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
Chambers v. North Carolina
Closed
Chambers v. North Carolina, No. XX (N.C. Super. Ct., Wake Cnty.) |
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| Case Summary | Plaintiffs were in ill-health, some were senior citizens and all live alone and are following social distancing guidelines. They all intend to vote via absentee ballot and are concerned about the witness requirements exposing them to COVID-19. | |
| Filed | 07/10/2020 | |
| State | North Carolina | |
| Type of Court | State | |
| Status | Closed () | |
| Last Updated | 09/06/2020 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Witness and/or Notary Requirement) | |
| Complaint(s) | 07/10/2020: Complaint filed. | |
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 09/03/2020: Order/Ruling, Court DENIED plaintiff’s motion for Preliminary Injunction (i) to prohibit enforcement of North Carolina's witness requirement for absentee ballots during the pandemic, (ii) to require the counting of ballots that are otherwise valid but fail the witness requirement, and (iii) to educate the public about the invalidation of the witness requirement. The court found that plaintiffs do not have a substantial likelihood of prevailing on the merits and that the equities do not weigh in their favor as defendants would have to replace or modify existing ballots envelopes and voter guides costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and delay the mailing of mail ballots for all voters, and, these actions would likely create voter confusion. | |
