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
Donald J. Trump for President Inc. v. Bucks County Bd. of Elections
Closed
Donald J. Trump for President Inc. v. Bucks County Bd. of Elections, No. 20-05786-35 (Penn. Ct. Common Pleas, Bucks Cnty.) |
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| Case Summary | Petitioners, the Trump campaign and RNC, petitioned a review of the Bucks County Board of Elections's counting of absentee ballots. Petitioners alleged that defendant accepted ballots with date or address defects, or with unsealed secrecy sleeves, as valid votes. Petitioners sought a reversal of this decision. | |
| Filed | 11/09/2020 | |
| State | Pennsylvania | |
| Type of Court | State | |
| Status | Closed | |
| Last Updated | 05/13/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Other Vote-by-Mail Issue) Date, address, secrecy sleeve defects |
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| Complaint(s) | 11/09/2020: Complaint filed. | |
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 11/19/2020: Order/Ruling, The court held that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has made it clear that voters should not be disenfranchised based on advisory portions of the Election Code. Even following a "strict" interpretation of the Code, the address, date, or secrecy envelope errors are not mandated by statute. Dismissed. | |
In re: Canvass of Absentee and/or Mail-in Ballots of November 3, 2020 General Election, No. 1191 C.D. 2020 |
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| Case Summary | Appeal from the lower court's decision to uphold the Board of Election's decision to count the contested ballots. Appellant argues the Bucks County Board violated the Election Code when it did not reject and, over objection, accepted 2,177 ballots. | |
| Filed | 11/20/2020 | |
| State | Pennsylvania | |
| Type of Court | State | |
| Status | Closed | |
| Last Updated | 03/13/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Other Vote-by-Mail Issue) Date, address, secrecy sleeve defects |
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| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 11/19/2020: Appellant Brief | |
| 11/25/2020: Order/Ruling, The court first described how Appellant has since withdrawn some of the challenges in the complaint and, of the remaining challenges, all but 69 ballots were resolved by a recent decision of the Supreme Court. These remaining 69 ballots were received with secrecy envelopes that were “unsealed.” The court held that, since: (i) it cannot be established that the electors did not seal the secrecy envelopes; (ii) the parties stipulated that the instructions on the outer envelope stated only that the ballot should be placed in the secrecy envelope and did not specify that the envelope needed to be securely sealed; and (iii) there are no allegations of any fraud, impropriety, misconduct, or undue influence, or that the secrecy of the ballots cast was jeopardized, the 69 ballots would count. The court held prospectively that ballots must be securely sealed. | ||
In re: Canvass Of Absentee And/Or Mail-In Ballots Of November 3, 2020 General Election (Donald J. Trump for President Inc. v. Bucks County Board of Elections), No. 676 MAL 2020 (No. 174 MM 2020) |
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| Case Summary | Prior to the Commonwealth Court's order, the DNC and the Bucks County Board of Elections applied to the Supreme Court. | |
| Filed | 11/21/2020 | |
| State | Pennsylvania | |
| Type of Court | State | |
| Status | Closed | |
| Last Updated | 03/13/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Other Vote-by-Mail Issue) Date, address, secrecy sleeve defects |
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| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 11/21/2020: Appellant Brief | |
| 11/24/2020: Order/Ruling, The Supreme Court denied the applications to Exercise Extraordinary Jurisdiction. | ||
| 12/04/2020: Other, Emergency Petition for Appeal | ||
| 12/08/2020: Order/Ruling, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied the Emergency Petition for Allowance of Appeal. | ||
