Case: Grimes v. Florida Department of State

2020-CA-000908 | Florida state trial court

Filed Date: May 12, 2020

Closed Date: Sept. 13, 2020

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Case Summary

NOTE: This case is being tracked in close to real time by the Stanford/MIT Healthy Elections Project. So for information, see their tracker.

According to their summary as of 09/01/2020,

A trio of voters have asked a state court to order Florida officials to send mail-in ballots to all registered voters both for the state's Aug. 11 primary and the November general election. A retired police captain who helps the elderly, an Ocala minister and a Miami man confined to his home have banded together as lawsuit plaintiffs to take Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee and Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley to court. The goal is to make vote by mail the default choice for Florida’s 13.7 million registered voters. It does not appear that any major voting rights organizations are backing the lawsuit, which was filed by Miami attorney Harvey Sepler.

Summary Authors

Marie Edouard (3/26/2025)

People


Judge(s)

Dodson, Charles W (Florida)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Sepler, Harvey J. (Florida)

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Documents in the Clearinghouse

Document

2020-CA-000908

Verified Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

May 12, 2020

May 12, 2020

Complaint

2020-CA-000908

Verified Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

May 13, 2020

May 13, 2020

Complaint

2020-CA-000908

Verified Second Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

May 29, 2020

May 29, 2020

Complaint
2020-CA-000908

2020-CA-000908

Department Defendants' Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice Plaintiffs' Verified Second Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

July 7, 2020

July 7, 2020

Pleading / Motion / Brief
2020-CA-000908

2020-CA-000908

Supervisor Early's Motion to Dismiss Verified Second Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

July 7, 2020

July 7, 2020

Pleading / Motion / Brief
2020-CA-000908

2020-CA-000908

Response to Motions to Dismiss

July 10, 2020

July 10, 2020

Pleading / Motion / Brief
2020-CA-000908

2020-CA-000908

Department Defendants' Reply to Plaintiffs' Motions to Dismiss

July 13, 2020

July 13, 2020

Pleading / Motion / Brief

2020-CA-000908

Order Granting Defendant Mark Early's Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice Plaintiffs' Verified Second Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

July 15, 2020

July 15, 2020

Order/Opinion

2020-CA-000908

Order Granting Without Prejudice Department Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Verified Second Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

July 20, 2020

July 20, 2020

Order/Opinion

2020-CA-000908

Third Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

Aaronson v. Florida Department of State

July 29, 2020

July 29, 2020

Complaint

Resources

Docket

Last updated Aug. 30, 2023, 1:27 p.m.

Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.

Case Details

State / Territory: Florida

Case Type(s):

Election/Voting Rights

Special Collection(s):

COVID-19 (novel coronavirus)

Healthy Elections COVID litigation tracker

Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA) project

Key Dates

Filing Date: May 12, 2020

Closing Date: Sept. 13, 2020

Case Ongoing: No

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

The Plaintiffs were a home-bound elderly man, a religious leader that worked with the elderly, and a retired law enforcement official that also worked with the elderly.

Plaintiff Type(s):

Private Plaintiff

Public Interest Lawyer: No

Filed Pro Se: No

Class Action Sought: No

Class Action Outcome: Not sought

Defendants

Florida Department of State, Florida Division of Elections, State

Laurel M. Lee, State

Mark Early (Leon), County

Christina White (Miami-Dade), County

Bill Cowles (Orange), County

Defendant Type(s):

Jurisdiction-wide

Case Details

Causes of Action:

State law

Available Documents:

Trial Court Docket

Complaint (any)

Any published opinion

Outcome

Prevailing Party: Defendant

Nature of Relief:

Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement

Declaratory Judgment

Source of Relief:

Litigation

Issues

General/Misc.:

Government services

Voting:

Election administration

Voting: General & Misc.

Voting: Physical/Effective Access