Major Pending Election Cases

Colorado Republican Party v. Griswold

Filing Date:

July 31, 2023

Status:

pending

State:

Colorado

Most Recent Court:

Dist. Colorado (No. 1:23-cv-01948)

Issue(s):

Lawsuit challenging Colorado Proposition 108, which allows unaffiliated voters to vote in partisan primaries without declaring a party affiliation. Plaintiffs argue the proposition violates the 1st and 14th amendments.

Priorities USA v. Wisconsin Elections Commission

Filing Date:

July 20, 2023

Status:

resolved

State:

Wisconsin

Topic:

Absentee Ballots

Most Recent Court:

Dane County Circuit Court (2023CV001900)

Issue(s):

Lawsuit challenging of Wisconsin's three absentee voting rules. Specifically, they challenge Wisconsin's absentee ballot witness requirement, the prohibition on drop boxes, and the deadline for curing errors on absentee ballot envelopes. They also are challenging Wisconsin's interpretation of absentee voting as a privilege and not a right. The plaintiffs ask the court to declare the absentee voting rules to violate the Wisconsin constitution.

Florida Rights Restoration v. DeSantis

Filing Date:

July 19, 2023

Status:

resolved

State:

Florida

Topics:

Voter Suppression, Voting Rights Act

Issue(s):

Lawsuit challenging Florida's system for voting rights restoration and the state's elections police unit. They argue that Florida has failed to inform individuals of their voting eligibility, including whether they have paid all fees and fines as required by state law. The lawsuit also argues that the elections police unit primarily serves to intimidate individuals with prior felony convictions to prevent them from voting. The plaintiffs ask the court to declare Florida's implementation of felony voting rights restoration as in violation of the VRA, as well as the 1st and 14th amendments.

Harris County v. Texas

Filing Date:

July 6, 2023

Status:

resolved

State:

Texas

Most Recent Court:

Travis County Distict Court

Issue(s):

Lawsuit challenging Texas Senate Bill 1750, which abolishes the elections administrator position in Harris county and gives their responsibilities to the county clerk and county tax assessor, two elected officials. The plaintiff argues that the law directly targets Harris county as the law prohibits counties with populations greater than 3.5 million people from creating the office of elections administrator, and Harris county is the only county in Texas with a population greater than 3.5 million. The plaintiff argues that SB 1750 violates several provisions of the Texas constitution.

Vanness v. Aguilar

Filing Date:

June 29, 2023

Status:

resolved

State:

Nevada

Topic:

First Amendment

Most Recent Court:

District Court of Nevada (2:23-cv-01009-JCM-VCF)

Issue(s):

Lawsuit challenging Nevada SB 406, which is meant to protect election officials from intimidation and election interference. The plaintiffs argue that the protections are overbroad and violate the 1st amendment. They ask the court to preclude the defendants from enforcing SB 406.

Hispanic Federation v. Byrd

Filing Date:

May 25, 2023

Status:

pending

State:

Florida

Topic:

Voter Suppression

Issue(s):

United Stated District Court for the Northern District of Florida (No. 4:23-cv-00218-MW-MAF); Case consolidated with No. 4:23-cv-00215-MW-MAF. Plaintiffs bring this lawsuit against several provisions of Florida Senate Bill 7050. They argue that a portion of the law, which prohibits noncitizen volunteers from conducting third party registration on behalf of third party voter registration organizations, violates the 1st and 14th amendments. Additionally, plaintiffs argue that the law violates noncitizens' equal right to contract under federal law.

Florida State Conference of Branches and Youth Units of the NAACP v. Byrd

Filing Date:

May 24, 2023

Status:

resolved

State:

Florida

Topics:

Voter Suppression, Voting Rights Act

Most Recent Court:

United Stated District Court for the Northern District of Florida (No. 4:23-cv-00215-MW-MAF)

Issue(s):

Plaintiffs bring this lawsuit against several provisions of Florida Senate Bill 7050. They argue that a portion of the law, which prohibits noncitizen volunteers from conducting third party registration on behalf of third party voter registration organizations, violates the 1st and 14th amendments. Additionally, Senate Bill 7050 only allows county supervisors to accept requests for mail-in ballots from voters or their family members. Plaintiffs argue that this disproportionally effects young and limited-English voters in violation of Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act.

League of Women Voters of Florida v. Moody

Filing Date:

May 24, 2023

Status:

pending

State:

Florida

Topic:

Voter Suppression

Most Recent Court:

United Stated District Court for the Northern District of Florida (No. 4:23-cv-00216-MW-MAF). Case consolidated with No. 4:23-cv-00215-MW-MAF; For new filings see Florida State Conference of Branches and Youth Units of the NAACP v. Byrd.

Issue(s):

Plaintiffs bring this lawsuit against several provisions of Florida Senate Bill 7050. They argue that a portion of the law, which prohibits noncitizen volunteers from conducting third party registration on behalf of third party voter registration organizations, violates the 1st and 14th amendments. The lawsuit specifically challenges portions of the law that requires third party voter registration organizations to provide a "receipt" to each voter registration applicant containing identifying information, reduces the days to return a voter registration application, and requires organizations to reregister every cycle.

One Person One Vote v. Ohio Ballot Board

Filing Date:

May 23, 2023

Status:

resolved

State:

Ohio

Topic:

Ballot Language

Most Recent Court:

Supreme Court of Ohio (No. 2023-0630)

Issue(s):

Relators challenge the adopted ballot language for Senate Joint Resolution 2, a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that would raise the threshold necessary to pass any future constitutional amendments from 50% to 60%. They argue that the defendant used language that is inaccurate and incomplete and violates the Ohio Constitution. Relators also argue that the amendment's title is not impartial and creates prejudice in favor of the Amendment. They seek a writ of mandamus compelling the defendants to reconvene and rewrite the language of the amendment.

One Person One Vote v. LaRose

Filing Date:

May 12, 2023

Status:

resolved

State:

Ohio

Topic:

Ballot Language

Most Recent Court:

Supreme Court of Ohio (No. 2023-0630)

Issue(s):

Relators ask the Ohio Supreme Court to issue a writ of mandamus directing Ohio Secretary of State LaRose to remove a constitutional amendment proposal, S.J.2, from the August 8, 2023 special election ballot. S.J.2 would increase the threshold to pass constitutional amendments from 50% to 60% of the vote for future elections. Relators argue that Ohio law does not allow for statewide special elections in August.

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