The Supreme Court denied a writ of mandamus compelling Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to allow Relator to appoint election observers to inspect the counting of votes and compelling LaRose to provide election observers with copies of all software, hardware, and source codes installed on any automatic vote-tabulating machine, holding that Relator was not entitled to the writ.Relator, an independent candidate for Ohio Secretary of State on the November 8, 2022 general-election ballot, brought this expedited election case (1) asserting that Ohio Rev. Code 3505.21, which governs the appointment of election observers, violates constitutional equal protection guarantees because it restricts certified independent candidates' ability to appoint election observers; and (2) asking that tabulating-machine software be "open or unlocked" so that observers "may inspect [the machines] to the source code level[.]" The Supreme Court denied the writ, holding that there was no basis for a writ of mandamus to issue. View "State ex rel. Maras v. LaRose" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court granted Petitioner's petition for a supervisory writ claiming that petitions for leave to appeal filed by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Rise, Inc. in Kormanik v. Wisconsin Elections Commission were pending in the incorrect appellate district, holding that the appellate order transferring venue from District II to District IV must be vacated.Petitioner brought an action against the Wisconsin Elections Committee (WEC), alleging that two documents provided by the WEC to municipal clerks misinterpreted certain election statutes as permitting a clerk to "spoil" an absence ballot at an elector's request. The DNC and Rise subsequently intervened in the matter. The circuit court required the WEC to withdraw the challenged documents. The DNC and Rise filed separate petitions for leave to appeal. After the court of appeals concluded that venue was appropriate in District IV Petitioner filed a petition for a supervisory writ. The Supreme Court granted the writ, holding the circuit court judge violated his plain duty to venue the appeal in the correct district by ordering transfer of appellate venue from District II to District IV. View "Kormanik v. Brash" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court ordered that Petitioners shall correct the ballot for the November 8, 2022 general election because the general election ballot used by voters in Roseau County and Kittson County omitted information required by Minnesota law.Roseau and Kittson Counties filed petitions under Minn. Stat. 204B.44(a) to correct errors on the November 8, 2022 general election ballot, stating the the ballots in each county failed to include the political party affiliation for federal and state candidates and failed to include the word "incumbent" next to names of currently-serving judicial candidates. The Supreme Court ordered that the counties shall correct the ballot for the November 8, 2022 general election and that Petitioners shall resume delivery of ballots to voters after they receive corrected ballots from their vendors. View "In re Roseau County Ballot for the November 8, 2022 General Election" on Justia Law

In 2020 Alaska voters approved, by a slim margin, a ballot initiative that made sweeping changes to Alaska’s system of elections. The changes included replacing the system of political party primary elections with a nonpartisan primary election and adopting ranked-choice voting for the general election. A coalition of politically active voters and a political party filed suit, arguing that these changes violated the Alaska Constitution. The superior court ruled otherwise. The Alaska Supreme Court considered the appeal on an expedited basis and affirmed the superior court’s judgment in a brief order. The Court concluded the challengers did not carry their burden to show that the Alaska Constitution prohibited the election system Alaska voters have chosen. The Court published its opinion to explain its reasoning. View "Kohlhaas, et al. v.Alaska, Division of Elections, et al." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied a writ of mandamus sought by Brandon L. King, mayor of East Cleveland, to compel the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to remove a recall election against King from the November 8, 2022 ballot, holding that King failed to establish that he was entitled to the writ.Charles Holmes delivered an affidavit to the clerk of the East Cleveland city council seeking to recall King from office. The clerk issued blank recall petitions to Holmes, who returned with part-partitions. The clerk concluded that the petition contained enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot, and the Board ordered a recall election to appeal on the November 2022 general election ballot. Holmes subsequently brought a complaint for a writ of mandamus. The trial court denied the motion. The Supreme Court denied Darryl Moore's motion for leave to intervene and denied the writ of mandamus, holding (1) Moore was not entitled to intervene; and (2) the Board had no authority under the City of East Cleveland charter to decertify the King recall petition. View "State ex rel. King v. Cuyahoga County Bd. of Elections" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court granted a writ of mandamus ordering Respondent Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to place Relator Tanya Conrath's name on the ballot as the replacement Democratic Party candidate for the state-representative seat in the November 2022 state election, holding that Conrath established that she was entitled to the writ.The Democratic Party candidate for the state-representative seat in the 2022 primary election for state representative of Ohio House District 94 gave notice of his withdrawal from the race after the primary election was held but before the official result of the primary election had been certified. Thereafter, a district committee chose Conrath to be the Democratic party's replacement nominee, and Conrath accepted the nomination. Secretary LaRose, however, concluded that the district committee had lacked authority to select a replacement nominee because Conrath was not a "party candidate." The Supreme Court granted a writ of mandamus, holding that Conrath had a clear legal right to have her name placed on the ballot and that Respondents had a clear legal duty to place Conrath's name on the ballot. View "State ex rel. Conrath v. LaRose" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court approved a plan proposed by Petitioner to correct an error on the November 8, 2022 general election ballot in this petition brought by the Ramsey County Elections Manager under Minn. Stat. 204B.44(a) with minor modifications.Due to a clerical error, Ramsey County ballots incorrectly listed Beverly Peterson, and not Scott Hesselgrave, as the Republican Party candidate for Minnesota House District 67A. Petitioner sought an order authorizing correction of the ballot for House District 67A, distribution of the corrected ballot, and procedures for counting these voters' ballots. The Supreme Court held that it was authorized to correct the ballot error and the Petitioner proposed an appropriate plan to remedy the error. View "In re 2022 General Election Ballot" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed as modified the orders of the circuit court granting motions to dismiss filed by the Lonoke County Board of Election Commissioners, individual Board members, and the Secretary of State, holding that the dismissal orders are modified to reflect that the dismissals are without prejudice.Plaintiff, who sought to run as an independent candidate in the 2022 election for Lonoke County Judge, brought this action seeking a declaration that the actions of the Clerk's office violated his right to access to the ballot and the right of the voters to cast ballots for independent candidates and adding challenges to the constitutionality of Ark. Code Ann. 7-7-103. The circuit court dismissed the complaint with prejudice. The Supreme Court affirmed as modified to reflect that the dismissal was without prejudice, holding that the circuit court properly dismissed the complaint but that the dismissal should have been without prejudice. View "Blackburn v. Lonoke County Bd. of Election Commissioners" on Justia Law

After the representative from Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District was appointed to serve as a cabinet secretary, the State held an out-of-cycle election to fill the seat. Plaintiffs, The Coalition for Good Governance did not trust the results. It organized several lawsuits targeting Georgia elections, including the one here: an action contending that the “precise outcome” of the runoff for the Sixth District seat was unknowable because the State’s electronic voting system was vulnerable to hacking. The Coalition (along with several individual plaintiffs) asked for a declaration that the runoff election was void and for an injunction against the system’s future use. Georgia began using new machines allowing voters to select their choices electronically.   Plaintiffs amended their complaint and moved to enjoin the use of the new election equipment. The district court entered its partial relief, and the Eleventh Circuit stayed the district court’s judgment. The Eleventh Circuit vacated the district court’s preliminary injunction on the state’s paper backup check-in list, as well as its related directives on provisional and emergency ballots, and dismissed the appeal with respect to the scanner order.   The court explained that the Coalition has not demonstrated a severe burden on the right to vote attributable to the State’s print date for the paper backup. The district court erred in treating that print date as such and abused its discretion when it reviewed the State’s backup practices under strict scrutiny. The court wrote that federal courts must resist the temptation to step into the role of elected representatives. View "Donna Curling, et al. v. Brad Raffensperger, et al." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied this petition asking that the Court order removal of Torrey Westrom from the November 8, 2022 general election ballot as a candidate for Senate District 12, holding that Petitioner was not entitled to relief.Petitioner alleged that Westrom, the current state senator for District 12, was not eligible for reelection to that office because he could satisfy the residency requirement of the Minnesota Constitution. Specifically, Petitioner alleged that Westrom will not have resided in Senate District 12 for the required six-month period prior to the general election. A referee concluded that Petitioners failed to prove that Westrom was ineligible to run for state legislative office in District 12 in the November general election. The Supreme Court denied the petition and granted the Attorney General's request to be dismissed from the matter, holding that Petitioners' objections failed. View "Fischer v. Simon" on Justia Law