U.S. filed lawsuit against Georgia for passing of GA Senate Bill 202 arguing that it is in violation of Sec. 2 & 12(d) of the Voting Rights Act due to being intended to deny or abridge the rights of Black Georgians to vote on account of race or color.

U.S. v. State of Texas

Filing Date:

November 4, 2021

Status:

pending

State:

Texas

Topics:

Absentee Ballots, Provisional Ballots, Voter ID, Voter Suppression, Voting Rights Act

Most Recent Court:

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (5:21-cv-01085); For new filings see, La Union Del Pueblo Entero v. Abbott (No. 5:21-cv-00844)

Issue(s):

U.S. filed lawsuit against the state of Texas for the enactment of SB1, omnibus voting legislation that the U.S. claims will disenfranchise voters that already confront barriers to the ballot box, in violation of the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act.

Allen v. Milligan

SCOTUS Watchlist:

Yes

Filing Date:

January 28, 2022

Status:

resolved

State:

Alabama

Topics:

Redistricting, Voter Suppression, Voting Rights Act

Most Recent Court:

United States Supreme Court (Nos. 21-1086, 21-1087)

Issue(s):

Case challenges Alabama's electoral maps as racially gerrymandered in violation of the VRA.

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.

Carey v. Wisconsin Elections Commission

Filing Date:

July 22, 2022

Status:

resolved

State:

Wisconsin

Topics:

Absentee Ballots, Voting Rights Act

Most Recent Court:

Western District of Wisconsin (No. 22-cv-402)

Issue(s):

The lawsuit challenges the WEC's new guideline that voters must their own absentee ballots without any assistance, which includes place the ballot in the mail. Plaintiffs allege violations of section 105 of the VRA, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and title 2 of the ADA.

Jones v. DeSantis

Filing Date:

June 28, 2019

Status:

resolved

State:

Florida

Topics:

Felon Voting Rights, Voter Suppression, Voting Rights Act

Most Recent Court:

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (Case 20-12003)

Issue(s):

Plaintiffs challenge Florida's requirement that payment of all restitution, fees, or fines ordered by the court as part of the sentence is a condition of voting rights restoration, arguing that the requirement violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Voting Rights Act, and Article VI, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution.

League of Women Voters of Arizona v. Lions of Liberty

Filing Date:

October 25, 2022

Status:

resolved

State:

Arizona

Topic:

Voting Rights Act

Most Recent Court:

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona (CV-22-08196-PCT-MTL); For new filings, see Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans v. Clean Elections USA (CV-22-01823-PHX-MTL)

Issue(s):

Lawsuit asking the court to temporarily and permanently prevent the defendants from intimidating Arizona voters. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants have planned and engaged in voter intimidation by filming and/or following voters attempting to deposit their mail-in ballots in drop boxes. The plaintiffs also allege that two armed individuals dressed in tactical were "onsite" at a drop box. The plaintiffs contend the defendants are violating section 11(b) of the VRA and section 2 of the Ku Klux Klan Act.

One Wisconsin Institute v. Thomsen

Filing Date:

May 29, 2015

Status:

resolved

State:

Wisconsin

Topics:

Absentee Ballots, Equal Protections Clause, Voter ID, Voter Suppression, Voting Rights Act

Most Recent Court:

7th Circuit Court of Appeals (16-03091)

Issue(s):

Lawsuit which challenged aspects of Wisconsin's election laws, particularly its laws limiting early voting locations, reducing the early vote period, restricting vote registration, increasing residency requirements, invasive poll monitoring, the elimination of straight-ticket voting, changes to absentee voting, and Wisconsin's voter ID law. The plaintiffs claimed that the laws violated Section 2 of the VRA, the 1st Amendment, the Equal Protections Clause, the 15th Amendment, and the 26th Amendment.

CASE TRACKER