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

 

Carson et al v. Simon

Closed. Settled and/or Withdrawn

Carson et al v. Simon, No. 0:20-cv-02030 (D. Minn.)

  Case Summary Secretary of State entered into a consent decree to not enforce Minnesota’s Election-Day ballot receipt deadline. Plaintiffs seek to enjoin the consent decree on the grounds it conflicts with state law, federal law, and the constitution.
Filed 09/22/2020
State Minnesota
Type of Court Federal
Circuit Eighth Circuit
Status Closed ()
Last Updated 11/05/2020
Issue Tag(s) Vote-by-Mail (Mail Voting Deadlines (for Applying, Receiving, Postmark))
Authority To Act (State Separation of Powers)
Complaint(s) 09/22/2020: Complaint filed.
Dispositive Ruling(s) 10/11/2020: Order/Ruling, The court denied the Republican Party of Minnesota's request for a preliminary indictment to strike down the Consent Decree agreed upon by Secretary Simon and the Minnesota Alliance for Retired Americans Education Fund on the grounds that plaintiffs lack standing. The decree rejects Minnesota's statutorily-mandated absentee ballot receipt deadline of 8pm on Election day, and instead asserts that ballots postmarked prior to November 3 and received within one week of election day are to be counted. The court's denial of the plaintiff's request for preliminary injuction essentially upholds this decree.

Carson v. Simon, No. 20-3139 (8th Cir.)

  Case Summary The District Court upheld a consent decree MN Secretary of State entered into to use a postmarked instead of received-by deadline for mail-in ballots. Plaintiff-appellants appeal the ruling and file for an emergency injunction pending appeal.
Filed 10/20/2020
State Minnesota
Type of Court Federal
Circuit Eighth Circuit
Status Closed. Settled and/or Withdrawn
Last Updated 02/04/2021
Issue Tag(s) Vote-by-Mail (Mail Voting Deadlines (for Applying, Receiving, Postmark))
Dispositive Ruling(s) 10/20/2020: Appellant Brief
10/29/2020: Order/Ruling, A three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit reversed the lower court, and granted the plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction, thereby blocking Minnesota’s absentee ballot receipt deadline extension. As a result of litigation regarding the state’s Election Day deadline earlier this year, Minnesota Secretary of State Simon voluntarily entered into a state court-backed consent decree directing election officials to count absentee ballots received up to a week after Election Day. Five days before the general election, this Eighth Circuit panel ruled that a Republican state legislator and a GOP activist, who would also serve as presidential electors, had standing to challenge the consent decree. The court ruled that the plaintiffs did, in fact, have standing, and also considered the merits of plaintiffs’ claims. It concluded that Minnesota’s extension “likely” violated Article II of the U.S. Constitution “because the Secretary extended the deadline for receipt of ballots without legislative authorization.” Under Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, the court reasoned, the secretary cannot “override” the state legislature, stating that “[t]here is no pandemic exception to the Constitution.” Despite recognizing that the Purcell principle instructs that “judges should normally refrain from altering [election rules] close to an election,” the panel determined that its decision—issued less than a week before the election—was supported by Purcell. The Purcell principle “is a presumption against disturbing the status quo,” the court explained, and here, “the Minnesota Legislature set the status quo, the Secretary upset it, and it is [the court’s] duty, consistent with Purcell, to at least preserve the possibility of restoring it.” The court instructed the Secretary of State to “identify, segregate, and otherwise maintain and preserve all absentee ballots” received by mail after 8 pm on Election Day. The court strongly hinted at the possibility of the rejection of all ballots received after the Election Day deadline, directing the state to separate late ballots “in a manner that would allow for their respective votes . . . to be removed from vote totals.” Following the court’s order, Minnesota Secretary of State Steven Simon announced that the state would not seek a stay of the Eighth Circuit’s decision at the U.S. Supreme Court, even though the state “disagree[d] with the court’s decision.” The secretary’s statement emphasized “that there is no court ruling yet saying [that ballots received after Election Day] are invalid,” and that “[w]e absolutely reserve the right to make every argument after Election Day that protects voters.”
10/30/2020: Order/Ruling, District Court orders Defendant, in his capacity as Secretary of State, to identify, segregate, and otherwise maintain and preserve all absentee ballots received after the deadlines set forth in Minn. Stat. § 203B.08.
12/09/2020: Other, All parties move to have the case voluntarily dismissed without prejudice.
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