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No Relief from a State Supreme Court’s Extension of the Deadline for Receipt of Cast Ballots Because the Action Was Brought Too Close to the Election

Robert Timothy Reagan
October 24, 2023

Bognet v. Boockvar (Kim R. Gibson, W.D. Pa. 3:20-cv-215)
A federal complaint challenged a decision by a state supreme court regarding a deadline accommodation for mailed ballots at a time of degraded mail service and a global infectious pandemic. The district judge decided that the case had merit, but immediate relief could not be granted only days before the election. The court of appeals affirmed her decision, and the Supreme Court ultimately ordered the case dismissed as moot.
Subject: Absentee and early voting. Topics: Absentee ballots; enjoining certification; laches; matters for state courts; Covid-19; intervention; interlocutory appeal; case assignment.

One of many Case Studies in Emergency Election Litigation.

Downloadable file:
PDF icon Case Study 2 pages

Tags:
Election Litigation | Absentee Ballots | Case Assignment | Early Voting | Enjoining Certification | Interlocutory Appeal | Intervention | Matters for State Courts | Emergency Proceedings | Laches | Covid-19 | U.S. District Courts | W.D. Pa.