Pennsylvania: Rejection of Mail-In Ballots for Date Technicalities

In June 2024, the Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans, represented by Fair Elections Center and LeVan Stapleton Segal Cochran LLC, filed a lawsuit against the Lancaster County Board of Elections to challenge the rejection of mail-in and absentee ballots that are missing the last two digits of the year from the handwritten date on the outer return envelope.

A month later, as part of a mandatory directive to all 67 county Boards of Elections, the Pennsylvania Department of State has instructed the full year to be pre-printed on the return envelope for mail-in and absentee ballots, instead of requiring voters to complete the last two digits of the year by hand. Having achieved what it set out to accomplish, PARA voluntarily discontinued its lawsuit.

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.

Wisconsin: Absentee Voters’ Rights

Fair Elections Center along with Wisconsin-based Law Forward, filed a complaint on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin in Dane County Circuit Court, seeking both clarity and protection for absentee voters whose ballots have technical defects.

In February 2024, Wisconsin courts have rejected the Wisconsin State legislature’s bid to block relief for absentee voters won by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin’s lawsuit. On January 30, the League, represented by Law Forward, Fair Elections Center, and Stafford Rosenbaum LLP, secured an order from the Dane County Circuit Court that protects four categories of absentee ballots with purported defects in the address recorded by the voter’s witness. That ruling relied on the 1964 Civil Rights Act which prohibits denying the right to vote for technical errors or omissions that are not material to determining a voter’s eligibility.