People First of Alabama v. Merrill

Alabama restricts absentee voting in several ways, including requiring an excuse to vote by absentee ballot. Specifically, it requires two people or a notary to witness the voter’s signature on absentee ballots and the submission of copies of photo identification with absentee ballot applications and certain types of absentee ballots.

Previously, Alabama’s Secretary of State also imposed a ban on curbside voting, a practice that allows voters to vote at a polling place without leaving their vehicles. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alabama Secretary of State waived the excuse requirement and allowed any voter to vote by absentee ballot for the July 14, 2020, primary runoff election but refused to lift the other restrictions or allow curbside voting.  

On May 1, 2020, voting rights organizations and several voters with a higher risk of COVID-19 complications filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Alabama seeking to pause enforcement of these provisions during the pandemic. The plaintiffs argued that because of these provisions, thousands of elderly voters, voters with disabilities, and other at-risk voters would be prevented from safely voting, in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Plaintiffs also argued these provisions violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits governments from imposing voting requirements that disenfranchise voters with disabilities. Finally, plaintiffs argued some of the requirements disproportionately burdened Black voters in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and constituted an impermissible “test or device” for voting in violation of Section 201 of the VRA. 

On June 15, 2020, the district court issued a preliminary injunction for the July primary election suspending the witness signature requirement for voters who could not safely obtain two signatures, the photo ID requirement for voters with a disability or over 65 years of age, and the ban on curbside voting. The defendants sought an emergency stay of this ruling, and on July 2, 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued a stay of the preliminary injunction. This ended the district court’s order only twelve days before the runoff election while litigation continued in the lower courts. Voters were able to take advantage of more accessible absentee ballots from June 15 until July 2.  

The plaintiffs then filed an amended complaint asking the district court to waive the burdensome requirements for all upcoming elections, or for the duration of the pandemic, and added a challenge to Alabama’s requirement that absentee voters provide an excuse to vote absentee. The plaintiffs additionally argued that the option to use a notary in the witness requirements violated the Twenty-Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on poll taxes and the Fourteenth Amendment’s ban on making wealth or payment of fees part of elections, as obtaining notarization could burden voters with notary fees and transportation costs, among others. Soon after, the Secretary of State agreed to waive the excuse requirement for absentee voting through the November general election. 

In September 2020, the district court determined that:

1. The curbside voting ban, photo ID requirements, and witness requirements violated the fundamental right to vote under the First and Fourteenth Amendments as applied during the pandemic;
2. The curbside voting ban and photo ID requirements violated the ADA as applied during the pandemic; and
3. The witness requirements violated Section 2 of the VRA as applied during the pandemic. 

The district court enjoined, during the pandemic, enforcement of:

1. The witness requirements for voters with underlying conditions that could not safely obtain witness signatures;
2. The photo ID requirements for voters over 65 or with underlying conditions if they provided other identifying information; and
3. The ban on curbside voting. 

The defendants immediately sought a stay of this decision from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The League of Women Voters of Alabama filed an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs, urging the court to allow the district court’s order to stand while litigation continued. On October 13, 2020, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the witness and photo ID requirements while the case was appealed but allowed the court’s order on curbside voting to stand. 

The defendants sought an emergency stay of the curbside voting order to the United States Supreme Court. LWV of Alabama filed a second amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs, arguing that blocking the district court order before the election would violate Alabama voters’ fundamental rights by permanently depriving them of the opportunity to vote safely in the general election. The Supreme Court granted a stay of the injunction, allowing the ban on curbside voting to remain in effect as of October 21, 2020. Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed a rare written dissent in the stay order, noting she would have allowed the order to stand. 

The League was represented by Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP in this matter.