Case: California Republican Party v. Newsom
20-00277751 | California state trial court
Filed Date: April 29, 2020
Closed Date: Aug. 5, 2020
Clearinghouse coding complete
Case Summary
This case involved the question of whether a campaign ballot gatherer is a nonessential worker subject to California's COVID-19 stay home order.
On April 29, 2020, the California Republican Party filed this lawsuit in the Superior Court of California Sacramento. The plaintiff sued Gavin Newsom, Xavier Becerra, and Alex Padilla in their capacities as Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State of California, respectively, under the California Code of Civil Procedure, § 1060. The plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment as to whether engaging in ballot harvesting was an essential activity under the stay home order and filed an emergency ex parte application for interim declaratory relief. The case was heard by Judge Thadd Blizzard and later by Judge David Brown.
The plaintiff's complaint refers to Newsom's March 19, 2020 executive order in which he ordered all non-essential workers to stay home in response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic. The plaintiff argued that the allegedly contradictory public statements by state officials on the stay home order made it impossible to determine whether ballot harvesters were considered essential workers. The plaintiff argued that, absent a declaratory judgment, its staff and volunteers who participate in ballot harvesting operations may be cited or subjected to criminal penalties for violating the stay home order and that there would be a "chilling effect" on election participation. On May 1, 2020, California public health directives were updated to confirm that ballot collection was a permissible activity under the stay home order. On May 5, 2020, the Superior Court dismissed plaintiff's ex parte application. The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the action without prejudice on August 5, 2020.
Summary Authors
Jeanne Boyd (2/13/2025)
People
Blizzard, Thadd A (California)
Brown, David I (California)
Dhillon, Harmeet K. (California)
Meuser, Mark Philip (California)
Michael, Gregory Richard (California)
Documents in the Clearinghouse
Resources
Docket
Last updated Jan. 26, 2024, 1:16 p.m.
Case Details
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Healthy Elections COVID litigation tracker
Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA) project
Key Dates
Filing Date: April 29, 2020
Closing Date: Aug. 5, 2020
Case Ongoing: No reason to think so
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
A political party in California
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit NON-religious organization
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
State
Alex Padilla
Gavin Newsom
Xavier Becerra
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Other Dockets:
California state trial court 20-00277751
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Relief Granted:
Source of Relief:
Issues
Voting:
Case Summary of California Republican Party v. Newsom, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/17855/ (last updated 2/13/2025).