PENNSYLVANIA STATE CONFERENCE OF NAACP v. SCHMIDT

CASE NO. 1:22-CV-00339.

703 F.Supp.3d 632 (2023)

PENNSYLVANIA STATE CONFERENCE OF the NAACP, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, Philadelphians Organized to Witness, Empower and Rebuild, Common Cause Pennsylvania, Black Political Empowerment Project, Make the Road Pennsylvania, Marlene G. Gutierrez, Barry M. Seastead, Aynne Margaret Pleban Polinski, Laurence M. Smith, Joel Bencan, Plaintiffs, v. Al SCHMIDT, in His Official Capacity as Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth, Adams County Board of Elections, Allegheny County Board of Elections, Armstrong County Board of Elections, Beaver County Board of Elections, Bedford County Board of Elections, Berks County Board of Elections, Bradford County Board of Elections, Blair County Board of Elections, Bucks County Board of Elections, Butler County Board of Elections, Cambria County Board of Elections, Cameron County Board of Elections, Carbon County Board of Elections, Centre County Board of Elections, Chester County Board of Elections, Clarion County Board of Elections, Clearfield County Board of Elections, Clinton County Board of Elections, Columbia County Board of Elections, Crawford County Board of Elections, Cumberland County Board of Elections, Dauphin County Board of Elections, Delaware County Board of Elections, Elk County Board of Elections, Erie County Board of Elections, Fayette County Board of Elections, Forest County Board of Elections, Franklin County Board of Elections, Fulton County Board of Elections, Greene County Board of Elections, Huntingdon County Board of Elections, Indiana County Board of Elections, Jefferson County Board of Elections, Juniata County Board of Elections, Lackawanna County Board of Elections, Lancaster County Board of Elections, Lawrence County Board of Elections, Lebanon County Board of Elections, Lehigh County Board of Elections, Luzerne County Board of Elections, Lycoming County Board of Elections, McKean County Board of Elections, Mercer County Board of Elections, Mifflin County Board of Elections, Monroe County Board of Elections, Montgomery County Board of Elections, Montour County Board of Elections, Northampton County Board of Elections, Northumberland County Board of Elections, Perry County Board of Elections, Philadelphia County Board of Elections, Pike County Board of Elections, Potter County Board of Elections, Schuylkill County Board of Elections, Snyder County Board of Elections, Somerset County Board of Elections, Sullivan County Board of Elections, Susquehanna County Board of Elections, Tioga County Board of Elections, Union County Board of Elections, Venango County Board of Elections, Warren County Board of Elections, Washington County Board of Elections, Wayne County Board of Elections, Westmoreland County Board of Elections, Wyoming County Board of Elections, York County Board of Elections, Defendants.

United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania, Erie Division.

Filed November 21, 2023.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Sophia Lin Lakin, Pro Hac Vice, Adriel I. Cepeda DeRieux, Pro Hac Vice, Ari J. Savitzky, Pro Hac Vice, Megan Christine Keenan, Pro Hac Vice, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, New York, NY, Elizabeth D. Femia, Pro Hac Vice, Hogan Lovells LLP, New York, NY, Stephen A. Loney, Marian K. Schneider, Kate Steiker-Ginzberg, ACLUF of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, Brittany C. Armour, David Newmann, Hogan Lovells U.S. LLP, Philadelphia, PA, Witold J. Walczak, Richard Ting, ACLUF of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA, Luis Manuel Rico Roman, Pro Hac Vice, New York City, NY, for Plaintiff Pennsylvania State Conference of the NAACP.

Sophia Lin Lakin, Pro Hac Vice, Adriel I. Cepeda DeRieux, Pro Hac Vice, Ari J. Savitzky, Pro Hac Vice, Megan Christine Keenan, Pro Hac Vice, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, New York, NY, Elizabeth D. Femia, Pro Hac Vice, Hogan Lovells LLP, New York, NY, Stephen A. Loney, Marian K. Schneider, Kate Steiker-Ginzberg, ACLUF of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, Brittany C. Armour, Hogan Lovells U.S. LLP, Philadelphia, PA, Witold J. Walczak, Richard Ting, ACLUF of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA, Luis Manuel Rico Roman, Pro Hac Vice, New York City, NY, for Plaintiffs League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, Philadelphians Organized to Witness, Empower and Rebuild, Common Cause Pennsylvania, Black Political Empowerment Project, Make the Road Pennsylvania.

Ari J. Savitzky, Megan Christine Keenan, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, New York, NY, Elizabeth D. Femia, Pro Hac Vice, Hogan Lovells LLP, New York, NY, Kate Steiker-Ginzberg, Marian K. Schneider, Stephen A. Loney, ACLUF of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, Witold J. Walczak, ACLF of PA, Pittsburgh, PA, for Plaintiffs Marlene G. Gutierrez, Barry M. Seastead, Joel Bencan, Aynne Margaret Pleban Polinski, Laurence M. Smith.

Michael Fischer, Jacob Boyer, Kathleen A. Mullen, Pennsylvania Office of Chief Counsel Department of State, Harrisburg, PA, Robert Wiygul, Pro Hac Vice, John B. Hill, Pro Hac Vice, Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller, Philadelphia, PA, Elizabeth Lester-Abdalla, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Philadelphia, PA, for Defendant Al Schmidt.

Allan J. Opsitnick, Pittsburgh, PA, Virginia Spencer Scott, Frances M. Liebenguth, George M. Janocsko, Lisa G. Michel, Rosalyn Guy-McCorkle, Allegheny County Law Department, Pittsburgh, PA, for Defendant Allegheny County Board of Elections.

Anna Skipper Jewart, Jessica M. Barnes, Sean R. Keegan, Babst Calland Clements & Zomnir PC, Pittsburgh, PA, Elizabeth A. Dupuis, Babst Calland, State College, PA, for Defendants York County Board of Elections.

Jeffrey D. Bukowski, Smith Bukowski, LLC, Wyomissing, PA, for Defendant Berks County Board of Elections.

Amy Fitzpatrick, Pro Hac Vice, County of Bucks, Law Department, Doylestown, PA, Jessica L. VanderKam, Pro Hac Vice, Stuckert and Yates, Newtown, PA, for Defendant Bucks County Board of Elections.

James Joseph Fitzpatrick, III, Walter S. Zimolong, III, Zimolong LLC, Wayne, PA, for Defendant Lancaster County Board of Elections.

Catharine M. Roseberry, Pro Hac Vice, County of Lehigh, Department of Law, Allentown, PA, for Defendant Lehigh County Board of Elections.

Maureen Calder, Pro Hac Vice, Montgomery County Solicitor's Office, Norristown, PA, for Defendant Montgomery County Board of Elections.

Richard E. Santee, Pro Hac Vice, County of Northampton, Easton, PA, for Defendant Northampton County Board of Elections.

Aimee D. Thomson, Pro Hac Vice, Zachary Strassburger, City of Philadelphia Law Department, Philadelphia, PA, Brian H. Benjet, Pro Hac Vice, Ilana Hope Eisenstein, Pro Hac Vice, DLA Piper LLP, Philadelphia, PA, for Defendant Philadelphia County Board of Elections.

Nathaniel J. Schmidt, Schmidt Law Firm, Warren, PA, for Defendant Warren County Board of Elections.

Jana Phillis Grimm, Lauren L. Mathews, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, Pittsburgh, PA, for Defendant Washington County Board of Elections.

Melissa A. Guiddy, Greensburg, PA, for Defendant Westmoreland County Board of Elections.

Jana Phillis Grimm, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, Pittsburgh, PA, for Defendant Attorney Washington County Board of Elections.

Daniel J. Freeman, DOJ-Crt, Voting Section, Civil Rights Division, Washington, DC, for Amicus United States of America.

Cameron Thomas Norris, Pro Hac Vice, Conor Woodfin, Pro Hac Vice, Gilbert Dickey, Pro Hac Vice, Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Arlington, VA, for Amicus Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections, Inc.

John M. Gore, Pro Hac Vice, Louis Joseph Capozzi, III, Pro Hac Vice, Jones Day, Washington, DC, Kathleen A. Gallagher, Brian M. Adrian, The Gallagher Firm, LLC, Pittsburgh, PA, Lisa P. Means, Gallagher Giancola LLC, Pittsburgh, PA, Russell D. Giancola, Law Offices of Carolyn M. Angelaccio, Newtown, PA, for Intervenors Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee.

John M. Gore, Pro Hac Vice, Louis Joseph Capozzi, III, Pro Hac Vice, Jones Day, Washington, DC, Kathleen A. Gallagher, Brian M. Adrian, The Gallagher Firm, LLC, Pittsburgh, PA, Lisa P. Means, Gallagher Giancola LLC, Pittsburgh, PA, Russell D. Giancola, Law Offices of Carolyn M. Angelaccio, Newtown, PA, Thomas W. King, III, Dillon, McCandless, King, Coulter & Graham L.L.P., Butler, PA, for Intervenor Republican Party of Pennsylvania.


MEMORANDUM OPINION ON CROSS MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

IN RE: ECF Nos. 267, 270, 271 and 274

I. Introduction

The right to vote "is regarded as a fundamental political right because [it is] preservative of all rights." Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118...

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