Anderson et al v. Raffensperger et al

Filing 92

MOTION for Preliminary Injunction with Brief In Support by Sara Alami, Lucille Anderson, Gianella Contreras Chavez, DSCC, Democratic Party of Georgia, Inc.. (Attachments: #1 Memorandum in Support of Motion, #2 Proposed Order)(Sparks, Adam)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION
LUCILLE ANDERSON, SARA ALAMI,
GIANELLA CONTRERAS CHAVEZ,
DSCC, and DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF
GEORGIA, INC.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, in his official
capacity as the Georgia Secretary of State
and the Chair of the Georgia State Election
Board; REBECCA N. SULLIVAN, DAVID
J. WORLEY, MATTHEW MASHBURN,
and ANH LE, in their official capacities as
Members of the Georgia State Election
Board; MARY CAROLE COONEY,
MARK WINGATE, VERNETTA
NURIDDIN, KATHLEEN RUTH, and
AARON JOHNSON, in their official
capacities as Members of the FULTON
County Board of Registration and Elections;
SAMUEL E. TILLMAN, ANTHONY
LEWIS, SUSAN MOTTER, DELE
LOWMAN SMITH, and BAOKY N. VU, in
their official capacities as Members of the
DEKALB County Board of Registration and
Elections; PHIL DANIELL, FRED AIKEN,
JESSICA M. BROOKS, NEERA BAHL,
and DARRYL O. WILSON, JR., in their
official capacities as Members of the COBB
County Board of Elections and Registration;
JOHN MANGANO, BEN SATTERFIELD,

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WANDY TAYLOR, STEPHEN DAY, and
ALICE O’LENICK, in their official
capacities as Members of the GWINNETT
County Board of Registrations and
Elections; THOMAS MAHONEY III,
MARIANNE HEIMES, MALINDA
HODGE, ANTWAN LANG, and DEBBIE
RAUERS, in their official capacities as
Members of the CHATHAM County Board
of Elections; CAROL WESLEY,
DOROTHY FOSTER HALL, PATRICIA
PULLAR, DARLENE JOHNSON, and
DIANE GIVENS, in their official capacities
as Members of the CLAYTON County
Board of Elections and Registrations;
DONNA CRUMBLEY, DONNA MORRISMCBRIDE, ANDY CALLAWAY, ARCH
BROWN, and MILDRED SCHMELZ, in
their official capacities as Members of the
HENRY County Board of Elections and
Registration; MYESHA GOOD, DAVID C.
FEDACK, ROBERT PROCTOR, DANIEL
ZIMMERMANN, and MAURICE HURRY,
in their official capacities as Members of the
DOUGLAS County Board of Elections and
Registration; and RINDA WILSON,
HENRY FICKLIN, HERBERT
SPANGLER, CASSANDRA POWELL,
and MIKE KAPLAN, in their official
capacities as members of the MACONBIBB County Board of Elections,
Defendants.
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

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Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(a), Plaintiffs LUCILLE
ANDERSON, SARA ALAMI, GIANELLA CONTRERAS CHAVEZ, DSCC and
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF GEORGIA, INC. (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), for
the reasons set forth herein and in the memorandum of law filed concurrently with
this motion, and as supported by the materials submitted therewith, respectfully
move for an Order preliminarily enjoining Defendant Georgia Secretary of State
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, the members of the GEORGIA STATE ELECTION
BOARD (collectively “State Defendants”), and the members of the County Boards
of Elections and Registration for FULTON, DEKALB, COBB, GWINNETT,
CHATHAM, CLAYTON, HENRY, DOUGLAS and MACON-BIBB COUNTIES
(collectively “County Defendants”) from failing to remedy election administration
issues that are causing long lines during elections, as discussed in detail below.
A preliminary injunction is warranted here because Plaintiffs are likely to
succeed on the merits of their claims. Georgia voters have faced long lines since at
least 2008, and those wait times have climbed year after year until reaching an alltime high during the June 2020 Primary, with many voters waiting up to eight hours
to cast their vote. Long lines especially impact polling locations that serve large
populations of minorities. Plaintiffs’ expert determined that in polling places where
minorities constituted more than 90% of active registered voters, the average
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minimum wait time in the evening was 51 minutes. When whites constituted more
than 90% of registered voters, the average was around six minutes.
“[T]here can come a point when the burden of standing in a queue ceases to
be an inconvenience or annoyance and becomes a constitutional violation because
it, in effect, denies a person the right to exercise his or her franchise.” NAACP State
Conference of Pa. v. Cortés, 591 F. Supp. 2d 757, 764 (E.D. Pa. 2008). The long
lines in Georgia have far surpassed this point and severely burden the right to vote
without justification in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Burdick
v. Takushi, 504 U.S. 428, 434 (1992) (quoting Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S.
780, 789 (1983)). Moreover, Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable injury without an
injunction. Martin v. Kemp, 341 F. Supp. 3d 1326, 1340 (N.D. Ga. 2018); League of
Women Voters of North Carolina v. North Carolina, 769 F.3d 224, 247 (4th Cir.
2014). Finally, the balance of equities and the public interest favor an injunction.
United States v. Georgia, 892 F. Supp. 2d 1367, 1377 (N.D. Ga. 2012). Plaintiffs
thus have clearly established their burden of persuasion as to each of the four
prerequisites to obtaining a preliminary injunction in this Circuit. See, e.g.,
GeorgiaCarry.org v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs, 788 F.3d 1318, 1322 (11th Cir.
2015).

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Plaintiffs request that any preliminary injunction issued by the Court require
the State and County Defendants to take all necessary steps, including promulgating
any rules and regulations consistent with this order, to ensure that the State and
County Defendants: (1) provide polling locations with sufficient numbers of voting
machines, equipment, and emergency paper ballots given the number of voters; (2)
provide proper training to poll managers and poll workers on how to operate voting
machines and equipment, including training on when a polling location must switch
to emergency paper ballots because of delays; (3) ensure that polling locations are
staffed with sufficient numbers of poll workers given the numbers of voters; and (4)
enact policies requiring the functionality of polling equipment at each polling
location be adequately tested within a reasonable time before the polling place
opens.
[signatures on following page]

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Dated: September 1, 2020

Respectfully submitted,
Adam M. Sparks
Halsey G. Knapp, Jr.
Georgia Bar No. 425320
Joyce Gist Lewis
Georgia Bar No. 296261
Adam M. Sparks
Georgia Bar No. 341578
KREVOLIN & HORST, LLC
One Atlantic Center
1201 W. Peachtree Street, NW, Ste. 3250
Atlanta, GA 30309
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Marc E. Elias*
Amanda R. Callais*
Jacki L. Anderson*
Tre Holloway*
PERKINS COIE LLP
700 Thirteenth Street, N.W., Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20005-3960
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Kevin J. Hamilton*
Amanda J. Beane*
Heath Hyatt*
PERKINS COIE LLP
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1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4900
Seattle, WA 98101-3099
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Marcus Haggard*
PERKINS COIE LLP
1900 Sixteenth Street, Suite 1400
Denver, CO 80202-5255
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
Molly Mitchell*
PERKINS COIE LLP
1111 West Jefferson Street, Suite 500
Boise, ID 83702-5391
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
*Admitted Pro Hac Vice
Attorneys for Plaintiffs

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION
LUCILLE ANDERSON, et al.,

Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-03263-MLB

Plaintiffs,
v.
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, et al.,
Defendants.

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
I hereby certify that the foregoing document has been prepared in accordance
with the font type and margin requirements of L.R. 5.1, using font type of Times
New Roman and a point size of 14.
Dated: September 1, 2020

LEGAL149420677.1

Adam M. Sparks
Counsel for Plaintiffs

Case 1:20-cv-03263-MLB Document 92 Filed 09/01/20 Page 9 of 9

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ATLANTA DIVISION
LUCILLE ANDERSON, et al.,
Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-03263-MLB
Plaintiffs,
v.
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, et al.,
Defendants.

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on September 1, 2020, I electronically filed the foregoing
with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system, which will send a notice of
electronic filing to all counsel of record.
Dated: September 1, 2020

LEGAL149420677.1

Adam M. Sparks
Counsel for Plaintiffs