DISCLAIMER: Any unofficial case summaries below are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
181725P.pdf 07/31/2019 Richard Brakebill v. Alvin Jaeger
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 18-1725
U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota - Bismarck
[PUBLISHED] [Colloton, Author, with Benton and Kelly, Circuit Judges]
Civil case - Election law. For the court's prior opinion in the matter,
see Brakebill v. Jaeger, 905 F.3d 553 (8th Cir. 2018). An action by Native
American plaintiffs challenging portions of North Dakota elections
statutes regarding the form of identification required to receive a
ballot; the requirements in question state a voter must provide, among
other things, identification which shows the voter's current residential
street address; plaintiffs alleged these provisions placed an
unconstitutional burden on the right to vote of many Native Americans. The
district court agreed and enjoined the Secretary of State from enforcing
certain of the requirements statewide. Held: the alleged burdens do not
justify a statewide injunction. At least one of the plaintiffs had
standing to raise a facial challenge to the statute because he currently
lives in a homeless apartment complex and would have to obtain a new form
of identification with his current street or a supplemental document that
includes his current address, and the burden of these acts is sufficient
to establish injury and standing; plaintiff's facial challenge to the
residential street address requirements likely fails and the state
injunction as to that provision cannot be justified as a form of
as-applied relief; plaintiffs have not presented evidence that the
residential street address requirement imposes a substantial burden on
most North Dakota voters; even if some communities do not have such
addresses, that fact does not support a statewide injunction; statute's
requirement to present an enumerated form of identification does not
impose a burden on voters that justifies a statewide injunction to accept
additional forms of identification; the record is insufficient to justify
enjoining the Secretary of State from enforcing the supplemental documents
provision statewide; although the district court's statewide injunction
was not warranted, the possibility remains that a narrower injunction to
relieve certain voters of an unjustified burden might be within the
district court's authority, and the matter is remanded for further
proceedings. Judge Kelly, dissenting.
181725P.pdf 09/24/2018 Richard Brakebill v. Alvin Jaeger
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 18-1725
U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota - Bismarck
[PUBLISHED] [Colloton, Author, with Benton and Kelly, Circuit Judges]
On a Renewed Motion for Stay Pending Appeal. The North Dakota Secretary of
State moves to stay an order of the district court enjoining parts of the
North Dakota elections laws. One aspect of the statutes requires a voter
to present at the polls a valid form of identification that provides the
voter's current residential street address. The district court enjoined
enforcement of this provision and directed, instead, that the Secretary
must deem a voter qualified if the voter presents identification that
includes the voter's current mailing address, such as a post office box.
Held, the Secretary had demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits
in his challenge to this aspect of the injunction, that the State would be
irreparably harmed by the injunction during the general election in
November, 2018, and that a stay should be granted after consideration of
the relevant factors. Judge Kelly, dissenting.