Seventh Circuit Dismisses Challenge to State's Mail-In Ballot Procedure
Last month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to Illinois election laws that allow election officials to receive and count mail-in ballots for up to two weeks after the date of the election so long as the ballots are either (1) postmarked on or before the day of the election or, (2) if there is no postmark, the voter signs a certification that accompanies the ballot. Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections, et al.
A group of Illinois voters and political candidates filed a lawsuit against the State Board of Elections to challenge Illinois' mail-in vote procedure, arguing that it unlawfully expanded the time in which residents can vote. The district court dismissed the claims, finding that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue and, even if they did, the challenge had no merits.
Plaintiffs appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the dismissal on standing grounds. The Seventh Circuit first rejected the voters-plaintiffs' argument that the plaintiffs votes will be "diluted" if mail-in ballots are counted after election day, finding that claim to be too generalized and not the type of particularized injury to support standing. Second, the Seventh Circuit rejected the candidate-plaintiffs' argument that they had to expend additional resources after election day to contest any objectionable ballots, finding that this future claim of harm was neither actual or imminent to support standing. The Court also rejected the candidates-plaintiffs' argument that they have an interest in ensuring that only legally valid votes are counted, finding that argument to be purely speculative. In sum, the Seventh Circuit upheld the dismissal of the lawsuit based on lack of standing.
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