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
Republican National Committee v. Gill
Active
Republican National Committee v. Gill, No. 03971 EQCV193154 (Iowa Dist. Ct., Woodbury Cnty.) |
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| Case Summary | The Trump campaign and the RNC sued the Woodbury County auditor who sent voters absentee ballot applications prepopulated with some of their voter information, in contravention of the guidance of the Iowa Secretary of State. This is in light of a law passed this summer that would have required county officials to reach out to individual voters to cure ballot issues rather than looking them up in their own database, creating delays and confusion. The plaintiffs ask that the auditor be enjoined from using the prepopulated forms (many of which have already been sent to voters) and contact voters and inform them that the forms can no longer be used. | |
| Filed | 08/14/2020 | |
| State | Iowa | |
| Type of Court | State | |
| Status | Active | |
| Last Updated | 03/13/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Claim that Mail Voting Leads to Fraud and/or Vote Dilution, Notice/Cure for Mismatches Missing Signature or Mistakes) Authority To Act (State Separation of Powers) |
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| Complaint(s) | 08/14/2020: Complaint filed. | |
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 08/28/2020: Order/Ruling, The court granted the RNC’s request for temporary injunction against Woodbury County Iowa, ordering them to stop pre-populating ballot request forms prior to distribution, and ruling that the pre-populated forms received back are invalid. The court found that the burden incurred by voters who received and returned pre-populated ballot request forms, having to either submit a second request or vote early/in person, is outweighed by the irreparable harm posed by i) inconsistent absentee voting procedures, and ii) the risk of fraud posed by pre-populated ballot request forms. The court found that defendants knowingly violated Iowa Code Section 53.2(2)(a), pertaining to vote by mail distribution. | |
Republican National Committee v. Gill, No. 20-1169 (Iowa Sup. Ct.) |
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| Filed | 09/16/2020 | |
| State | Iowa | |
| Type of Court | State | |
| Status | Active | |
| Last Updated | 03/13/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Claim that Mail Voting Leads to Fraud and/or Vote Dilution) RNC brought suit against Woodbury County Auditor (Gill), who sent absentee registration forms with voter information filled in, contrary to state-wide rule requiring forms be sent blank. The trial court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting County Auditor from continuing to disperse and from accepting signed forms with preprinted information. The Iowa Supreme Court denied Gill's appeal, upholding the trial court's injunction. |
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| Complaint(s) | 09/16/2020: Complaint filed. | |
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 12/17/2020: Other | |
