Justia Election Law Opinion Summaries

In this case, the defendant, Douglass Mackey, was convicted of conspiring to injure citizens in the exercise of their right to vote in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 241. The conviction was based on three memes he posted or reposted on Twitter shortly before the 2016 presidential election, which falsely suggested that supporters of then-candidate Hillary Clinton could vote by text message.The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Donnelly, J.) oversaw the trial, where a jury found Mackey guilty. Mackey appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to prove that he knowingly agreed to join the charged conspiracy. The government presented evidence of Mackey's participation in several private Twitter message groups where members discussed strategies to influence the election, including the creation and distribution of misleading memes. However, Mackey was not a member of these groups during the critical period when the conspiracy was allegedly formed and discussed.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The court found that the government failed to provide sufficient evidence that Mackey knowingly agreed to join the conspiracy. The court noted that while Mackey posted the misleading memes, there was no direct evidence that he viewed or participated in the relevant discussions within the private message groups. The court emphasized that mere association with individuals involved in an unlawful undertaking is not enough to prove knowing involvement in a conspiracy.The Second Circuit concluded that the evidence was insufficient to support Mackey's conviction and reversed the judgment of the district court. The case was remanded with instructions to enter a judgment of acquittal for Mackey. View "United States v. Mackey" on Justia Law

Appellants Benedict J. Frederick, III, Matthew W. Wyskiel, III, and Stacie Teal-Locust challenged the Baltimore City Board of Elections' decision to reject a proposed charter amendment petition sponsored by Renew Baltimore. The proposed amendment sought to cap Baltimore City's real property tax rate, decreasing it incrementally over seven years. The current tax rate is $2.248 per $100 of assessed value, and the amendment aimed to reduce it to $1.20 per $100 by fiscal year 2032.The Election Director for the City Board approved the petition format but did not assess its legality. Renew Baltimore submitted the petition with 23,542 signatures, exceeding the required 10,000. However, the Election Director later deemed the amendment deficient, citing a conflict with section 6-302(a) of the Tax-Property Article, which grants the Mayor and City Council the authority to set property tax rates. The Circuit Court for Baltimore City upheld this decision, ruling that the amendment was not proper charter material and violated section 6-302(a).The Supreme Court of Maryland reviewed the case and affirmed the Circuit Court's decision. The Court held that the proposed charter amendment was impermissible because it violated section 6-302(a) of the Tax-Property Article by allowing citizens to establish the tax rate, which is a power vested in the Mayor and City Council. Additionally, the Court noted that section 49 of Article II of the Baltimore City Charter prohibits voters from initiating legislation related to property taxation. Therefore, the proposed amendment could not be presented on the November 2024 general election ballot. View "Frederick v. Balt. City Bd. of Elections" on Justia Law

Three Alaska residents challenged the Division of Elections' process for certifying a ballot initiative for the November 2024 election. They claimed the Division violated regulations and statutes by allowing corrections to circulators’ certifications of petition booklets used to gather signatures. The superior court granted summary judgment to the Division and the initiative’s sponsors on this issue. After a trial on other issues, the court ordered the Division to reject some signatures and booklets but found enough valid signatures remained to keep the initiative on the ballot. The challengers appealed the summary judgment decision.The superior court ruled that Alaska Statute 15.45.130 allows corrections to circulators’ certifications after the petition is filed, as long as the corrections are made before the Division completes its signature-counting process. The court found that the statute’s language, legislative history, and intent support this interpretation, aiming to facilitate the initiative process and avoid disenfranchising voters due to technical errors.The Alaska Supreme Court reviewed the case and affirmed the superior court’s decision. The court held that AS 15.45.130 permits corrections to certifications during the Division’s 60-day review period, even after the one-year signature-gathering deadline and the start of the legislative session. The court found that the statute’s plain language, legislative history, and purpose support allowing corrections to ensure voters’ signatures are counted. The court also determined that the Division’s regulations do not prohibit post-filing corrections and that the Division’s interpretation of its regulations was reasonable. Thus, the initiative remained on the ballot. View "Crow v. Beecher" on Justia Law

The case involves a contested Republican primary runoff election for the office of tax collector/assessor in Pearl River County, Mississippi. Jo Lynn Houston was initially certified as the winner by a margin of two votes over Sandy Kane Smith. Smith challenged the results, alleging that two illegal votes were cast by individuals who voted in both the Democratic primary and the Republican runoff, and that a miscounted vote in the Carriere 5 Precinct should have been counted for him.The Circuit Court of Pearl River County found that the two illegal votes and the miscounted vote warranted a special election in two precincts where the illegal votes were cast. The court ordered that the results of the special election be added to the adjusted totals, which would then determine the final outcome. Houston appealed the decision, arguing that Smith did not meet his burden of proving that the will of the electorate could not be ascertained.The Supreme Court of Mississippi reviewed the case and affirmed the Circuit Court's decision. The court held that Smith had met his burden of proving the existence of illegal votes and that the two-vote margin made it impossible to ascertain the will of the electorate. The court found that a special election was necessary to determine the true outcome. The court also dismissed Smith's cross-appeal, which raised additional factual issues and alleged a conflict of interest with a county election commissioner serving on the special tribunal.In conclusion, the Supreme Court of Mississippi affirmed the order for a special election in the specified precincts and dismissed the cross-appeal, upholding the lower court's decision to vacate the original election certification and conduct a new election to resolve the contested results. View "Houston v. Smith" on Justia Law

A group called Idahoans United for Women and Families filed an original action in the Idaho Supreme Court seeking writs of certiorari and mandamus. They challenged the fiscal impact statement (FIS) and ballot titles prepared for a citizen initiative titled the “Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act.” The group argued that the FIS and ballot titles did not comply with Idaho law and requested the court to either certify their versions or order the Idaho Division of Financial Management (DFM) and the Attorney General to prepare new ones.The Idaho Supreme Court dismissed the petition against the Secretary of State, as Idahoans United failed to specify the writ or what they sought to compel. The court partially granted the writ of mandamus against DFM, finding that the FIS did not substantially comply with Idaho Code section 34-1812 due to a lack of a reasonable basis for its estimated fiscal impact, unclear language, and unnecessary legal terms. The court also partially granted the writ of mandamus against the Attorney General, concluding that the short ballot title did not substantially comply with Idaho Code section 34-1809 because it failed to capture all distinctive features of the initiative. However, the court found that the long ballot title substantially complied with the statutory requirements.The Idaho Supreme Court retained jurisdiction and ordered DFM to provide a new FIS and the Attorney General to provide a new short ballot title by a specified deadline. The court declined to certify the versions provided by Idahoans United and did not award attorney fees to any party. Upon submission, the court reviewed the new FIS and short ballot title, concluding that both substantially complied with the statutory requirements and certified the new short ballot title to the Idaho Secretary of State. View "Idahoans United for Women and Families v. Labrador" on Justia Law

Joanne Pearson, a Republican candidate for Madison County Election Commissioner in District Three, won the election against Walter Young, Jr., a Democratic candidate, by a vote of 5,772 to 3,917. Pearson had filed her application to qualify as a candidate in January 2024, and the Madison County Board of Supervisors approved her candidacy in February 2024. Five citizens, collectively referred to as Brown, appealed the Board’s decision, arguing that Pearson’s application was incomplete and that there was a conflict of interest with the Board’s attorney, Spence Flatgard.The Madison County Circuit Court reviewed the case and denied Brown’s motion to disqualify Flatgard, affirming the Board’s decision to approve Pearson’s candidacy. The court found that Pearson’s application, despite some incomplete areas, met the statutory requirements for the position. Brown then appealed both decisions to the Supreme Court of Mississippi.The Supreme Court of Mississippi reviewed the case and affirmed the lower court’s decisions. The court held that the Board did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in approving Pearson’s candidacy. It found that Pearson’s application substantially complied with the statutory requirements, and any minor irregularities did not mislead the electors. The court also upheld the circuit court’s decision to deny the motion to disqualify Flatgard, finding no conflict of interest as the Board and the election commission were not adverse parties in this matter. The court concluded that the Board’s decision was supported by substantial evidence and was within its discretionary power. View "Brown v. Madison County Board of Supervisors" on Justia Law

In the 2023 Republican primary election for the District 6 seat on the Columbus City Council, no candidate ran, prompting the Bartholomew County Republican Party to hold a caucus to select a nominee. Joseph Foyst was chosen, but Ross Thomas, the chairman of the Bartholomew County Democratic Party, sued for a declaratory judgment claiming the Republican Party missed the statutory deadline for choosing its nominee. The suit was unresolved before the election, which Foyst won. After the election, the Bartholomew Circuit Court denied Thomas’s claim, but the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the Republican Party missed the deadline and declared Foyst’s candidacy void, instructing that Bryan Muñoz, the second-place finisher, be declared the winner.The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer and remanded to the circuit court to dismiss the case as moot. The court noted that the Indiana General Assembly created two distinct avenues for election disputes: pre-election candidacy challenges and post-election contests. Thomas did not file an election contest, which is the only statutory remedy for declaring the second-place finisher the winner when the first-place finisher’s nomination is invalid. Since Thomas only brought a pre-election challenge, his request to prohibit Foyst from appearing on the ballot became moot after the election occurred and Foyst appeared on the ballot.The Indiana Supreme Court held that Thomas must follow the statutory requirements for an election contest to set aside election results. The court emphasized the importance of adhering to the General Assembly’s rules for challenging elections and concluded that Thomas’s failure to file an election contest rendered his claim moot. The court vacated the Court of Appeals decision and remanded the case to the circuit court with instructions to dismiss it as moot. View "Thomas v. Foyst" on Justia Law

In December 2023, Mary McDonald filed a petition to run as a Republican candidate for a seat on the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. A protest was filed against her candidacy by Mohamed Al-Hamdani and Brenda Blausser, alleging she was not qualified due to her position in the Democratic Party and other statutory non-compliances. During the protest hearing, it was revealed that a confidential legal memorandum from the county prosecutor’s office had been leaked to the protesters. An investigation found that the board’s deputy director, Russell M. Joseph, had forwarded the memo from his board email to his personal email and then to Al-Hamdani.The Montgomery County Board of Elections initially denied a public-records request for emails related to the memo, citing attorney-client privilege and lack of access to the records. After further clarification, the board maintained its position, leading Joseph J. Platt to file an original action seeking a writ of mandamus to compel the board to produce the emails and to organize and maintain public records properly.The Supreme Court of Ohio reviewed the case and determined that the email from the prosecutor’s office to the board and the email Joseph sent from his board email to his personal email were public records and not protected by attorney-client privilege. However, the email Joseph sent from his personal email to Al-Hamdani was not considered a public record. The court granted the writ in part, ordering the board to produce the two emails, awarded Platt $1,000 in statutory damages, court costs, and attorney fees subject to an itemized application. The court denied the writ regarding the organization and maintenance of records. View "State ex rel. Platt v Montgomery Cty. Bd. of Elections" on Justia Law

The case involves a challenge to seven rules promulgated by the State Elections Board (SEB) of Georgia. The plaintiffs, including individuals and organizations, argue that these rules were not authorized by the General Assembly and violated the nondelegation doctrine of the Georgia Constitution. The rules in question include requirements for video surveillance of absentee ballot drop boxes, hand counting of ballots, and the provision of photo identification when delivering absentee ballots, among others.The trial court found that the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the rules and ruled in their favor, declaring the rules unconstitutional and contrary to the Election Code. The court also found that the rules violated the nondelegation doctrine and the Federal Elections Clause. The defendants appealed the decision.The Supreme Court of Georgia reviewed the case and determined that the organizational plaintiffs did not have standing, as they did not assert violations of their own rights. The individual plaintiffs had standing to challenge five of the seven rules based on their right to vote but did not have standing to challenge the Poll Watcher Rule and the Daily Reporting Rule. The court vacated and remanded the issue of whether one plaintiff had standing as a member of the Chatham County Board of Elections.On the merits, the court overruled the precedent set by Dept. of Transp. v. City of Atlanta, which had allowed broad delegations of legislative power to executive agencies. Applying a stricter nondelegation analysis, the court found that four of the five rules challenged by the individual plaintiffs were not authorized by statute and thus invalid. The Drop Box Surveillance Rule, however, was found to be consistent with the statutory requirements and was upheld. The case was remanded for further proceedings regarding the standing of the election board member and the validity of the remaining two rules. View "REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE v. ETERNAL VIGILANCE ACTION, INC." on Justia Law

The case involves the San Diego Public Library Foundation and the San Diego Parks Foundation (appellants) who began circulating a petition in July 2022 for the "Libraries and Parks Improvement Act" initiative to secure funding for libraries and parks in San Diego. They submitted over 111,000 signatures to the San Diego City Clerk for verification. The City Clerk forwarded the petition to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters for signature verification. The Registrar used a random sample to verify the signatures and determined that the initiative did not have enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.The Superior Court of San Diego County found that the City Clerk used the correct election date (November 2020) to determine the number of required signatures. The court also found that the appellants needed an additional 185 valid signatures to trigger a full count. The court did not address all of the appellants' contentions because it concluded that the appellants could not achieve the required number of valid signatures.The California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One, reviewed the case. The court held that the City Clerk correctly used the general election preceding the filing of the notice of intent to circulate the initiative petition to determine the required number of signatures. However, the court found that the Registrar acted arbitrarily in rejecting signatures due to misspellings, illegibility, or nonstandard abbreviations when the voter registration record could be located and the identity of the signer could be verified. The court reversed the judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. View "San Diego Public Library Foundation v. Fuentes" on Justia Law