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
Martel v. Condos
Closed
Martel v. Condos, No. 5:20-cv-00131 (D. Vt.), No. 5:20-cv-00131 (D. Vt. filed Sept. 4, 2020) |
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| Case Summary | Plaintiffs argue, based on the Elections Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as the Vermont Constitution, that the Vermont Secretary of State did not have the authority to make changes to election law and procedure that contravene state law. In June, the Vermont Secretary of State issued a Directive altering election procedures for the August primary and the November general election, and the plaintiffs here take particular issue with the Secretary's plans to mail a ballot to every active voter on the state voter checklist. They argue that many voters on the voter checklist are no longer active and that an influx of blank ballots creates an environment ripe for fraud, diluting the votes of other Vermont voters in the process. | |
| Filed | 09/04/2020 | |
| State | Vermont | |
| Type of Court | Federal | |
| Circuit | Second Circuit | |
| Status | Closed () | |
| Last Updated | 10/15/2020 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Claim that Mail Voting Leads to Fraud and/or Vote Dilution, Other Vote-by-Mail Issue, Other Vote-by-Mail Issue) Authority To Act (Elections Clause, State Separation of Powers) Challenging decision to send all registered voters an absentee ballot for general election Failure to ban ballot harvesting increases likelihood of voter fraud |
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| Complaint(s) | 09/04/2020: Complaint filed. | |
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 09/16/2020: Order/Ruling, The Court denied the plaintiffs' preliminary injunction on standing grounds, holding that because their argued injury would affect all Vermont voters and would not affect the plaintiffs differently personally, they failed to assert the required injury in fact under standing analysis. The court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss on the same grounds. | |
