Jacksonville Branch of the NAACP v. City of Jacksonville

• Filed a suit on behalf of four community organizations and 10 individuals alleging that seven of the 14 Jacksonville City Council districts are racially gerrymandered.

• Won a motion for preliminary injunction and successfully opposed a motion to stay the ruling at the Eleventh Circuit.

• Secured a rare Circuit decision limiting the Purcell principle, which will positively impact future cases.

• Won opposition to the City’s interim remedial plan (a Plaintiff proposed plan was put in place)

Citizens Project v. City of Colorado Springs

• Filed suit on behalf of four community organizations alleging that holding elections in April of odd-numbered years violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because it disproportionately disadvantages Black and Hispanic residents.

Phillips v. United States Bureau of the Census

• Filed suit on behalf of Professor Justin Phillips of Columbia University, to enforce a FOIA against the Census Bureau

• The requested data will allow academics to identify the source and magnitude of biases introduced by the disclosure avoidance system used by the Bureau for the 2020 decennial census

• Settled with public release of all requested files

Western Native Voice v. Jacobsen

• Represented Western Native Voice in its suit challenging the elimination of Election Day Registration in Montana

• Proved at trial that the law removing Election Day Registration disproportionately burdened Native American voters living on reservations, and the law was permanently enjoined

• The Clinic and co-counsel won a preliminary injunction barring the Secretary of State from enforcing the challenged laws. The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the preliminary injunction

We file amicus briefs in major Supreme Court, lower court, and state court cases that implicate election law

Supreme Court amicus briefs

Moore v. Harper

• Filed on behalf of Professors Shapiro, Stephanopoulos, and Tokaji in support of Respondents. The brief explains the doctrinal and practical problems that adopting the independent state legislature theory would cause—sowing case for election related statues of all kinds.

Merrill v. Milligan

• Filed on behalf of Professors Chen, Elmendorf, Stephanopoulos, and Warshaw in support of Appellees/Respondents. The brief explains the already narrow path to success provided by Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and argues that the Court should not further narrow Section 2 by adopting a race-blind baseline.

  Brief was discussed at oral argument by Justice Sotomayor and Counsel for Appellees and Respondents.

Lower court and state court amicus briefs

Borja v. Nago (Ninth Circuit)

• Filed on behalf the Clinic and the Campaign Legal Center explaining that Hawai’i’s ban on former residents voting if they live in certain U.S. territories (though allowing other former residents to to vote from overseas locations) is an unconstitutional restriction on the right to vote.

Portugal v. Franklin County (Washington Supreme Court)

• Filed on behalf of OneAmerica initially, then the clinic, explaining that the Washington Voting Rights Act is consistent with the federal and state constitutions and is essential to protecting the voting and representational rights of communities of color.

  Cited in opinion, awaiting Supreme Court decision

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity v. Raffensberger (Northern District of Georgia)

• Filed on behalf of the Clinic and Fair Districts GA offering evidence from publicly available algorithms to show that there are literally thousands of ways to draw a demonstration plan that reflects the legislature’s discretionary choices while still including additional majority Black districts.

  Cited in opinion

ELC works with community organizations and advocacy groups to develop policy solutions to advance voting rights

• Advocacy for State Voting Rights Acts: The Election Law Clinic is partnering with local organizations across the country to adopt or amend SVRAs to better enfranchise people of color in local government.

  • Highlight: Lucas Rodriguez (JD ’24) testified before both the Maryland Ways and Means Committee in support of HB 1104 and the Connecticut Joint Government Administration and Elections Committee in support of SB 1226.