COVID-Related Election Litigation Tracker

Case Details

This database consolidates and tracks litigation concerning the effect of the pandemic on election law. The purpose of this tool is to provide an interactive list of relevant cases that can be searched by issue, court, status, and jurisdiction.

Case Details

 

Fisher v. Hargett

Closed

Fisher v. Hargett, No. 20-0435-III (Tenn. Chancery Ct., Davidson Cnty.)

  Case Summary Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief pursuant to the Tennessee Constitution and Tennessee statutory law with respect to their rights to vote by mail. Plaintiffs allege that they are immunocompromised, or risk transmitting COVID to an immunocompromised person, and therefore run a significant risk if required to vote in person. Tennessee law presently provides that vote-by-mail is only available to those physically unable to appear in person (or caregivers of such people); plaintiffs contend that this construction, in light of the COVID crisis, violates the rights to suffrage and equal protecton provided under the Tennessee Constitution. In the alternative, plaintiffs seek a declaration that a physician may certify a class of voters en masse as eligible to vote by mail under Tennessee statutory law.
Filed 05/08/2020
State Tennessee
Type of Court State
Status Closed ()
Last Updated 09/16/2020
Issue Tag(s) Vote-by-Mail (Claim that Mail Voting Leads to Fraud and/or Vote Dilution, Failure to Allow Fear of COVID to Qualify as “Excuse”, Failure to Provide Vote-by-Mail Accommodations for Voters with Disabilities)
Complaint(s) 05/08/2020: Complaint filed.
09/23/2020: Complaint, Amended Complaint filed.
Dispositive Ruling(s) 06/04/2020: Order/Ruling, TRO Granted. The Tennessee Chancery Court found that the state's purported reasons for maintaining its restrictive approach to voting-by-mail -- risks of voter fraud and undue strain on state resources - were not supported by the evidence. The court also found numerous factors that weighed in favor of permitting voting-by-mail, including the benefits of limiting the number of individuals who would appear in person, recent experiences by other primary states who conducted in-person voting, testimony of plaintiffs' experts of the continued risk of infection in the coming months, and evidence regarding the health consequences of COVID exposure. The court therefore held that, under the Anderson-Burdick test under Tennessee law (which requires strict scrutiny of "severe" restrictions on the right to vote, but only intermediate scrutiny to less burdensome restrictions), the state had failed to articulate any reasonable basis for failing to accommodate plaintiffs' concerns regarding COVID. As plaintiffs had established a likelihood of success, a risk of irreparable harm, and as the public interest and the balance of equities weighed in plaintiffs' favor, the court concluded that an injunction was warranted.
08/25/2020: Order/Ruling, After the Tennessee Supreme Court issued a ruling that required the state to allow those with special vulnerabilities (and their caretakers) to COVID-19 to vote absentee, plaintiffs went back to the trial court alleging that the state was not complying with the court order, including by not altering their absentee ballot application forms to make it clear that COVID-19 susceptible populations were eligible to vote absentee. The trial court ruled that the state was required to make specific changes to its absentee ballot form, taken from the supreme court order, to make clear who was eligible to vote absentee.
09/25/2020: Order/Ruling, The court ordered the state to alter its absentee ballot application form to include language making clear that caretakers of those susceptible to COVID-19 may vote absentee, in order to conform the application form to the representations the Secretary made during oral argument on appeal.
10/20/2020: Order/Ruling, Order granting summary judgment for defendant.

Fisher v. Hargett, No. M2020-00831-SC-RDM-CV (Tenn. Sup. Ct.)

  Case Summary Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief pursuant to the Tennessee Constitution and Tennessee statutory law with respect to their rights to vote by mail. Plaintiffs allege that they are immunocompromised, or risk transmitting COVID to an immunocompromised person, and therefore run a significant risk if required to vote in person. Tennessee law presently provides that vote-by-mail is only available to those physically unable to appear in person (or caregivers of such people); plaintiffs contend that this construction, in light of the COVID crisis, violates the rights to suffrage and equal protecton provided under the Tennessee Constitution. In the alternative, plaintiffs seek a declaration that a physician may certify a class of voters en masse as eligible to vote by mail under Tennessee statutory law. After the court below granted a Temporary Restraining Order, Hargett filed an interlocutory appeal.
Filed 06/12/2020
State Tennessee
Type of Court State
Status Closed ()
Last Updated 09/07/2020
Issue Tag(s) Vote-by-Mail (Claim that Mail Voting Leads to Fraud and/or Vote Dilution, Failure to Allow Fear of COVID to Qualify as “Excuse”, Failure to Provide Vote-by-Mail Accommodations for Voters with Disabilities)
Dispositive Ruling(s) 08/05/2020: Order/Ruling, The court found that, for plaintiffs who are not specially vulnerable to COVID-19, the burden on the right to vote is only moderate, rather than severe. The court then found that, despite the state's unpersuasive evidence of the risk of voter fraud and unpersuasive arguments about fiscal responsibility and feasibility, this moderate burden is justified by the state's interest in the statutory election scheme itslef. Election statutes are a proper exercise of the power vested in the legislature by the constitution. To judge these policy decisions on their merits would be to exceed the role of the judiciary. Accordingly, the trial court's temporary injunction is vacated.
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