NOTE: This case is being tracked in close to real time by the Stanford/MIT Healthy Elections Project. So for more current information, see their tracker. COVID-19 Summary: On April 7, 2020, the Chair of the Texas Democratic Party, the Texas Democratic Party, and individual voters filed this lawsuit in the Western District of Texas in order to secure expanded vote-by-mail in advance of primary election runoffs scheduled for July and the November general election. On May 19, the court granted a preliminary injunction allowing voters to vote by mail, which the defendants appealed. On June 4, the Fifth Circuit stayed the injunction and the case was petitioned to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case is ongoing.
On April 7, 2020, the Chair of the Texas Democratic Party, the Texas Democratic Party, and individual voters filed this lawsuit in the Western District of Texas. The plaintiffs sued the Governor of Texas, the Texas Secretary of State, the Travis County Clerk, and the Bexar County Elections Administrator under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 52 U.S.C. § 10301. The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, sought declaratory and injunctive relief. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that under the 14th and 15th Amendments, holding traditional elections would impose unconstitutional and illegal burdens on voters unless officials clarify state law to expand voting by mail in light of the state’s attempts to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier, on March 20, 2020, some of the plaintiffs had filed a state court lawsuit seeking to determine the application of state law. (That one is
VR-TX-0448 in the Clearinghouse.) There, the plaintiffs argued that state law allows voters to choose to cast their ballots by mail under the circumstances of the pandemic. According to the complaint, Texas authorities supported the conclusion that state law permits mail-in ballots under the circumstances of the pandemic. After a hearing on April 15, the court granted a temporary order allowing mail-in votes for the July elections due to the pandemic, with a hearing scheduled later on August 10 to determine what happens after the July elections. The ruling was later affirmed by the Fourteenth Circuit. The state appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court of Texas, which ruled that residents
do not qualify under current state rules to receive a mail-in ballot.
The plaintiffs decided to file the subsequent federal suit in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on the Wisconsin primary on April 6, 2020. In that case,
found here in the Clearinghouse, the Supreme Court held that it was too late to remedy constitutional harms. Thus, the plaintiffs here decided to act as early as possible, according to their complaint.
On April 29, 2020, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, including a Fourteenth Amendment Procedural Due Process claim and a voter intimidation claim. The same day, the plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary injunction. Specifically, the relief sought included (1) allowing the plaintiffs and voters like the plaintiffs to be eligible to receive a mail ballot, to cast that ballot, and to have that ballot counted by the appropriate authority; and, (2) enjoining the defendants from threatening voters or voter groups with criminal or civil sanction for voting by mail or communicating with or assisting voters in the process of vote by mail.
On May 11, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Texas League of United Latin American Citizens sought to intervene. The motion was denied on May 13, as the request was within forty-eight hours of the scheduled hearing.
The defendants responded to the motion for preliminary injunction on May 12, claiming that sovereign immunity barred injunctive relief and requested that the Court abstain from ruling on the claims until the conclusion of the state court litigation, which was ongoing at the time.
On May 14, the Public Interest Legal Foundation and Landmark Legal Foundation filed an amicus brief in opposition to the plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction. The same day, Harris County filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction.
The court granted the plaintiff's preliminary injunction on May 19, stating that any eligible Texas voter who seeks to vote by mail in order to avoid transmission of COVID-19 can apply for, receive, and cast an absentee ballot in upcoming elections during the pendency of pandemic circumstances and that the defendants may not deny any mail ballots received. 2020 WL 2541971. The order remained valid until a judgment on the matter was issued, or the pandemic subsides.
The same day, the defendants immediately appealed to the Fifth Circuit. The Bexas County Elections Administrator and the Attorney General of Texas moved to dismiss the case on May 21 and May 27, respectively.
On June 4, the Fifth Circuit stayed the preliminary injunction pending appeal. 2020 WL 2982937. The court found that there was no evidence that the state had prevented the plaintiffs from voting. This decision was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court the next day. On June 16, the district court stayed the case pending the conclusion of the appellate proceedings related to the preliminary injunction order. On June 26, the Supreme Court refused to vacate the stay.
On July 7, plaintiffs sought to expedite their appeal, which was granted on July 17. The appeal is ongoing and an oral argument was heard on August 31.
Lily Sawyer-Kaplan - 04/08/2020
Averyn Lee - 09/17/2020
compress summary
