Pennsylvania State Conference of the NAACP v. Schmidt
Merit Brief
Once the Supreme Court has granted certiorari and agreed to review a case 鈥渙n the merits,鈥 each party files merits briefs. The merits briefs argue to the Court why each party should win the case. The Petitioner files the opening brief; the Respondent files a response; and the Petitioner files a Reply Brief.
What's at Stake
In November 2022, thousands of Pennsylvania voters were denied the right to vote based on a meaningless paperwork error. They filled out their mail ballots, signed the form on the outer return envelope, and returned their ballots on time. Yet their ballots were not counted, because they either forgot to write the date on their return envelope, or they accidentally wrote the wrong date. The Civil Rights Act prohibits states from disenfranchising voters based on immaterial paperwork error, and we're fighting to make sure that every vote counts
Summary
The 老澳门开奖结果 Voting Rights Project, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Pennsylvania, and Hogan Lovells filed a federal lawsuit to protect thousands of Pennsylvania voters from being disenfranchised based on a meaningless paperwork error.
In November 2022, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania interpreted Pennsylvania state law to require county boards of elections not to count mail ballots that had a missing or incorrect handwritten date on the ballot's return envelope, even if those ballots were timely received by the boards of elections.
As a result, in the November 2022 election, Pennsylvania counties set aside over 10,000 ballots because voters forgot to write a date on a form on the back of the mail ballot return envelope, even though the date serves no purpose relating to a voter鈥檚 qualifications or the timeliness of their ballot. The Civil Rights Act clearly states that otherwise eligible ballots cannot be disqualified due to such immaterial technicalities as a paperwork error.
We filed a lawsuit on behalf of eight voters from across the Commonwealth, all of whom were disenfranchised in the 2022 general election because of the state rule prohibiting the counting of mail ballots with undated or incorrectly dated return envelopes, and on behalf of non-profit civic engagement organizations including the Pennsylvania State Conference of the NAACP, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, Common Cause PA, Make The Road PA, POWER Interfaith, and the Black Political Empowerment Project.
In November 2023, the district court granted summary judgment in our favor. The district court's decision declared that the Civil Rights Act bars state actors from disenfranchising voters based on immaterial paperwork errors, and ordered that county boards of election update their records so that our individual plaintiffs' votes are reflected in the vote counts for the 2022 election.
UPDATE: On Mach 27, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the district court's ruling to count mail ballots from eligible voters that are received on time but without a handwritten date or the incorrect date on the outer return envelope. On April 10, we filed a petition asking the full court to rehear this decision. The Third Circuit denied the petition to rehear or rehear en banc on April 30, 2024.
Legal Documents
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09/27/2024
Petition for Certiorari
Date Filed: 09/27/2024
Court: Supreme Court (U.S.)
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04/30/2024
Order Denying Petition for Rehearing or Rehearing En Banc -
04/17/2024
Amicus Brief of Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Support of Petition for Rehearing En Banc -
04/17/2024
Amicus Brief of Protect Democracy in Support of Petition for Rehearing En Banc -
04/17/2024
Amicus Brief of the Committee of Seventy in Support of Petition for Rehearing En Banc -
04/17/2024
Amicus Brief of Local County Officials in Support of Petition for Rehearing En Banc -
04/17/2024
Amicus Brief of SeniorLAW in Support of Petition for Rehearing En Banc -
04/17/2024
Amicus Brief of Bipartisan Policy Center in Support of Petition for Rehearing En Banc -
04/17/2024
Amicus Brief of the District of Columbia and Other States in Support of Petition for Rehearing -
04/10/2024
Petition for Rehearing or Rehearing En Banc -
03/27/2024
Opinion of the Court -
01/10/2024
Plaintiffs-Appellees' Third Circuit Brief
Date Filed: 04/30/2024
Court: Appeals Court (3d Cir.)
Date Filed: 04/17/2024
Court: Appeals Court (3d Cir.)
Date Filed: 04/17/2024
Court: Appeals Court (3d Cir.)
Date Filed: 04/17/2024
Court: Appeals Court (3d Cir.)
Date Filed: 04/17/2024
Court: Appeals Court (3d Cir.)
Date Filed: 04/17/2024
Court: Appeals Court (3d Cir.)
Date Filed: 04/17/2024
Court: Appeals Court (3d Cir.)
Date Filed: 04/17/2024
Court: Appeals Court (3d Cir.)
Date Filed: 04/10/2024
Court: Appeals Court (3d Cir.)
Date Filed: 03/27/2024
Court: Appeals Court (3d Cir.)
Date Filed: 01/10/2024
Court: Appeals Court (3d Cir.)
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07/25/2024
Defendant Berks County BoE's Reply Brief in Further Support of Motion for Summary Judgement -
07/25/2024
Plaintiffs' Reply in Support of Motion for Summary Judgement -
07/25/2024
Intervenor-Defendants' Reply in Support of Supplemental Motion for Summary Judgement -
07/18/2024
Plaintiffs' Omnibus Opposition to Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgement -
07/18/2024
Defendant Berks County BoE's Brief in Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgement -
07/18/2024
Defendant Al Schmidt's Brief in Response to Plaintiffs and Intervenor-Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgement -
07/18/2024
Intervenor-Defendants' Brief in Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgement -
07/05/2024
Defendant Berks County BoE's Brief in Support of Supplemental Motion for Summary Judgement -
07/03/2024
Intervenor-Defendants' Brief in Support of Supplemental Motion for Summary Judgement -
06/28/2024
Westmoreland County BoE's Answer to Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint -
06/28/2024
Berks County BoE's Answer to Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint -
06/28/2024
Defendant Al Schmidt's Answer to Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint -
06/28/2024
Defendant York County BoE's Answer to Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint -
06/28/2024
Defendant Lancaster County BoE's Answer to Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint -
06/28/2024
Intervenor-Defendants' Answer to Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint -
06/14/2024
Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint -
05/30/2024
Defendant Berks County BoEs's Supplemental Brief in Support of Motion for Summary Judgement -
05/29/2024
Intervenor-Defendants' Brief in Support of Motion for Summary Judgement -
05/29/2024
Plaintiffs' Brief in Support of Motion for Summary Judgement -
11/21/2023
Opinion on Summary Judgment -
06/08/2023
Opinion Denying Motion to Dismiss -
04/21/2023
Plaintiffs' Brief in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment -
04/21/2023
Statement of Undisputed Facts in Support of Summary Judgment -
04/21/2023
Brief in Support of Summary Judgment of Lancaster County -
04/21/2023
Brief in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment of Republican Intervenor-Defendants -
02/03/2023
Statement of Interest of the United States -
11/21/2022
Amended Complaint
Date Filed: 07/25/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 07/25/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 07/25/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 07/18/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 07/18/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 07/18/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 07/18/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 07/05/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 07/03/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 06/28/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 06/28/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 06/28/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 06/28/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 06/28/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 06/28/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 06/14/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 05/30/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 05/29/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 05/29/2024
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 11/21/2023
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 06/08/2023
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 04/21/2023
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 04/21/2023
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 04/21/2023
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 04/21/2023
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 02/03/2023
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Date Filed: 11/21/2022
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Press Releases
Voting Rights Groups Respond to Federal Court Decision Allowing Pa. Counties to Reject Some Mail Ballots