Filed Date: Aug. 20, 2020
Closed Date: Oct. 30, 2020
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This is a case about the constitutionality of five state election laws in Missouri that affected absentee and mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
American Women, a national nonprofit, along with three Missouri voters who alleged their right to vote would be infringed due to these five requirements, filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cole County, Missouri on August 20, 2020 against the state of Missouri and the Missouri Secretary of State. The plaintiffs asked for immediate declaratory and injunctive relief: for the challenged provisions to be declared unconstitutional and to enjoin the defendants from enforcing them.
The five requirements being challenged were as follows: (1) the notarization requirement that classified Missouri voters into three categories and imposed different notarization requirements on each; (2) the Election Day receipt deadlin that required that all ballots received after 7 p.m. on Election Day be rejected; (3) the ballot collection ban that prohibited individuals from helping voters return their voted ballots to elections officials; (4) the ballot rejection rules, the criteria used by elections officials to determine whether a ballot is valid; and (5) the mail-in return mandate that required that ballots voted by certain categories of voters be returned by mail. These requirements were established by Senate Bill 631, an emergency act signed into law in June 2020 to expand absentee and mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On September 4, 2020, the defendants moved for judgment on the pleadings, and the plaintiffs responded on September 14, 2020. A trial on the merits commenced on October 5, 2020, and concluded on October 8, 2020.
On October 22, 2020, Judge Daniel R. Green issued a ruling for the defendants, finding as a matter of law due to the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision in Missouri State Conference of the NAACP v. State of Missouri that the authority to allow one to vote not in person and not on election day belongs to the legislature under the Missouri constitution and thus there was no constitutional violation because the right to vote absentee is not as fundamental as the right to vote itself. The plaintiffs’ requests for declaratory and injunctive relief were denied. Judge Green ordered the parties to bear their own costs.
This case is closed.
Summary Authors
Colin Cantwell (2/5/2025)
Green, Daniel (Missouri)
Elias, Marc Erik (District of Columbia)
Gonski, Sarah Rae (Arizona)
Hatfield, Charles W. (Missouri)
Nkwonta, Uzoma (District of Columbia)
Last updated Aug. 30, 2023, 1:27 p.m.
Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
COVID-19 (novel coronavirus)
Healthy Elections COVID litigation tracker
Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA) project
Key Dates
Filing Date: Aug. 20, 2020
Closing Date: Oct. 30, 2020
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
American Women, a national nonprofit, as well as three individual Missouri voters who alleged their right to vote would be infringed by the challenged provisions.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit NON-religious organization
Attorney Organizations:
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Secretary of State of Missouri, State
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Other Dockets:
Missouri state trial court 20AC-CC00333
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Relief Granted:
Source of Relief:
Issues
Voting: