Case Summary
LWVTX moved to intervene to defend voters in a lawsuit filed by United Sovereign Americans and several other plaintiffs. The complaint alleged Texas had failed to remove ineligible voters from voter rolls in violation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and state law. They also argued the state’s voter rolls violated the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) by exceeding the acceptable federal error rate. The plaintiffs asked the court to block the state from certifying the 2024 general election until the defendants demonstrated the election was lawfully conducted, among other relief.
On August 27, 2024, United Sovereign Americans, Citizens Defending Freedom, and a candidate for Texas’ 19th Congressional District, Bernard Johnson, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
The plaintiffs alleged Texas failed to remove ineligible voters from its voter rolls in violation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and state law. They also claimed there were 196,658 apparent voting violations and over 1.3 million errors on the state’s voter rolls in the 2022 general election. In addition, they argued Texas’ allegedly inaccurate voter rolls violated the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) by exceeding the federal error rate acceptable in a state’s voter system, which is approximately one error in every 125,000 votes. The plaintiffs asked the court to compel state and federal officials to adequately investigate and remedy the alleged errors in Texas’ voter registration systems and to order the state to adopt new voter registration procedures. The plaintiffs also requested the court to order the state to submit voter registration requests to the US Department of Homeland Security to verify individuals’ citizenship status. Finally, they asked for an order blocking the state from certifying the 2024 general election until the defendants demonstrated the election was lawfully conducted.
On October 9, 2024, the League of Women Voters of Texas (LWVTX) and the Texas NAACP filed a motion to intervene in the case to defend voters. LWVTX argued that none of the plaintiffs had standing to file the lawsuit, and that they had no legally valid claims under the NVRA or HAVA. LWVTX and the Texas NAACP asked for the case to be dismissed.
On January 15, 2025, the court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss and denied as moot the League motion to intervene. On January 30, 2025, after the plaintiffs failed to file an amended complaint, the court closed the case.
LWVTX and the Texas NAACP were represented in this matter by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, ACLU Texas, ACLU, and Winston and Strawn, LLP.
LWV Timeline
Plaintiffs file lawsuit
United Sovereign Americans and its co-plaintiffs file a lawsuit, alleging Texas is in violation of the NVRA and HAVA and asking the court to prevent certification of the 2024 election.
LWVTX moves to intervene
LWVTX and the Texas NAACP move to intervene in the case to protect voters. The intervenors assert the plaintiffs lack standing to bring the case and have no legally valid claims under HAVA or the NVRA. The intervenors ask for the case to be dismissed.
District court grants motion to dismiss
The district court grants the state defendants’ motion to dismiss and denies LWVTX’s motion to intervene as moot.
District court closes case
After the plaintiffs fail to file an amended complaint, the district court closes the case.