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
League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa v. Pate
Active
League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa v. Pate, No. 06521-CVCV081901 (Iowa Dist. Ct., Johnson Cnty.) |
||
| Case Summary | Iowa doesn’t require voters to provide an excuse to submit an absentee ballot, but voters must complete an absentee ballot request that requires certain identifying information and an affidavit. Election officials were able to use available voter database information to fill in any missing information on absentee ballot requests prior to sending the absentee ballots to voters. In June 2020, the Iowa legislature passed HF 2643, which prohibited election officials from looking up missing or incorrect information from voter databases and instead requires them to contact absentee ballot applicants by phone or email to obtain the information. Plaintiffs sued seeking orders declaring that HF 2643 violates the Iowa state constitution and enjoining the defendant from enforcing HF 2643 on the grounds that it violates due process and unjustly restricts the right to vote, particularly in light of concerns around in-person voting due to COVID-19. | |
| Filed | 07/14/2020 | |
| State | Iowa | |
| Type of Court | State | |
| Status | Active | |
| Last Updated | 03/13/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Notice/Cure for Mismatches Missing Signature or Mistakes, Other Vote-by-Mail Issue) Other Failure to allow election officials to assist with absentee ballot requests. |
|
| Complaint(s) | 07/14/2020: Complaint filed. | |
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 09/25/2020: Order/Ruling, The court denied the motion for temporary injunctive relief. The court applied rational basis review and found that Iowa’s new law, which requires county auditors to contact voters for missing information as opposed to using state databases, does not violate absentee voters’ due process rights. | |
League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa v. Pate, No. 20-1249 (Iowa Sup. Ct.) |
||
| Case Summary | Iowa doesn’t require voters to provide an excuse to submit an absentee ballot, but voters must complete an absentee ballot request that requires certain identifying information and an affidavit. Election officials were able to use available voter database information to fill in any missing information on absentee ballot requests prior to sending the absentee ballots to voters. In June 2020, the Iowa legislature passed HF 2643, which prohibited election officials from looking up missing or incorrect information from voter databases and instead requires them to contact absentee ballot applicants by phone or email to obtain the information. Plaintiffs sued seeking orders declaring that HF 2643 violates the Iowa state constitution and enjoining the defendant from enforcing HF 2643 on the grounds that it violates due process and unjustly restricts the right to vote, particularly in light of concerns around in-person voting due to COVID-19. After the district court denied a temporary injunction, the plaintiffs sought an interlocutory appeal. | |
| Filed | 10/14/2020 | |
| State | Iowa | |
| Type of Court | State | |
| Status | Active | |
| Last Updated | 03/13/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Other Vote-by-Mail Issue) Failure to allow election officials to assist with absentee ballot requests. |
|
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 10/14/2020: Other, The court granted Appellants' application for an interlocutory appeal. | |
| 10/16/2020: Appellant Brief, Appellants argue that the district court erred in holding that they were not likely to succeed on the merits of their argument that a new state statue preventing county officials from using a voter registration database to help process absentee ballots unduly burdens the right to vote under the Iowa Constitution and similarly violates the equal protection and due processes clauses of the United States Constitution. They argue as well that the Purcell principle should not apply to prevent the court from hearing the case. | ||
| 10/21/2020: Order/Ruling, The Court affirmed the lower court's denial of a temporary injunction. The Court held that the case was controlled by DSCC v. Pate, another recent Iowa case dealing with a statute implemented to protect absentee ballot integrity by requiring identification verification from absentee ballot requesters. The Court here held that the at issue law did not burden absentee voters because it is not a direct burden on voting at all but rather requires officials to gather information to correct defective applications for absentee ballots. The Court noted in particular that very few absentee ballot applications were being rejected and that no evidence was presented below that the law would lead to the denial to any Iowan of the right to vote. | ||
