Donald Trump for President, Inc. v. Murphy

During the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic, on August 14, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy issued an executive order directing the Secretary of State to send all active registered voters a ballot for the November 2020 election. The order directed counties to prepare at least ten ballot drop boxes and required all public primary and secondary schools to close on Election Day and make themselves available as polling places. Finally, the order suspended the regular ballot-return deadline and specified that every mail ballot postmarked by Election Day, November 3, 2020, and received by November 10, 2020 would be counted Additionally, ballots without postmarks confirmed to be received by election offices within 48 hours of polls closing on November 3 would be counted, assuming they met all other requirements.  

On August 18, 2020, then-President Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Committee, and New Jersey State Republican Committee filed a federal lawsuit alleging the executive order violated the Elections Clause, Electors Clause, Equal Protection Clause, and other federal laws. The plaintiffs also asserted the order would lead to voter fraud and that it usurped the legislature’s power. 

On August 31, 2020, the League of Women Voters of New Jersey and NAACP New Jersey State Conference moved to intervene in support of voters. LWV of New Jersey and the New Jersey NAACP argued their intervention was required to protect their members’ access to mail ballots, voters’ ability to vote safely during a pandemic, and the organizations' voter registration and engagement efforts ahead of the November elections. 

Subsequently, components of the Governor’s order were codified by the passage of bill A4475 by the New Jersey legislature. The bill codified the following provisions for holding the November 2020 elections.  

1. The election would be conducted primarily using mail ballots. Every single registered voter listed as ‘active’ on the rolls would be mailed a ballot without needing to apply for one. Voters could return their ballot via mail, ballot drop box, or at polling places. 
2. Voters who arrived at polling places on Election Day without a mail ballot to return would be issued a provisional ballot.  
3. Deadlines to return mail ballots were changed, allowing any mail ballot that was postmarked by November 3, 2020, and received by 8pm on November 10, 2020, to be counted. Ballots with an erroneous mark or lacking a postmark that the post office confirmed were received on or before November 3, 2020, and that arrived within 48 hours of polls closing would be counted.  
4. County boards of elections were allowed to begin canvassing mail ballots 10 days ahead of Election Day.  

The plaintiffs then filed an amended complaint on September 11, 2020, asserting A4775 violated federal election laws, the right to vote, and the Equal Protection Clause. The amended complaint alleged the new law had insufficient safeguards against voter fraud, which would result in the dilution of valid votes and violate the Equal Protection Clause. Finally, the plaintiffs argued allowing counties to canvass mail votes before Election Day and extending the deadline for receipt of mail ballots after Election Day violated federal law.  

On September 16, 2020, the plaintiffs requested the court issue a preliminary injunction forbidding the state from (1) canvassing mail ballots ten days ahead of Election Day and (2) counting mail ballots lacking a postmark if they arrived up to 48 hours after Election Day and were confirmed by the post office as having been received by November 3, 2020. 

On September 23, 2020, the court granted LWV of New Jersey and the New Jersey NAACP’s motion to intervene. LWV of New Jersey and the New Jersey NAACP filed their opposition to the motion for a preliminary injunction on September 25, 2020. 

On October 6, 2020, the court denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. The ruling stated that federal law did not prohibit canvassing mail ballots before Election Day if voting did not end before that date, and no vote totals were published before polls closed. The court also found A4775’s provision allowing ballots without postmarks but confirmed by the post office to have arrived by November 3, 2020, and received by county elections boards within 48 hours after Election Day, did not violate federal law due to a lack of explicit preemption by Congress and minimal likelihood of a ballot being cast after Election Day. Finally, the court ruled the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate that the changes made by A4775 would cause voter fraud.  

On October 22, 2020, the court dismissed the case, ruling the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring their claims. 

LWV New Jersey was represented by Campaign Legal Center, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, and DLA Piper LLP in this matter.