• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Voting>
  3. absentee voting>

Suit from the right contests Virginia's liberalized absentee rules for the primary

Sara Swann
https://twitter.com/saramswann?lang=en
May 22, 2020
James Bopp Jr.

Prominent conservative election lawyer James Bopp Jr. filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of six Northern Virginia voters.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Almost all the lawsuits about voting during the coronavirus outbreak have come from groups pushing to make things easier. One of the country's most prominent conservative election lawyers is pushing in the other direction.

In his latest suit, James Bopp Jr. has asked a federal judge to stop Virginia from allowing fear of getting sick to be an excuse for voting by mail in the state's congressional primaries next month. A similar federal suit against Nevada's loosening of the rules was dismissed three weeks ago.

At a time of overwhelming sentiment that voters should not have to choose between their health and their civic responsibility, especially when the mail is available as an alternative to a voting booth, Bopp is making a contradictory argument.


His Virginia suit, filed last week, says going to the polls should be no more dangerous than going to the store for basic services — which people in the state are allowed to do even though a statewide stay-at-home order remains in effect until June 10.

"The same social distancing and good hygiene practices — which are effective for preventing the spread of the virus when going out for essential services, like grocery shopping and other essential services — are also an effective way to prevent the spread of the virus for in-person voting," the suit argues.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

The primary has been postponed two weeks to June 23, and Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam has issued an executive order that because of the Covid-19 outbreak anyone may obtain an absentee ballot by claiming the "illness or disability" reason on the application.

It is the last election in the state where any excuse will be required. The General Assembly relaxed the rules this winter, but not before July.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Thursday, arguing that Virginia voters have a constitutional right to cast their ballots by mail in light of Covid-19. Restricting this access could disenfranchise millions, the group says.

Bopp's suit, filed on behalf of six northern Virginia voters, disagrees on both fronts and says Northam has exceeded his emergency powers. That was the argument he used when Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske decreed that anyone could vote by mail in the June 9 primary. A federal judge tossed that suit May 1.

The new suit says a significant increase in the number of people voting absentee could also lead to requested ballots getting lost in the mail, arriving late or never arriving at all.

But attorneys for Virginia say changing the election procedures now — with the June 23 primary just a month away — would cause widespread confusion and voter disenfranchisement.

"And the stakes here are even higher than in a typical case because the challenged actions protect not only citizens' right to vote, but also the health and safety of voters, poll workers, election officials, and others who would otherwise be at risk from a highly contagious virus," the state's lawyers argue in their response to the suit.

From Your Site Articles
  • New York delays primary; Virginia eases ballot access - The Fulcrum ›
  • Suit filed over Va. witness requirements for absentee voters - The ... ›
  • Voting during coronavirus eased in 3 more states - The Fulcrum ›
  • Access to absentee voting expands Ala., Vt., Conn. - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • Upcoming Elections - Virginia Department of Elections ›
  • Va. lawmakers pass bill to allow no-excuse absentee voting ›
  • Absentee Voting - Virginia Department of Elections ›
  • Voters suing Virginia election officials, saying absentee voting not ... ›
absentee voting

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Confirm that you are not a bot.
×
Follow
Contributors

Why does a man wearing earrings drive Christians crazy?

Paul Swearengin

DeSantis' sitcom world

Lawrence Goldstone

Hypocrisy of pro-lifers being anti-LGBTQIA

Steve Corbin

A dangerous loss of trust

William Natbony

Shifting the narrative on homelessness in America

David L. Nevins

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane
latest News

Ask Joe: Two sides of a story

Joe Weston
5h

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Our Staff
01 June

Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

David Butler
01 June

Three practical presidential pledges to promote national prosperity

James-Christian B. Blockwood
31 May

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Justin Roebuck

Mia Minkin
31 May

Podcast: Why Is Congressional Oversight Important, and How Can It Be Done Well? (with Elise Bean)

Kevin R. Kosar
Elise J. Bean
30 May
Videos

Video: Why music? Why now?

David L. Nevins

Video: Honoring Memorial Day

Our Staff

Video: #ListenFirst Friday YOUnify & CPL

Our Staff

Video: What is the toll of racial violence on Black lives?

Our Staff

Video: What's next for migrants seeking asylum after Title 42

Our Staff

Video: An inside look at the campaign to repeal Pennsylvania’s closed primaries

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Our Staff
01 June

Podcast: AI revolution: Disaster or great leap forward?

Our Staff
25 May

Podcast: Can we fix America's financial crises?

Our Staff
23 May

Podcast: Gen Z's fight for democracy

Our Staff
22 May
Recommended
Why does a man wearing earrings drive Christians crazy?

Why does a man wearing earrings drive Christians crazy?

Diversity Inclusion and Belonging
DeSantis' sitcom world

DeSantis' sitcom world

Opinion
Ask Joe: Two sides of a story

Ask Joe: Two sides of a story

Pop Culture
Video: Why music? Why now?

Video: Why music? Why now?

Big Picture
Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Technology
Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

Budgeting