Wisconsin: Student Voter ID
Fair Elections Center and Pines Bach LLP filed a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s unnecessary requirements for student IDs to qualify as voter ID.
Tennessee: Registration Drive Restrictions
Fair Elections Center, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Tennessee, and Campaign Legal Center filed a federal lawsuit in May, 2019 challenging a new Tennessee law that imposes substantial penalties on groups that foster political participation via voter registration efforts.
Florida: Amendment 4 Advisory Opinion
Fair Elections Center and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC filed a brief with the Supreme Court of Florida arguing that under the Florida Constitution as amended by Amendment 4, people with felony convictions do not need to pay administrative costs and fees to regain their voting rights. These costs fund the criminal justice system, but do not serve as punishment and are not part of the criminal sentence.
Louisiana: COVID-19 Litigation
Fair Elections Center joined Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the law firm Arnold & Porter in filing a federal lawsuit against Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, and other officials over the state’s lack of safe and accessible voting processes during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
North Carolina: COVID-19 Litigation
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Fair Elections Center and pro bono counsel from the law firm WilmerHale have filed a lawsuit demanding North Carolina take the necessary steps to guarantee a fair, safe election in November, given the likelihood that the state and the country will still be experiencing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kentucky: COVID-19 Litigation
Despite the success of expanded, no-excuse absentee voting in Kentucky’s June 2020 primary election state officials did not take action to use the same rules to make voting safe for the general election during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fair Elections Center, Kentucky Equal Justice Center, and Kaplan Johnson Abate & Bird LLP filed a case to force the state to use the same successful process and ensure a safe election in November.
Pennsylvania: COVID-19 Litigation
Fair Elections Center and Hogan Lovells filed a complaint in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on behalf of a voter who in June, 2020 was disenfranchised when she was forced to choose between her health and her right to have her voice heard. The lawsuit seeks options to ensure voters who haven’t received their requested ballots and who cannot vote in person due to Covid-19 risk can still receive their ballots in time to vote.
Wisconsin: COVID-19 Litigation
Because of Wisconsin’s witness requirement for mail-in absentee ballots, at-risk voters who live alone must choose between endangering their lives and exercising their right to vote, or foregoing their vote altogether. On March 26, 2020, we filed a lawsuit challenging this rule as unconstitutionally burdensome during the pandemic. Our clients include individual voters who are at risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19.
Kentucky: Arbitrary Rights Restoration
Our client submitted his voting rights restoration application to the previous Kentucky Governor, Matt Bevin, but Bevin never acted on his application. Bevin’s successor, Andrew Beshear, concluded that our client’s and all of the other nearly 900 applications pending, were denied by Bevin’s inaction. He also concluded that these nearly 900 individuals would need to reapply. Due process requires that these applicants be provided with notice of the change in their applications’ status. We have sued in state court to enforce this.
Wisconsin: Voter Purge Litigation
The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin moved to intervene in a state court lawsuit filed in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. The lawsuit alleged that Wisconsin law required the Wisconsin Elections Commission to use information provided by the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) to flag voters who may have moved, and to cancel the registration of voters who do not respond within 30 days to a letter sent by the Commission, asking the voters to update or confirm their addresses.
