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After the Southern Indiana District Court rejected the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, the case was appealed, and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has expedited the matter with oral arguments scheduled for Sept. 30.
…Plaintiffs are attempting to use the alleged invalidity of a single provision—first added in 1993—to overhaul Indiana’s entire voting system, contravening the Indiana legislature’s considered decision to allow only certain categories of voters to vote absentee by mail,” the Indiana Attorney General argued. “The Court should reject this attempt at legislation-by-lawsuit. If it determines that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed in establishing that the Twenty-Sixth Amendment bars States from allowing elderly voters to request to vote absentee-by-mail, this Court should do nothing more than invalidate that provision.”
Moreover, the Indiana Attorney General asserted the on the eve of an election, plaintiffs are challenging a longstanding state voting law that they could have sought to overturn years ago. Indiana expanded no-excuse absentee voting for the June 2020 primary because Gov. Eric Holcomb had issued a stay at home order to keep Hoosiers safe during the initial outbreak of COVID-19.
The Indiana Attorney General argued the plaintiffs have created the emergency for which they are now seeking relief. They did not file their motion for preliminary injunction until June 8, more than two months after absentee voting was expanded for the primary.
“In waiting to file, Plaintiffs apparently appreciated the authority of the Governor and the Commission to assess the rapidly evolving challenges presented by COVID-19 and respond accordingly,” the Attorney General stated. “Yet they now claim urgency based on their dissatisfaction with these officials’ decisions. Because Plaintiffs are responsible for the urgency they claim justifies this Court issuing a preliminary injunction, the Court should not overturn the district court’s decision.”
KEK