Thanks to a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, California’s mail-in voting system survived a lawsuit brought by a far-right group promoting “election integrity.”

On Thursday, the 9th Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that dismissed a lawsuit filed by Election Integrity Project California (EIPCa) challenging the constitutionality of the state’s mail-in voting system. EIPCa’s lawsuit, first filed in January 2021, argued that the state’s election laws, regulations and policies have effectively expanded the right to vote, created universal mail-in voting, allowed online voter registration, permitted community voting and regulated poll watchers – all of which are unconstitutional, they argue.

EIPCa’s original lawsuit used the radical and controversial independent state legislature theory to argue that California Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D), California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D), and several county election officials “violated the Elections Clause by usurping the constitutional authority of the California State Legislature to determine the election process.” However, the lawsuit was amended to drop that claim.

In June 2021, a federal court dismissed the lawsuit, and EIPCa appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit. The 9th Circuit then dismissed some of the lawsuit’s claims while also vacating the decision of a district court that found it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case and remanded it to the district court. In July 2023, the district court dismissed the lawsuit, and EIPCa again appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit.

The 9th Circuit panel “rejected plaintiffs’ claim that state and county officials impermissibly diluted the voting eligibility of in-person voters and voters of certain counties by inadvertently counting some invalid mail-in ballots.” The 9th Circuit ruling also rejected EIPCa’s argument that California’s mail-in voting system was unconstitutional because “California’s election rules and county officials’ practices under those rules met basic requirements of equal treatment and fundamental fairness.”

Read the statement here.

Original article from February 5, 2024:

Today, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit brought by a far-right group challenging California’s mail-in voting system.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of an “election integrity” group, the Election Integrity Project California (EIPCa). The case’s attorneys, Advocates for Faith & Freedom, describe their mission as follows:

“Advocates for Faith & Freedom protects the constitutional freedoms that define the United States as a beacon of liberty and prosperity, including religious freedom, free speech, election integrity, parental rights, and the rights of born and unborn children.”

The plaintiffs argue that California’s election laws, regulations, and policies that permitted universal mail-in voting, enabled online voter registration, permitted community voting, regulated poll watchers, and otherwise expanded voting options are unconstitutional. Specifically, the plaintiffs allege that California Assembly Bill 860, Assembly Bill 37, Senate Bill 503, Senate Bill 397, Senate Bill 450, and several sections of the California Code of Regulations relating to elections are unconstitutional.

The right-wing group claims the defendants violated the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the 14th Amendment by “implementing laws, regulations and procedures that diminish the value of in-person voting, including by EIPCa observers and plaintiffs in their respective districts.” The group is demanding an audit of all mail-in ballots, “newly created or duplicated ballots, certified ballots and other documents used to vote in all elections since the November 2020 election,” along with an order to preserve and audit all voting machines.

An earlier version of this lawsuit contained a radical argument based on the independent state legislative theory that the defendants “violated the Elections Clause by usurping the constitutional authority of the California State Legislature to determine the election process.” However, the lawsuit has since been amended to drop that claim, as well as certain plaintiffs.

On June 14, 2021, a federal court dismissed the lawsuit. The plaintiffs appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which dismissed some of the plaintiffs’ claims, vacated the district court’s decision that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the lawsuit, and sent the case back to the district court for further proceedings.

The district court dismissed the lawsuit two years later, in July 2023, but the plaintiffs again appealed to the 9th Circuit, which is hearing the case today. The appellants are asking the court to vacate the lower court’s order dismissing the lawsuit on the grounds that “California does not have uniform vote-counting procedures, which inherently disadvantages voters in certain counties.”

Voting by mail has been a huge success in California, with 86.72% of voters using this option in the 2020 and 2022 general elections, and 87.52% in 2022. Yet right-wing groups continue to attack this extremely secure voting method. The 9th District will decide whether to pursue this highly questionable case.

Learn more about the case here.