Civil Voting Rights Lawsuits Filed in June 2021

While the number of civil voting rights cases are down since the spurt of such filings surrounding the 2020 elections, they are beginning to climb again. The latest available data from the federal courts show that during June 2021 the government reported 15 new civil rights voting lawsuits filed. According to the case-by-case court records analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, this brings the number to 58 civil filings since January of this year. Only one of the suits filed in June was filed by the U.S. government.

Voting rights litigation tends to occur in election years and drops off sharply in off-election years. The number of June suits exceeded any previous month in off-election years with the one exception of November 2019 in the lead up to the 2020 elections. See Figure 1.


Figure 1. Voting Civil Filings Over the Last Five Years
(Click for larger image)

A total of 31 out of the 94 federal judicial districts have had at least one voting rights case filed this calendar year. The largest total has been in the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta) with eleven (11) suits thus far. This was followed by the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) with five (5). Table 1 below lists the districts by the number of voting rights cases filed during the first half of this calendar year. A listing of each of these cases follows in Table 2.

Table 1. Number of Voting Civil Rights Lawsuits Filed by Federal Judicial District, January - June 2021
Judicial District Lawsuits
Ala, M 2
Arizona 1
Cal, C 2
Cal, E 1
Cal, S 1
Colorado 1
Fla, N 4
Ga, N 11
Ga, S 1
Idaho 1
Ill, C 2
Ill, N 3
Kansas 2
La, W 1
Maine 1
Maryland 1
Mass 1
Mich, E 1
N Car, E 2
N. Y., S 3
Okla, W 1
Penn, W 1
Puer Rico 1
R. I. 1
S Car 1
Tenn, E 1
Texas, N 2
Texas, W 5
Virg, E 1
Virg, W 1
Wash, E 1
Total 58
Table 2. Listing of Voting Civil Rights Lawsuits Filed by Date, January - June 2021
District Office Docket Number Title Filed Closed
Ala, M Ala, M - Montgomery 2:2021cv00007 Sanders v. Merrill et al (MAG+) 4-Jan-21 .
Cal, C Cal, C - Western Division - Los Angeles 2:2021cv00032 Election Integrity Project California, Inc. et al v. Alex Padilla et al 4-Jan-21 .
Maine Maine - Portland 2:2021cv00002 DYER v. HARRIS et al 4-Jan-21 20-Jan-21
Colorado Colorado - Denver 1:2021cv00071 Murphy v. Lamborn 11-Jan-21 .
N Car, E N Car, E - Western Division 5:2021cv00014 Tanner et al v. Cooper et al 12-Jan-21 2-Feb-21
Tenn, E Tenn, E - Knoxville 3:2021cv00014 Parton v. Bloomberg (TV2) 13-Jan-21 .
Ill, C Ill, C - Springfield 3:2021cv03023 Whitten et al v. Rochester Township Republican Central Committee et al 15-Jan-21 1-Feb-21
Texas, W Texas, W - Waco 6:2021cv00043 Latinos for Trump v. Sessions 18-Jan-21 .
Kansas Kansas - Topeka 5:2021cv04001 Lenhardt v. Democratic Party HQ et al 19-Jan-21 .
Cal, C Cal, C - Southern Division - Santa Ana 8:2021cv00120 Defend Our Freedoms Foundation v. Chuck Schumer et al 21-Jan-21 29-Jan-21
Ala, M Ala, M - Dothan 1:2021cv00056 Kelley et al v. Harrison et al 22-Jan-21 .
Ill, C Ill, C - Springfield 3:2021cv03029 McCaffrey v. McAtee et al 23-Jan-21 .
N. Y., S N. Y., S - Foley Square 1:2021cv00767 Liu v. Democratic National Committee (DNC) 27-Jan-21 .
Ga, N Ga, N - Atlanta 1:2021cv00556 Georgia Voter Alliance et al v. Pitts et al 5-Feb-21 .
Ga, S Ga, S - Augusta 1:2021cv00020 Swanson v. State Of Georgia 5-Feb-21 .
Mass Mass - Worcester 4:2021cv40015 Worcester Interfaith, Inc. et al v. City of Worcester, Massachusetts et al 7-Feb-21 .
Okla, W Okla, W - Oklahoma City 5:2021cv00088 Pontious v. Trainor et al 8-Feb-21 .
Texas, W Texas, W - Waco 6:2021cv00162 Bravo et al v. Pelosi et al 22-Feb-21 .
Idaho Idaho - Coeur d'Alene - Northern 2:2021cv00104 Tyler, et al. v. Coeur d''Alene School District #271 8-Mar-21 .
Maryland Maryland - Baltimore 1:2021cv00655 Kim et al v. Board of Education of Howard County 16-Mar-21 .
R. I. R. I. - Providence 1:2021cv00138 Batista v. City of Providence et al 23-Mar-21 .
Cal, E Cal, E - Sacramento 2:2021cv00544 Sacramento Homeless Union, et al v. City of Sacramento, et al 24-Mar-21 .
Ga, N Ga, N - Atlanta 1:2021cv01229 The New Georgia Project et al v. Raffensperger et al 25-Mar-21 .
Ga, N Ga, N - Atlanta 1:2021cv01259 Georgia State Conference of the NAACP et al v. Raffensperger et al 28-Mar-21 .
Ga, N Ga, N - Atlanta 1:2021cv01284 Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church et al v. Kemp et al 29-Mar-21 .
Ga, N Ga, N - Atlanta 1:2021cv01333 Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta v. Raffensperger et al 1-Apr-21 .
Puer Rico Puer Rico - San Juan 3:2021cv01153 Rosario et al v. Electoral Commission of Puerto Rico 6-Apr-21 7-Apr-21
Ga, N Ga, N - Atlanta 1:2021cv01390 VoteAmerica et al v. Raffensperger et al 7-Apr-21 .
Ga, N Ga, N - Gainesville 2:2021cv00077 Tyson et al v. Town of Homer, Georgia et al 8-Apr-21 .
N. Y., S N. Y., S - Foley Square 1:2021cv03069 Shabazz et al v. New York City Campaign Finance Board et al 8-Apr-21 .
La, W La, W - Monroe 3:2021cv00988 USA v. West Monroe 14-Apr-21 15-Apr-21
S Car S Car - Aiken 1:2021cv01139 Lisenby v. Rasar et al 16-Apr-21 .
Texas, N Texas, N - Dallas 3:2021cv00885 Castro v. The City of Grand Prairie et al 16-Apr-21 .
Texas, N Texas, N - Fort Worth 4:2021cv00559 Castro v. Grand Prairie, City of et al 16-Apr-21 19-Apr-21
Ga, N Ga, N - Atlanta 1:2021cv01728 The Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan Atlanta, Inc. et al v. Raffensperger et al 27-Apr-21 .
N. Y., S N. Y., S - Foley Square 1:2021cv03830 Monserrate v. Board of Elections in the City of New York et al 29-Apr-21 .
Arizona Arizona - Phoenix Division 2:2021cv00769 Becker v. Hobbs 3-May-21 .
Penn, W Penn, W - Pittsburgh 2:2021cv00582 MANNS v. PENNWOOD NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER 4-May-21 .
Fla, N Fla, N - Tallahassee 4:2021cv00186 LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF FLORIDA INC et al v. LEE et al 6-May-21 .
Fla, N Fla, N - Tallahassee 4:2021cv00187 FLORIDA STATE CONFERENCE OF BRANCHES AND YOUTH UNITS OF THE NAACP et al v. LEE 6-May-21 .
Wash, E Wash, E - Richland 4:2021cv05075 Reyes et al v. Chilton et al 7-May-21 .
Fla, N Fla, N - Tallahassee 4:2021cv00201 FLORIDA RISING TOGETHER et al v. LEE et al 17-May-21 .
Ga, N Ga, N - Atlanta 1:2021cv02070 Coalition for Good Governance et al v. Raffensperger et al 17-May-21 .
N Car, E N Car, E - Western Division 5:2019cv00248 Public Interest Legal Foundation, Inc. v. North Carolina State Board of Elections 1-Jun-21 .
Kansas Kansas - Kansas City 2:2021cv02253 VoteAmerica v. Schwab et al 2-Jun-21 .
Mich, E Mich, E - Detroit 2:2021cv11315 Detroit Action et al v. City of Hamtramck et al 3-Jun-21 13-Jul-21
Texas, W Texas, W - Austin 1:2021cv00504 Okoro v. Pelosi et al 8-Jun-21 .
Ill, N Ill, N - Chicago 1:2021cv03091 McConchie et al v. Illinois State Board of Elections et al 9-Jun-21 .
Ill, N Ill, N - Chicago 1:2021cv03139 Contreras et al v. Illinois State Board of Elections et al 10-Jun-21 .
Fla, N Fla, N - Tallahassee 4:2021cv00242 HARRIET TUBMAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS CORP et al v. LEE et al 14-Jun-21 .
Ga, N Ga, N - Atlanta 1:2021cv02486 Bell v. Raffensperger et al 17-Jun-21 .
Ill, N Ill, N - Chicago 1:2021cv03285 Johnson v. Accenture LLP 18-Jun-21 .
Virg, W Virg, W - Charlottesville 3:2021cv00022 Schilling v. Washburne et al 21-Jun-21 .
Texas, W Texas, W - Austin 1:2021cv00546 Texas State LULAC et al v. Elfant et al 22-Jun-21 .
Ga, N Ga, N - Atlanta 1:2021cv02575 United States of America v. The State of Georgia et al 25-Jun-21 .
Texas, W Texas, W - San Antonio 5:2020cv00008 Texas Democratic Party et al v. Hughs 28-Jun-21 30-Jun-21
Virg, E Virg, E - Richmond 3:2021cv00420 Goldman v. Northam et al 28-Jun-21 .
Cal, S Cal, S - San Diego 3:2021cv01184 Tag v. i360, LLC et al 29-Jun-21 .
Each month, TRAC offers a free report focused on one area of civil litigation in the U.S. district courts. In addition, subscribers to the TRACFed data service can generate custom reports by district, office, nature of suit or federal jurisdiction via the TRAC Data Interpreter.