Law Professor Justin Levitt has compiled this list of all known election law lawsuits that relate to Covid-19 and the health crisis. The list is contained in his blog post at the election law blog.
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On June 12, the government of Pennsylvania filed this brief, explaining why the U.S. District Court should not give any petitioning relief to minor parties during the health crisis. The government brief claims Pennsylvania’s deadline is exceptionally liberal. This is not true. The petition deadline in Pennsylvania, for presidential candidates running in the general election, is August 3. Jurisdictions with later deadlines for president are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
The case will be heard Tuesday, June 23, at 1:30 p.m., by U.S. District Court Judge Edward G. Smith, an Obama appointee.
On June 11, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew F. Leitman, an Obama appointee, issued an injunction in SawariMedia LLC v Whitmer, e.d., 4:20cv-11246. The injunction says that Michigan must reduce the number of signatures needed for statewide initiatives, and also grant a later petition deadline. The statutory requirements for initiatives this year are 340,047 signatures due May 27.
Here is the 37-page opinion.
This is the first case in which any court has reduced the number of signatures for an initiative. The judge did not set a new requirement but ordered the state to choose one. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.
On June 12, proponents of three local Illinois initiatives filed this Reply brief in Bambenek v Althoff, c.d., 3:20cv-3107. This case should get a response from the judge very soon.
On June 11, the independent and minor party plaintiff-candidates in Cooper v Raffensperger, n.d., 1:20cv-1312, filed this reply brief . This is the last brief before the U.S. District Court will decide whether to issue injunctive relief. This is the case concerning the health crisis and ballot access.