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
Nielsen v. DeSantis
Closed. Settled and/or Withdrawn (Two separate settlements with different plaintiffs. One settlement with The Florida Council of the Blind Inc. and another with Priorities USA/Florida Alliance for Retired Americans/Alianza for Progress. Settlement terms for the former include a pilot of new technology to help voters with disabilities (in particular blind voters) vote in five Florida counties. This technology will be installed statewide by March, 222. The later settlement terms include officials educating county election supervisors and encouraging them to make voters aware of their voting options. Election supervisors will be educated about new voter accessibility technologies.The state must maximize the use of drop boxes for vote-by-mail ballots. The secretary of state will be encouraged to inform voters of early voting options and to make voting materials available in Spanish.)
Nielsen v. DeSantis, No. 4:20-cv-00236 (N.D. Fla.) consolidated with Dream Defenders v. DeSantis No. 1:20-cv-00067 |
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| Case Summary | Multi-plaintiff and defendant suit alleging that Florida’s failure to provide prepaid postage disenfranchised elderly citizens, low-income citizens, persons with disabilities, and student voters, because these persons may be risking their health by venturing out to buy postage, or they may not be able to afford postage. In addition, the suit alleges that Florida failed to provide Spanish-language voting materials and assistance because in-person translation services were no longer available and online translation were of poor quality; that persons with disabilities, such as blind persons, did not have access to vote-by-mail ballots that accommodated their disabilities; and that low-income voters were unable to obtain vote-by-mail paper applications due to internet access and printing restrictions. Specifically, the suit alleges violations of the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause, violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and violations of the Rehabilitation Act. | |
| Filed | 03/16/2020 | |
| State | Florida | |
| Type of Court | Federal | |
| Circuit | Eleventh Circuit | |
| Status | Closed. Settled and/or Withdrawn (Two separate settlements with different plaintiffs. One settlement with The Florida Council of the Blind Inc. and another with Priorities USA/Florida Alliance for Retired Americans/Alianza for Progress. Settlement terms for the former include a pilot of new technology to help voters with disabilities (in particular blind voters) vote in five Florida counties. This technology will be installed statewide by March, 222. The later settlement terms include officials educating county election supervisors and encouraging them to make voters aware of their voting options. Election supervisors will be educated about new voter accessibility technologies.The state must maximize the use of drop boxes for vote-by-mail ballots. The secretary of state will be encouraged to inform voters of early voting options and to make voting materials available in Spanish.) | |
| Last Updated | 05/12/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Failure to Provide Vote-by-Mail Accommodations for Voters with Disabilities, Postage Requirement, Mail Voting Deadlines (for Applying, Receiving, Postmark)) Language Access Online Voting |
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| Complaint(s) | 03/16/2020: Complaint, Original Dream Defenders Complaint. filed. | |
| 06/21/2020: Complaint, Second Amended Complaint filed. | ||
| 06/25/2020: Complaint, Third Amended Complaint filed. | ||
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 06/11/2020: Order/Ruling, Order denying motion to dismiss. | |
| 06/24/2020: Order/Ruling, Order denying preliminary injunction on all issues but one. | ||
| 06/30/2020: Order/Ruling, Motions to dismiss filed by certain defendants granted against certain claims for lack of standing, lack of traceability and redressability, and lack of merits. | ||
| 07/02/2020: Order/Ruling, Plaintiff's motions for injunctions denied. | ||
| 07/06/2020: Order/Ruling, Order narrowing plaintiff’s claim of violation of Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for failure to state adequate pleadings, namely the allegations that the Spanish translations of certain materials are poor, without specifying how exactly these translations are deficient. | ||
| 07/20/2020: Order/Ruling, Order dismissing two of the plaintiff’s claims (“Nielsen” and “Williams”) because they have entered into settlement negotiations with defendants, and referring the third plaintiff (“Grubb”) to a settlement conference, pursuant to Grubbs’ unopposed motion for a settlement conference. | ||
