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Last Updated: September 10, 2010 at 1:39 PM

League of Women Voters of Florida v. Browning

Case Information

Date Filed / Ended: April 28, 2008 / October 23, 2008
State: Florida
Issue: Voter Registration
Courts that Heard this Case: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Case 1:08-cv-21243); U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit (Case 08-15156)

Issue:

Whether Florida's new voter registration laws, which regulate the handling of voter registration applications by third-party voter registration organizations, are unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution. 

Status:

Complaint filed 4/28/08. Motion to dismiss for improper venue on filed on 5/8/08 and denied on 5/29/08.  Motion for Preliminary Injunction filed on 5/14/08 and denied on 8/6/08.  Notice of Appeal filed 9/5/08.  Case voluntarily dismissed on 10/23/08.

Court of Appeals Documents

  • Probable Jurisdiction Noted (9/15/08)
  • Appearance Form Submitted. (9/22/08)
  • Transcript Order Form (All Necessary Transcripts on File) (9/22/08)
  • Civil Appeal Statement Form (9/22/08)
  • Appearance Form Submitted (9/26/08)
  • Briefing notice issued (9/26/08)
  • MOT2 (Notice of court action) issued (filed 10/2/08)
  • E-CIP Filed (filed 10/3/08)
  • Certificate of Interested Persons (filed 10/6/08)
  • Motion to Dismiss Appeal Without Prejudice (filed 10/21/08)
  • Motion to Dismiss Appeal Without Prejudice is GRANTED by JT (filed 10/23/08)
  • Case Closed. Dismissed - Voluntarily (filed 10/23/08)
  • Letter to district court enclosing dismissal order issued(filed 10/23/08)
  • Pursuant to the appellant's motion for voluntary dismissal (joint stipulation of the parties), the appeal was duly entered dismissed on this date. (filed 10/23/08)

District Court Documents

Commentary

Donald B. Tobin

FAQ on social welfare organizations

Donald B. Tobin

The Frank E. and Virginia H. Bazler Designated Professor in Business Law and a senior fellow at Election Law @ Moritz explains the nuances of social welfare organizations and federal regulations related to them.

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In the News

Donald B. Tobin

How Did The IRS Get The Job Of Vetting Political Activity?

Professor Donald Tobin was interviewed by the Boston NPR station on its show Here & Now about the Internal Revenue Service's investigation into groups classified as social welfare organizations (marked by the 501(c)(4) tax classification). The IRS was in search of groups that are not focusing primarly on the social welfare of the country, but have a strong political advocacy facet. Political advocacy groups might want to be classified as 501(c)(4) organizations because under that classification they do not have to disclose their donors.

"The key is if you going to be engaged in candidate-type advocacy, and if you're going to intervene in elections and engage in election advocacy, we want disclosure of who your donors are," Tobin said.

“What groups are trying to do here is avoid having to disclose,” Tobin continued. “By earning the classification of social welfare, they’re avoiding the campaign disclosure that’s required for political organizations. So that’s really the underpinning of why we have this mess of the IRS having to get in and investigate and figure out whether an organization is political or not.”

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Info & Analysis

Ohio House Committee Recommends Upholding Landis' Election Victory

Yesterday, an Ohio House of Representatives committee recommended 5-4 that the Ohio House uphold the election victory of Republican State Representative Al Landis over Democratic challenger Josh O'Farrell. In February, the Ohio Supreme Court sent the O'Farrell v. Landis record to the House for consideration. According to an article in the Canton Repository, committee chairman and State Representative Matt Huffman said he expects a vote by the full House later this month.

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Major Pending Cases

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