Last Updated: September 10, 2010 at 1:39 PM
Project Vote v. Madison County Board of Elections
Case Information
Date Filed / Ended: September 24, 2008 / December 24, 2008
State: Ohio
Issues: Absentee Ballots, Voter Registration
Courts that Heard this Case: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (Case 1:08-cv-02266)
Issue:
Whether the County Board of Elections' decision to only provide absentee ballots to voters who have been registered more than 30 days before the date they request the absentee ballot violates various provisions of state and federal law. This case is closely related to State ex rel. Colvin v. Brunner, in which the plaintiffs are attempting to challenge the Secretary of State's directive that interprets Ohio law as providing a "five-day window" in which individuals may simultaneously register and receive an absentee ballot.
Status:
Complaint and Application for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) were filed on 9/24/08. The TRO was issued by the Court on 9/29/08.
Related Case: State ex. rel. Colvin v. Brunner
District Court Documents
- Complaint
(filed 9/24/08)
- Plaintiff's Motion to Exceed Page Limit (filed 9/24/08)
- Plaintiff's Application for a Temporary Restraining Order and for Declaratory Relief (filed 9/24/08)
- Marginal Entry Order (filed 9/26/08)
- Motion for temporary restraining order filed by Project Vote (filed 9/26/08)
- Order and Notice of Hearing (filed 9/26/08)
- Response to Motion for temporary restraining order filed by Jennifer Brunner (filed 9/27/08)
- Memorandum in Opposition to Motion for temporary restraining order filed by Madison County Board of Elections (filed 9/27/08)
- Motion to dismiss, or In the Alternative, Transfer Venue filed by Defendant Madison County Board of Elections (filed 9/28/08)
- Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs' filed by Ohio American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (filed 9/28/08)
- Motion for Order Allowing Amicus Brief filed by Amicus Curiae Ohio American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (filed 9/28/08)
- Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs filed by District 1199, et al. (filed 9/28/08)
- Motion for Order Allowing filing of Amicus Brief filed by Amicus Curiae District 1199, et al. (filed 9/28/08)
- Reply to response to Motion for temporary restraining order filed by all plaintiffs (filed 9/29/08)
- Motion for leave To Change Hearing Time To 1130 or an earlier hearing to be held telephonically filed by Defendant Jennifer Brunner (filed 9/29/08)
- Marginal Entry Order signed by Judge James S. Gwin on 9/29/08 granting the motion of Defendant Brunner for an earlier hearing on motion for temporary restraining order. The hearing will commence upon the arrival of all parties in Courtroom 18A (Cleveland) (entered 9/29/08)
- Order signed by Judge James S. Gwin on 9/29/08 granting plaintiffs' motion for temporary restraining compelling the Madison County Board of Elections to comply with Directive 2008-63 (entered 9/29/08)
- Temporary Restraining Order (entered 9/29/08)
- Minutes of hearing challenging temporary restraining order (filed 9/29/08)
- Stipulated Motion for extension of time until 11/03/2008 to answer (filed 10/14/08)
- Marginal Entry Order granting the motion for an extension of time until 11/3/08 to file an answer to the complaint (entered 10/15/08)
- Response to Motion to dismiss, or in the Alternative, Motion to Transfer Venue filed by all plaintiffs (filed 10/28/08)
- Answer to Complaint (filed 11/3/08)
- Reply Memorandum in Support of Motion to Dismiss, or in the alternative, to transfer venue (filed 11/10/08)
- Case Management Conference Scheduling Order (entered 11/12/08)
- Motion to dismiss without prejudice filed by Project Vote, et al. (filed 12/22/08)
- Motion to dismiss without prejudice GRANTED (entered 12/24/08)
Related Links
- Lawsuit backs 'same-day' voting, DispatchPolitics.com, 9/26/08
- Ohio’s Battle Over Early Voting, Washington Wire (WSJ Blog), 9/25/08
- ACLU sues on side of Ohio early voting window, Akron Beacon Journal (AP), 9/25/08
- ACLU asks court to allow all registered voters access to absentee ballots, ACLU Press Release, 9/25/08
Commentary
Provisional Ballots, Consent Decrees, and the Balance Between the Federal and State Governments
Owen Wolfe
A recent mandamus action filed by the Ohio Senate President and House Speaker Pro Tempore to require the Ohio Secretary of State to rescind directives issued in response to a consent decree issued in a federal case dealing with counting provisional ballots raises questions about the mechanics of state election law, the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the relationship between federal and state courts, the law of consent decrees, and more. I have attempted in this article to grapple with these issues in a fair and unbiased manner. Given the complexity of this problem, however, these matters are open to a variety of interpretations and this is just one approach. I hope, however, that this article can provide a useful starting point for a discussion about the future of provisional voting in Ohio and in the nation at large.
This paper is a first look by a student member of the Election Law @ Moritz team and reflects one possible perspective on the issue. Stay tuned, as more analysis from the team will follow as the litigation develops. Owen Wolfe is affiliated with the Ohio Democratic Party and the Obama ’12 campaign, but is not in any way associated with any litigation team working on this case. EL@M has posted the document because we believe it has public value and adds to the discourse on this topic.
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