LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF NEW JERSEY et al v. WAY

Filing 34

STIPULATION AND ORDER granting 12 Motion for Preliminary Injunction. Signed by Judge Michael A. Shipp on 6/17/2020. (abr)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF
NEW JERSEY, NAACP NEW JERSEY
STATE CONFERENCE, WILLIAM M.
RIGGS, SHAMISA ZVOMA, and
DEBORAH J. RISKA,

No. 20-cv-05990-MAS-LHG

STIPULATION AND ORDER
GRANTING
PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

Plaintiffs,
v.
TAHESHA WAY, in her official capacity
as Secretary of the State of New Jersey,
Defendant.

WHEREAS, on May 18, 2020, Plaintiffs League of Women Voters of
New Jersey, NAACP New Jersey State Conference, and William M. Riggs
filed their Complaint, ECF No. 1, against Defendant Secretary Tahesha Way
(“Defendant”), in her official capacity as Secretary of the State of New
Jersey, alleging that New Jersey’s existing signature verification procedures
for mail-in voting violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United
States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, on June 3, 2020, Plaintiffs League of Women Voters of
New Jersey, NAACP New Jersey State Conference, William M. Riggs,
Shamisa Zvoma, and Deborah J. Riska (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) filed their
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Amended Complaint, ECF No. 11, against Defendant, alleging that New
Jersey’s existing signature verification procedures for both mail-in and
provisional voting violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the
United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, on June 3, 2020, Plaintiffs filed a motion for a
preliminary injunction with supporting declarations and a supporting
memorandum of law; and
WHEREAS, Plaintiffs and Defendant (collectively, the “Parties”)
have agreed to the provisions set forth herein to resolve Plaintiffs’ pending
motion for a preliminary injunction, which provisions shall govern only the
primary election scheduled to take place in New Jersey on July 7, 2020; and
WHEREAS, the Parties agree that this Stipulation and Order is not a
final judgment, does not resolve Plaintiffs’ claims except as to the July 7,
2020 primary elections, and is entered without prejudice to any claims,
defenses, or potential relief respecting any future elections;
WHEREAS, this Stipulation and Order shall not be construed as an
admission by Defendant as to the merits of Plaintiffs’ claims;
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS STIPULATED AND AGREED, by
and among the Parties, and HEREBY ORDERED by the Court, as
follows:
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1.

Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, ECF No. 12, is

granted.
2.

Defendant shall forthwith direct all County Boards of Elections and

their members, agents, employees and representatives (collectively, the
“Evaluators”) who are responsible for authenticating or verifying mail-in ballots
pursuant to N.J. Stat. § 19:63-17 and/or authenticating or verifying ballots pursuant
to N.J. Stat. § 19:53C-13 (collectively, “Signature Matching”), as follows:
a. All Evaluators shall receive, and be directed to comply with,
written guidance stating as follows:
When verifying signatures, evaluators should keep in mind that
everyone writes differently, and no one signs their name exactly the
same way twice. Some variation in signatures is to be expected. There
are many factors that can lead to signature variance, including but not
limited to age, disability, underlying health conditions, writing
implement/surface, level of concentration, and educational
background. Studies have shown that evaluators are more likely to
declare genuine signatures to be non-genuine than they are to accept a
non-genuine signature as genuine. We hope to prevent these errors.
Evaluators should presume that the documents were signed by the
same person and must accept a signature as valid unless there is a clear
discrepancy that cannot be reasonably explained.
b. Evaluators shall track all mail-in and provisional ballots that are
tentatively rejected due to Signature Matching or because a signature
is missing. Within 24 hours after the decision has been made to
tentatively reject a ballot due to a signature, Evaluators shall issue a
Cure Letter to the voter whose ballot has been tentatively rejected. The
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Cure Letter shall inform the voter that their ballot has been tentatively
rejected because the ballot envelope did not have a signature or the
signature could not be verified using the voter’s signature on file.
c. Every Cure Letter sent pursuant to Subparagraph 2(b) above shall
include:
i. A Cure Form, pre-printed with the voter’s name, which shall
instruct the voter that they may cure the signature impairment
by completing the form and returning it to the Board of
Elections in person, by fax, or by email at or before 2:00 p.m.
on July 23, 2020, or by mail such that it is received by the
Board of Elections by close of business on July 23, 2020; and
(ii) a postage-paid, addressed envelope that the voter may use
to return the form if they elect to do so by mail. Cure Forms
shall not be referred to as affidavits and shall not be required
to be sworn. Voters shall not be required to submit any form
of hard-copy identification document or copy thereof in order
to cure a signature impairment, but may do so in accordance
with Paragraph 2(d)(ii) below.
d. Cure Forms shall solicit the voter to:
i. Declare that they submitted their provisional or mail-in ballot;
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ii. Verify their identity by either:
1. Providing their Driver License Number or Motor
Vehicle Commission Non-driver ID Number; or,
2. If the voter does not have a Driver License Number or
Motor Vehicle Commission Non-driver ID Number,
providing the last four digits of their Social Security
Number; or,
3. If the voter has neither a Driver License Number,
Motor Vehicle Commission Non-driver ID Number, or
the last four digits of their Social Security Number,
attaching a legible copy of a state-accepted form of
identification, which shall include a sample ballot
which lists the voter’s name and address; an official
federal, State, county or municipal document which
lists the voter’s name and address; or a utility
or telephone bill or tax or rent receipt; and
iii. Sign and date the form prior to returning it.
e. If a voter timely returns a completed Cure Form and the information
provided verifies their identity, their otherwise valid mail-in or
provisional ballot shall be counted in the final election results
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irrespective of any impairment previously identified as a result of
Signature Matching. If a voter elects to attach a copy of a Stateaccepted identification document to their Cure Form pursuant to
Paragraph 2(d)(ii)(3) above, the address listed on such document need
not match the voter registration address provided that the document
otherwise verifies the voter’s identity.
f. Under no circumstances may Cure Forms be verified or
authenticated using Signature Matching.
g. A provisional or mail-in ballot may not be rejected due to signature
impairment unless Evaluators comply with all provisions of this
Paragraph 2.
3. Defendant shall issue guidance advising each County Board of
Elections to, at a minimum, meet in advance of Election Day and eight
days after Election Day in order to discharge their duties pursuant to
Paragraph 2, and to thereafter meet regularly in order to accomplish the
same.

Such guidance shall encourage these meetings to occur in

addition to any other statutorily mandated meetings of the Board.
4. Defendant shall direct each County Board of Elections to report to the
New Jersey Division of Elections the following information on July 15,
2020:
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a. Whether they have completed processing all mail-in and
provisional ballots pursuant to Paragraph 2(b); and
b. If such processing has not been completed, (i) the number of
mail-in and provisional ballots pending staff review; (ii) by when
staff review of the received mail-in and provisional ballots will
be completed; (iii) the number of mail-in and provisional ballots
that have been set aside for County Board of Elections review,
but have not yet been acted on by the Board, and (iv) when the
Board intends to meet to process those ballots.
5. Defendant shall provide to Plaintiffs’ counsel the information
contained in the reports received pursuant to Paragraph 4.
6. Defendant shall direct the New Jersey Division of Elections to conduct
a public awareness and education campaign in advance of the July 7,
2020 primary election concerning the importance of a voter’s signature
on their mail-in or provisional ballot.

Such campaign shall be

reasonably designed so as to (i) alert voters that provisional and mailin ballots are verified using Signature Matching; (ii) inform voters that
in the event a ballot is tentatively rejected as a result of Signature
Matching, voters are entitled to receive notice of the tentative rejection
and an opportunity to cure the purported impairment; and (iii) provide
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voters with a basic understanding of the notice and cure process set
forth in Paragraph 2 above.

The information described in this

Paragraph 6 shall, at minimum, appear on the Division of Elections’
website and social media pages, and be made available to counties and
advocacy groups to disseminate.
7.

The relief set forth herein shall be implemented without delay and

so as to be effective for the primary election scheduled to take place in New
Jersey on July 7, 2020.
8.

This Stipulation and Order is not a final judgment, does not resolve

Plaintiffs’ claims except as to the July 7, 2020 primary election, and is entered
without prejudice to any claims, defenses, or relief respecting future elections.
9.

The bond requirement of Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(c) is waived.

STIPULATED AND AGREED AS TO FORM AND ENTRY:
CAMPAIGN LEGAL CENTER

NEW JERSEY OFFICE OF THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL

/s Danielle Lang
.
Danielle Lang*
Rob Weiner*
Ravi Doshi*
Dana Paikowsky*^
1101 14th Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005

___________________
s/Susan M. Scott
Susan M. Scott
Deputy Attorney General
25 Market Street
P.O. Box 112
Trenton, NJ 08625

Counsel for Defendant
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