Filed Date: Jan. 4, 2021
Closed Date: Feb. 21, 2021
Clearinghouse coding complete
Named plaintiff filed a complaint pro se in United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama on January 4, 2021, against John Merrill, the Alabama Secretary of State and Kay Ivey, Governor of Alabama. The handwritten complaint alleged that the Secretary of State and Governor of Alabama kept Plaintiff off of the 2020 Presidential Election ballot. The complaint seemed to imply that Plaintiff was U.S. President at one point and that Plaintiff attempted to bring criminal charges against former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush for alleged war crimes. In terms of relief, Plaintiff asked the court to restart the 2020 Presidential Election, to return stolen P.A.C. money, and to return stolen land money purchased with P.A.C. money. This case was assigned to Judge Myron Herbert Thompson.
On January 6, 2021, Plaintiff filed a motion to direct the court clerk to send out a receipt in reference to Plaintiff's filing fee in the lawsuit, as well as a motion to serve the complaint and summons on Defendants. The court, in an order dated January 11, 2021, declared these motions moot as the clerk of the court automatically provides a receipt upon payment of the filing fee and that the clerk issued a copy of the summons to Defendants. Additionally, Defendants, on January 29, 2021, moved to dismiss the complaint, or in the alternative, for a more definite statement. Specifically, Defendants moved to dismiss for Plaintiff's failure to state a claim and for a lack of standing due to no injury suffered on the part of Plaintiff/ In the alternative, Defendants asked the court to order Plaintiff to provide more specific details in his complaint.
On March 5, 2021, Plaintiff moved to amend his complaint, attaching a copy of a proposed amended complaint. The proposed amended complaint plead that Defendants discriminated against Plaintiff due to his race. Plaintiff alleged that this racial discrimination caused Defendants to keep Plaintiff off of the 2020 Presidential ballot. On March 11, 2021, Defendants moved to dismiss Plaintiff's motion to amend. Defendants argued that Plaintiff's proposed amended complaint fell short of legal adequacy, with no facts to support a racial discrimination claim.
On April 27, 2021, the court filed an order in response to multiple lawsuits filed by Plaintiff against Defendants, ruling on consolidating multiple cases into one lead case (No. 2:20-CV-922-MHT-KFP), also ordering Plaintiff to file one main Amended Complaint. On May 17, 2021, Plaintiff filed a motion for an order to appoint him legal counsel. The current case was dismissed. In the lead case, the court denied Plaintiff's motion to appoint counsel two days later on May 19, 2021.Specifically, the judge ruled that the case was not so complex that appointing counsel for the Plaintiff was required.
On June 11, 2021, the court ruled that Plaintiff's failure to file an amended complaint warranted dismissal of the consolidated cases. The court, by judgment, dismissed the cases without prejudice. Following this decision, Plaintiff filed a notice of appeal on June 28, 2021 for an alleged failure to allow Plaintiff to participate a pro se assistance program, and for failure to overturn the 2020 election results. Ultimately the appeal was dismissed, on December 17, 2021, because Plaintiff failed to file an appeal brief. For more detail on the litigation, see Sanders v. Merrill.
The case is now closed.
Summary Authors
Vyacheslav Kashuk (12/1/2023)
Sanders v. Merrill, Middle District of Alabama (2020)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/29088712/parties/sanders-v-merrill-magmember/
Thompson, Myron Herbert (Alabama)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/29088712/sanders-v-merrill-magmember/
Last updated Aug. 9, 2025, 10:10 p.m.
State / Territory: Alabama
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA) project
Key Dates
Filing Date: Jan. 4, 2021
Closing Date: Feb. 21, 2021
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Named plaintiff seeking to be placed on the 2020 presidential election ballot
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: Yes
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Case Details
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
Discrimination Basis:
Voting: