DISCLAIMER:  The following unofficial case summaries 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.