Moore v. Circosta — U.S. District Court, M.D.N.C., No. 1:20-cv-00911

Case summary

Moore v. Circosta, No. 1:20-cv-00911 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, was filed September 26, 2020 by the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, the President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate and three voters against the chair, two members and the executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, each in an official capacity. The complaint challenges numbered memoranda that changed absentee-ballot procedures for the 2020 general election, pleading violations of the Elections Clause under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and of the Equal Protection Clause. On October 14, 2020 the court denied the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, finding the plaintiffs lacked standing under the Elections and Electors Clauses and that relief was barred at that late date. The Fourth Circuit dismissed the appeal on January 15, 2021.

Case at a glance

What did the court decide?

It denied the motion for a preliminary injunction. The opinion states that the court believes the unequal treatment of voters and the resulting Equal Protection violations found in it should be enjoined, but that under Purcell and recent Supreme Court orders it is required to find that injunctive relief should be denied at that late date.

What does the complaint allege?

That by changing the rules regulating an ongoing federal election through ad hoc memoranda, the State Board of Elections violated the Elections Clause, which assigns that power to the state legislature, and the Equal Protection Clause, because voters who had already cast absentee ballots were subject to different requirements.

How did the case end?

With the Fourth Circuit's order of January 15, 2021 granting an unopposed motion to voluntarily dismiss the appeal under Rule 42(b) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.