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
Arlene Ocasio v. Comisión Estatal de Elecciones
Closed
Arlene Ocasio v. Comisión Estatal de Elecciones, No. 3:20-cv-01432 (D.P.R.) |
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| Case Summary | Plaintiffs alleged that although Puerto Rico's legislature expanded absentee and early voting eligibility for recent primaries and authorized expansions for the upcoming election, Puerto Rico's Comisión Estatal de Elecciones de Puerto Rico has not acted to allow senior citizens to vote early or absentee in November. Plaintiffs alleged that the severity of the COVID crisis in Puerto Rico forces senior citizens to chose between protecting their health and voting in person. Plaintiffs asked the court to declare the commission's failure to act a violation of the 1st and 14th Amendments, and sought injunctions mandating that Puerto Rico identify voters over 60 years old as eligible to vote absentee or early. | |
| Filed | 08/20/2020 | |
| State | Puerto Rico | |
| Type of Court | Federal | |
| Circuit | First Circuit | |
| Status | Closed | |
| Last Updated | 05/14/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Failure to Allow No-Excuse Vote by Mail) In-Person Voting COVID Concern (Early Voting Availability/Dates) |
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| Complaint(s) | 08/20/2020: Complaint filed. | |
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 09/14/2020: Order/Ruling, Court granted request for preliminary injunction allowing Puerto Ricans over 60 to vote early and absentee and extending the deadline by ten days--until September 24, 2020--the deadline for these voters to apply for early voting absentee ballots. The court also ordered the government to conduct a media campaign to publicize this change. The court, however, denied a request to order the government to identify voters over sixty years of age as individuals eligible to vote by early voting and absentee ballot. | |
| 09/23/2020: Order/Ruling, Final order converted temporary injunction into a permanent injunction and closed case. | ||
