Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita, 1:05-CV-0634-SEB-VSS.

Citation458 F.Supp.2d 775
Decision Date14 April 2006
Docket NumberNo. 1:05-CV-0634-SEB-VSS.,1:05-CV-0634-SEB-VSS.
PartiesINDIANA DEMOCRATIC PARTY, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Todd ROKITA, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — Southern District of Indiana

Groth, Fillenwarth Dennerline Groth & Towe, Kenneth J. Falk, ACLU of Indiana, Indianapolis, IN, for Plaintiffs.

Douglas J. Webber, Thomas M. Fisher, Indiana State Attorney General, James B. Osborn, Office of Corporation Counsel, Indianapolis, IN, for Defendants.

ENTRY GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDMENT, DENYING PLAINTIFFS' MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, AND DENYING PLAITIFFS' MOTIONS TO STRIKE1

BARKER, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs' and Defendants' cross motions for summary judgment. Plaintiffs have brought their constitutionally-based lawsuit seeking injunctive relief and declaratory judgment to challenge the recent enactment by the Indiana General Assembly requiring that registered voters present photo identification at the polls in order to vote, pursuant to Senate Enrolled Act No. 483, codified at Ind.Code §§ 3-5-2-10.5; 3-10-1-7.2; 3-10-8-25; scattered sections of Ind.Code ch. 3-11-8; several sections of Ind.Code art. 3-11.7; and Ind.Code § 9-24-16-102 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "SEA No. 483," the "Voter ID Law," or the "Law"). Plaintiffs contend that this law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution as well as 42 U.S.C. § 1971, and Article 2, Sections 1 and 2 of the Indiana Constitution.

There are two groups of plaintiffs who have brought this consolidated action: The first group is comprised of the Indiana Democratic Party and the Marion County Democratic Central Committee (collectively the "Democrats"); the second group (the "ICLU Plaintiffs")3 is comprised of two elected public officials, State Representative William Crawford and Trustee Joseph Simpson, and several nonprofit organizations: Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis ("CCI"), Indianapolis Resource Center for Independent Living ("IRCIL"), Indiana Coalition on Housing and Homeless Issues ("ICHHI"), Indianapolis Branch of the NAACP ("NAACP"), and United Senior Action of Indiana ("USA") (collectively the "Organization Plaintiffs"). There are also two sets of defendants in this case: the Marion County Election Board ("MCEB") and Todd Rokita, in his official capacity as Indiana Secretary of State, J. Bradley King and Kristi Robertson, in their official capacities as Co-Directors of the Indiana Election Division. In addition, the Indiana Attorney General has intervened in the case on behalf of the State of Indiana to defend the constitutionality of SEA 483.

This litigation is the result of a partisan legislative disagreement that has spilled out of the state house into the courts. Plaintiffs (with one possible exception) became engaged in this dispute while it was still being debated by the Indiana General Assembly4 and, in moving to this judicial forum, in many respects they have failed to adapt their arguments to the legal arena. Plaintiffs, for example, have not introduced evidence of a single, individual Indiana resident who will be unable to vote as a result of SEA 483 or who will have his or her right to vote unduly burdened by its requirements. Plaintiffs also have repeatedly advanced novel, sweeping political arguments which, if adopted, would require the invalidation, not only of SEA 483, but of other significant portions of Indiana's election code which have previously passed constitutional muster and/or to which Plaintiffs do not actually object; indeed, they offer them as preferable alternatives to the new Voter ID Law. In so doing, Plaintiffs' case is based on the implied assumption that the Court should give these Constitutional and statutory provisions an expansive review based on little more than their own personal and political preferences.5

Plaintiffs have mounted a facial challenge to the validity of SEA 483, raising a variety of related issues about the Voter ID Law, including that it substantially burdens the fundamental right to vote, impermissibly discriminates between and among different classes of voters, disproportionately affects disadvantaged voters, is unconstitutionally vague, imposes a new and material requirement for voting, and was not justified by existing circumstances or evidence. Defendants deny all of these criticisms, defending the enactment of SEA 483 as being justified by legitimate legislative concern for in-person voting fraud and a reasonable exercise of the State's constitutional power to regulate the time, place, and manner of elections. Defendants also claim that Plaintiffs lack standing to bring this attack on the statute, and that, in any event, the Secretary of State and the Co-Directors of the Indiana Election Division are not proper defendants in this action.6

For the reasons elaborated below, we hold that SEA 483 is a constitutionally-valid, reasonable time, place, and manner restriction on voting and on voters and, therefore, we GRANT Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment and DENY Plaintiffs' Motions for Summary Judgment.

Factual Background

The parties agree that there are no material facts in dispute that preclude summary judgment of this case. Even so, they have filed a total of eight summary judgment briefs, incorporating in excess of ninety pages of material facts not in dispute. In an effort to bring clarity to this deluge of data, we have grouped the facts into the following seven categories: (I) Indiana election law and procedures, (II) Requirements for obtaining photo identification documents from the BMV, (III) Evidence regarding voter fraud, (IV) Evidence about potential impacts of SEA 483 on Indiana voters, (V) the Defendants, (VI) the Plaintiffs, and (VII) the Report submitted by the Democrats' expert, Kimball W. Brace (the "Brace Report"). There being no need to recount the voluminous facts marshaled by the parties, we have distilled and summarized the relevant facts by topic in the following section.

I. Indiana Election Law and Procedures.

There are certain aspects of Indiana election law and procedure which are relevant to this case, including: (A) Indiana constitutional provisions; (B) composition and responsibility of the precinct election board; (C) the responsibilities of the State Election Division; (D) the requirements of SEA 483; (E) the requirements and procedures for voting by absentee ballot; and (F) Indiana election law prior to enactment of SEA 483. Each aspect is addressed below.

A. Constitutional Provisions.

Article I, section four of the United States Constitution empowers the States to determine the "Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives," subject to Congressional oversight. U.S. CONST., art I, § 4, cl. 1.

The Indiana Constitution, Art. 2, § 2 sets out the basic requirements for voting in Indiana:

(a) A citizen of the United States, who is at least eighteen (18) years of age and who has been a resident of a precinct thirty (30) days immediately preceding an election may vote in that precinct at the election.

(b) A citizen may not be disenfranchised under subsection (a), if the citizen is entitled to vote in a precinct under subsection (c) or federal law.

(c) The General Assembly may provide that a citizen who ceases to be a resident of a precinct before an election may vote in a precinct where the citizen previously resided if, on the date of the election, the citizen's name appears on the registration rolls for the precinct.

Indiana Constitution, Art. 2 § 14 allows the Indiana General Assembly to provide for registration of persons otherwise entitled to vote. Pursuant to Indiana Code §§ 3-7-13-1 through 3-7-24-17, and the National Voter Registration Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg, there are a host of ways individuals may register to vote at various venues and offices including registering by mail. There is no requirement that identification be shown when one is registering in-person to vote. Deposition of Marion County Clerk Doris Ann Sadler ("Sadler Dep.") at 8-9. The registration form is signed under penalties of perjury. Id. at 9. There is also no requirement that an individual who is registering to vote by mail provide identification. See Ind.Code § 3-7-22-1, et seq.

B. Precinct Election Board.

At polling places on election day, there are five local election officials present: an inspector, appointed by the political party whose candidate for Secretary of State received the most votes in the last election in the county; two clerks, one from each major party, who are in charge of the poll book and who check voters in and issue the ballots; and, two judges, one from each major party, who administer the voting machine. Sadler Dep. at 10-11. Each County Election Board appoints these officials. Ind.Code §§ 3-6-6-1, 2. The inspector and the judges jointly comprise the precinct election or poll board that resolves disputes that arise during the polling process. Indiana Code § 3-6-6-1; Sadler Dep. at 11.

C. Indiana Election Division.

The Indiana Election Division provides advice and instruction to county election officials and publishes information and forms for use in Indiana elections. See Ind.Code § 3-6-4.2-1, et seq.; Deposition of Co-Director J. Bradley King, Attachment 2 ("King Dep.") at 7. The Division has no direct role in enforcing election laws, nor does the Secretary of State. However, in providing advice and instruction to county election officials, the Election Division, in conjunction with the Secretary of State, has instituted several programs to educate both voters and poll workers about the requirements of SEA 483.7 The Election Division's manuals and...

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