Alliance v. City of Minneapolis

• Decision Date: 16 October 2020
• Docket Number: Civil File No. 20-2049 (MJD/TNL)
• Parties: MINNESOTA VOTERS ALLIANCE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota

MINNESOTA VOTERS ALLIANCE, et al., Plaintiffs,
v.
CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS, Defendant.

Civil File No. 20-2049 (MJD/TNL)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA

October 16, 2020

MEMORANDUM OF LAW & ORDER

Erick G. Kaardal, Mohrman, Kaardal & Erickson, P.A., Counsel for Plaintiffs.

Gregory P. Sautter, Office of the City Attorney; and Charles N. Nauen, Kristen G. Marttila, and David J. Zoll, Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P.; Counsel for Defendant.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs' Motion for Temporary Restraining Order. [Docket No. 7]

II. SUMMARY

Because Plaintiffs cannot show standing, the Court denies Plaintiffs' motion. The City of Minneapolis is one of 22 Minnesota municipalities¹ that

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applied for and was awarded a COVID-19 Response Grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life to assist with the substantial costs entailed with administering an election during a global pandemic. Plaintiffs allege no injury to their right to vote caused by the City's actions. For example, nowhere do they allege that they will be unable to cast a ballot, or that they will be forced to choose between voting under unsafe pandemic conditions and not voting at all. The City's actions in applying for and accepting the grant and using the grant money to improve all manners of voting in Minneapolis in the 2020 election affect all Minneapolis voters equally. All individual Plaintiffs are Minneapolis voters. Plaintiffs fail to explain how they will be uniquely affected by Minneapolis's actions.

III. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

1. The Parties

Plaintiff Minnesota Voters Alliance is a non-profit Minnesota corporation with the stated purpose of seeking public confidence in the integrity of Minnesota's elections and protecting the constitutional rights of its members. (Compl. ¶ 4.) Plaintiffs Ronald Moey, Marissa Skaja, Charles Halverson, and

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Blair Johnson are all members of the Minnesota Voters Alliance, residents of Minneapolis, and eligible Minnesota voters. (Id. ¶¶ 4-8.)

Defendant City of Minneapolis (the "City") is a Minnesota municipality. (Compl. ¶ 9.) The City administers elections and, typically, funds the entire cost of administering elections within the City. (Wachlarowicz Decl. ¶ 5.) For example, the City spent $2.3 million to administer the 2016 general election and received no funding from the state or federal government to cover the City's costs of administering that election. (Id.) The City's responsibility to self-fund federal elections within its boundaries is typical. As a recent Congressional Research Service report noted:

States typically have primary responsibility for making decisions about the rules of elections (policymaking). Localities typically have primary responsibility for conducting elections in accordance with those rules (implementation). Localities, with varying contributions from states, typically also have primary responsibility for paying for the activities and resources required to conduct elections (funding).

See Congressional Research Service, The State and Local Role in Election Administration: Duties and Structures, at Summary (Mar. 4, 2019), available at https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45549.pdf (last visited Oct. 13, 2020).

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2. Center for Tech and Civic Life COVID-19 Response Grants

The Center for Tech and Civic Life ("CTCL") is a nonprofit organization founded in 2012, with a goal of "working to foster a more informed and engaged democracy, and helping to modernize elections." (Compl. ¶¶ 26-27, 29.) In June 2020, CTCL partnered with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission ("EAC"), a bipartisan commission established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ("HAVA"), Pub. L. No. 107-252, 116 Stat. 1666 (2002) (codified at 52 U.S.C. §§ 20901-21145), to offer a free, three-part course on election cybersecurity to local election offices across the country, particularly aimed at those with limited technology resources. (Marttila Decl., Ex. B.) Plaintiffs assert that CTCL is a progressive organization and points to the fact that its three founders previously worked for the New Organizing Institute, which trained progressive groups and Democratic campaigns in digital campaign strategies. (Compl. ¶¶ 31, 38.) Plaintiffs further claim that CTCL "targets urban cities for its private federal election grants to turn out the progressive vote in the urban cities." (Id. ¶ 38.)

This year, CTCL is providing COVID-19 Response Grants to local election offices to help ensure they have the "staffing, training and equipment necessary so this November every eligible voter can participate in a safe and timely way and have their vote counted." (Kaardal Decl., Ex. A at 1-3.) CTCL awarded

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COVID-19 Response Grants to various local election offices throughout the summer of 2020 to assist with the substantial costs entailed with administering an election during a global pandemic. (Marttila Decl., Exs. D-E.) On September 1, 2020, it was publicly announced that Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan would donate $250 million to CTCL to provide funding for additional COVID-19 Response Grants to local election offices. (Compl. ¶¶ 36-37; Kaardal Decl., Ex. B at 2; Wachlarowicz Decl. ¶ 9.)

CTCL's grant program provides funding in four areas: ensuring safe and efficient administration on Election Day; expanding voter education and outreach efforts; launching poll worker recruitment, training, and safety efforts; and supporting early in-person and mail-in voting efforts. (Marttila Decl., Ex. H at 4-5.) Any local election office responsible for those types of election activities is eligible to apply to CTCL's COVID-19 Response Grant program; CTCL approves every eligible election department for a grant; and, unless the applicant specifically requests a lesser amount, each election department will receive a minimum award of $5,000. (Id. at 2; Marttila Decl., Ex. G at 4.) More than 1,100 jurisdictions have applied so far, in almost every state, with most applicants serving jurisdictions with fewer than 25,000 registered voters. (Marttila Decl., Ex.

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H at 1-3.) In Minnesota, CTCL has awarded grants to a variety of local election offices, including Albertville, Becker, Watertown, and 19 other jurisdictions. (Marttila Decl., Ex. C. at 17.)

3. The City's COVID-19 Response Grant

The City first became aware of its eligibility to apply for a CTCL grant on August 20, 2020. (Wachlarowicz Decl. ¶ 2.) City staff concluded that the grant could help alleviate the budget challenges facing the City as it prepared to administer the 2020 general election. (Id. ¶ 3.) During the week of August 24, the City began working to prepare a grant application. (Id. ¶ 4.)

In 2020, the City will receive $284,229 from Hennepin County's distribution of federal CARES Act funding for election work specific to COVID-19. (Wachlarowicz Decl. ¶ 6; Wachlarowicz Decl., Ex. 2.) However, the City has not received and does not expect to receive any other state or federal funds, including HAVA funds, to defray the costs of administering the 2020 general election. (Wachlarowicz Decl. ¶ 6.) The City claims that the CARES Act funds do not cover the cost of administering a general election in a way that comports with the governor's state of emergency and public-health guidance during this global pandemic, particularly given the high voter turnout that the City

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anticipates. (Id. ¶ 7.) The City asserts that, given the economic fallout from the pandemic and the City's needs following the civil unrest this summer, it would be extremely difficult to secure additional money from the City's general fund to adapt the City's election administration to provide a safe, secure, and...