What is the COVID-Related Litigation Tracker?
The spread of COVID-19 has spawned an avalanche of litigation regarding how to adapt, apply and administer election rules to ensure safe, accessible and fair elections amid the pandemic. Since March, more than 500 COVID-related election cases and appeals have been filed in federal and state courts across 46 states, marking what is perhaps the most litigated election season in the last two decades.
In order to promote public awareness of the stress the pandemic has placed on election and voting laws across the country, a team of us at the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project has compiled, summarized and categorized this season’s election cases that either arise from, or have increased importance in light of, the pandemic.
This publicly available searchable database is designed to help election officials, legislators, scholars and the interested public to find, sort and better understand the recent spate of COVID-related election cases. For each case we track, we’ve assigned at least one Primary Issue from our master Issue Key, and in some cases, one or more Subsidiary Issues as well. Users can search for cases by Primary Issue and Subsidiary Issue, as well as by state, state vs. federal court, federal circuit, case status and party name. We also provide brief summaries of the issues and facts in each case, and where possible, links to key court documents such as complaints and dispositive legal rulings.
Attribution
The COVID-Related Election Litigation Tracker is a project of the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project. The database was developed and is maintained by a dedicated team of undergraduates, law students and recent graduates, led by Zahavah Levine, co-coordinator of the Healthy Elections Project, with exceptional contributions from Alexandra (Mac) Taylor, Bradley Lawrence, Connor Clerkin, Sara Watson, Jacob Kovacs-Goodman and Tyler Bishop.
Our partner in the COVID-Related Election Litigation Tracker is Justin Levitt, Professor of Law and Gerald T. McLaughlin Fellow, Loyola Law School, who compiled and published a list of pandemic-related election law cases on which we relied heavily. He continues to help us update the cases and court documents in the database.
The Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project The Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project also gratefully acknowledges the generous pro bono and volunteer contributions of the following people/entities in the compilation and development of the COVID-Related Election Litigation Tracker, without whom this project would not have been possible:
- Morrison & Foerster LLP
- Juan-Carlos Sanchez, Director of Technology for Empirical Research, Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance
Creative Commons License 
Covid-Related Election Litigation Tracker by Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License so that anyone can use and cite our work. Based on a work at https://healthyelections-case-tracker.stanford.edu.
Contact Us
Email us here: healthyelectionslittracker@gmail.com
- Emails to this address will be directed to both a member of the Litigation Tracker Team at the Healthy Elections Project and to Professor Justin Levitt of Loyola Law School.
Help us keep this database accurate and up to date!
- Are we missing a COVID-Related election law case? Did we get something wrong? Has there been a dispositive ruling or settlement in a case? Please drop us a line and let us know! As a group of volunteers, we welcome input to help keep this resource accurate and up to date.
- Drop us a line and tell us how you’re using the tracker. We’d love to know!
Legal Disclaimer
This database provides general information on the status of litigation relating to elections and voting leading up to the 2020 general election. It does not provide, and is not intended to provide, legal advice and should not be used as a substitute for an attorney’s services. The project depends on student volunteers. While we strive to keep it up to date and complete, we can not guarantee currency, comprehensiveness, or accuracy.