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
Reed-Pratt v. Winfrey
Closed
Reed-Pratt v. Winfrey, No. 3:20-cv-12129 (E. D. Mich.) |
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| Case Summary | Plaintiff sued City Clerk for the City of Detroit, Detroit Department of Elections, and Detroit Election Commission for violating her procedural and substantive due process rights by mailing of an unsolicited absentee voter application. Plaintiff voted in person in the August 4, 2020 democratic primary elections. Purportedly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Defendants mailed unsolicited absentee voter applications to plaintiff and other registered voters in the City of Detroit. Plaintiff alleged that the pandemic did not authorize Defendants to violate Michigan Election Law, including the right to apply to vote by absentee ballot. Plaintiff also contended that she had been denied her constitutional and statutory rights to request an absentee voter application as well as procedural due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. Finally, plaintiff requested the court to find Defendants in criminal contempt for violating the Wayne County Circuit Court’s March 23, 2006 permanent injunction issued in the case Taylor v Currie, 05-524513-AW, and affirmed on appeal, 277 Mich. App. 85; 743 NW2d 571 (2007), lv denied, 483 Mich. 907; 762 NW 2d 169, (2009). | |
| Filed | 08/08/2020 | |
| State | Michigan | |
| Type of Court | Federal | |
| Circuit | Sixth Circuit | |
| Status | Closed | |
| Last Updated | 02/04/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | In-Person Voting COVID Concern (Other In-Person Voting Issue) Unsolicited mailing of absentee voter applications |
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| Complaint(s) | 08/09/2020: Complaint filed. | |
| 08/14/2020: Complaint filed. | ||
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 09/09/2020: Order/Ruling, The district court held that the plaintiff's state-law claims raised "novel and complex" and "substantial and unresolved questions of state law" and dismissed those claims without prejudice on the grounds that it was not appropriate for the district court to exercuse supplemental jurisdiction. The district court also stayed plaintiff's federal claims because a parallel state proceeding already under way dealt with the same constitutional issues, which again turned on issues of state law. | |
| 12/07/2020: Order/Ruling, Appeal dismissed because Appellant failed to timely file a brief. | ||
Reed-Pratt v. Winfrey, No. 20-1876 (6th Cir.) |
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| Case Summary | Court below abstained from addressing any issues while ongoing state litigation addressing similar issues continued, Plaintiffs then appealed. | |
| Filed | 09/10/2020 | |
| State | Michigan | |
| Type of Court | Federal | |
| Circuit | Sixth Circuit | |
| Status | Closed | |
| Last Updated | 08/13/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Other Vote-by-Mail Issue) Denial of state statutory and constitutional rights to apply for absentee ballot violated Due Process. |
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| Complaint(s) | 09/10/2020: Complaint filed. | |
