Last Updated: May 16, 2012 at 12:16 PM
League of Women Voters of Florida v. Browning
Case Information
Date Filed: December 15, 2011
State: Florida
Issue: Voter Registration
Current Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Case 4:11-cv-00628)
Issue:
Whether Florida's new law regarding voter registration activities (1) violates the First Amendment by unlawfully restricting citizens' right to free speech and assembly; (2) is unconstitutionally vague; (3) violates the National Voter Registration Act of 1993; or (4) violates section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
Status:
Complaint filed 12/15/11. Motion for Preliminary Injunction filed 12/19/11.
See also Florida v. US
District Court Documents
- Complaint
(filed 12/15/11) - First Amended Complaint (filed 12/16/11)
- Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction (filed 12/19/11)
- Affidavit of Ben Wilcox in Support of Preliminary Injunction (filed 12/19/11)
- Affidavit of Heather Smith in Support of Preliminary Injunction (filed 12/19/11)
- Affidavit of Brad Ashwell in Support of Preliminary Injunction (filed 12/19/11)
- Affidavit of Deidre Macnab in Support of Preliminary Injunction (filed 12/19/11)
- Affidavit of Pamela Goodman in Support of Preliminary Injunction (filed 12/19/11)
- Declaration of Dietert in Support of Preliminary Injunction (filed 1/16/12)
- Defendants' Opposition to Motion for Preliminary Injunction (filed 1/24/12)
- Reply in Further Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction (filed 2/14/12)
- Defendant's Notice of Filing of Additional Evidence (filed 2/21/12)
- Joint Submission of Additional Evidence (filed 3/02/12)
- Notice of Supplemental Authority (filed 4/24/12)
Commentary
Provisional Ballots, Consent Decrees, and the Balance Between the Federal and State Governments
Owen Wolfe
A recent mandamus action filed by the Ohio Senate President and House Speaker Pro Tempore to require the Ohio Secretary of State to rescind directives issued in response to a consent decree issued in a federal case dealing with counting provisional ballots raises questions about the mechanics of state election law, the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the relationship between federal and state courts, the law of consent decrees, and more. I have attempted in this article to grapple with these issues in a fair and unbiased manner. Given the complexity of this problem, however, these matters are open to a variety of interpretations and this is just one approach. I hope, however, that this article can provide a useful starting point for a discussion about the future of provisional voting in Ohio and in the nation at large.
This paper is a first look by a student member of the Election Law @ Moritz team and reflects one possible perspective on the issue. Stay tuned, as more analysis from the team will follow as the litigation develops. Owen Wolfe is affiliated with the Ohio Democratic Party and the Obama ’12 campaign, but is not in any way associated with any litigation team working on this case. EL@M has posted the document because we believe it has public value and adds to the discourse on this topic.
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