Libertarian Party of Ala. v. Merrill
| Decision Date | 05 August 2020 |
| Docket Number | CIV. ACT. NO. 2:19-cv-69-ECM |
| Citation | 476 F.Supp.3d 1200 |
| Parties | LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF ALABAMA, Plaintiff, v. John Harold MERRILL, Secretary of State for the State of Alabama, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama |
David Schoen, David I. Schoen, Atty at Law, Montgomery, AL, for Plaintiff.
Misty Shawn Fairbanks Messick, Winfield James Sinclair, Office of the Attorney General, Montgomery, AL, for Defendant.
This case is before the Court on objections to the expert reports of William Redpath and Richard Winger (doc. 18), a motion for summary judgment (doc. 29), a Daubert motion to exclude the testimony of William Redpath (doc. 31), and a Daubert motion to exclude the testimony of Richard Winger (doc. 32), all filed by Defendant John Merrill, Secretary of State for the State of Alabama ("the Secretary").
The Libertarian Party of Alabama ("the Libertarian Party") filed this action challenging the State of Alabama's law pursuant to which some political parties obtain a free copy of the Alabama voter registration list while other parties are charged a fee per voter record. The Libertarian Party argues that this law violates its right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and its free speech rights under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.1
The Secretary has objected to and moved to exclude the expert testimony offered by the Libertarian Party in opposition to the motion for summary judgment.
Upon consideration of all of the submissions of the parties, and for reasons to be discussed, the Secretary's motion for summary judgment is due to be GRANTED, the objections are due to be OVERRULED as moot, and the motions to exclude are due to be DENIED as moot.2
The Court exercises subject matter jurisdiction over this dispute pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Personal jurisdiction and venue are uncontested.
"Summary judgment is proper if the evidence shows ‘that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’ " Hornsby-Culpepper v. Ware , 906 F.3d 1302, 1311 (11th Cir. 2018) (quoting FED.R.CIV.P. 56(a) ). "[A] court generally must view all evidence and make all reasonable inferences in favor of the party opposing summary judgment." Fla. Int'l Univ. Bd. of Trs. v. Fla. Nat'l Univ., Inc. , 830 F.3d 1242, 1252 (11th Cir. 2016). However, "conclusory allegations without specific supporting facts have no probative value." Jefferson v. Sewon Am., Inc. , 891 F.3d 911, 924–25 (11th Cir. 2018). If the record, taken as a whole, "could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party," then there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact. Hornsby-Culpepper , 906 F.3d at 1311 (citing Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp. , 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) ).
The movant bears the initial burden of demonstrating that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact, and the movant must identify the portions of the record which support this proposition. Id. (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) ). The movant may carry this burden "by demonstrating that the nonmoving party has failed to present sufficient evidence to support an essential element of the case." Id. The burden then shifts to the non-moving party to establish, by going beyond the pleadings, that a genuine issue of material fact exists. Id. at 1311–12.
The facts, viewed in a light most favorable to the non-movant, are as follows:
Pursuant to state law, Alabama maintains a computerized voter registration list that contains the name, address, voting location, and voting history of every legally registered voter in the state. ALA. CODE § 17-4-33.
ALA. CODE § 17-4-33 (10).
A political party may attain ballot access by either (1) performance or (2) petition. A party may qualify if it achieved at least 20% of the entire vote cast for a state officer in the prior General Election. ALA. CODE § 17-13-40. This qualification is only good for the next election, so a party must repeatedly get 20% of the vote for at least one state officer to qualify under § 17-13-40 for the next cycle. Or, if a party does not secure 20% of the vote for a state official, it can gain ballot access by filing a petition by the date of the first primary election for the next election with signatures of at least 3% of the qualified voters who cast a ballot for the governor in the last election. ALA. CODE § 17-6-22(a). A party which qualifies for ballot access under either method can receive the voter registration list without cost. ALA. CODE § 17-4-33 (10).
Entities which do not qualify for a free voter registration list can purchase the Alabama voter registration list by paying $.01 per voter record, which in 2020 means a cost of $35,912.76 for the records of all active and inactive registered voters in Alabama. (Doc. 28-3 ¶¶9 & 38).
In 2000, the Libertarian Party achieved statewide ballot access and fielded candidates in the 2002 election. (Doc. 28-1 at 26). It is undisputed that the Libertarian Party gained ballot access for the 2002 election because one candidate received more than 20% of the vote in a statewide race. (Doc. 1 ¶3). The Libertarian Party candidates won an average of 2.3 percent of the vote for statewide offices in 2002. (Doc. 28-1 at 26). The Libertarian Party lost statewide ballot access in 2002 and, therefore, no longer qualified for a free voter registration list. Currently, the Libertarian Party does not qualify for statewide ballot access and is not entitled a free copy of the statewide voter registration list. The Libertarian Party provides expert and lay opinion evidence that voter registration lists are important to it in the ballot access petitioning process, the education and advocacy process, and for campaigning and getting votes. (Doc. 38-5 & 38-6).3
The Libertarian Party also has qualified to receive voter registration lists for local races. In 2019, the Libertarian Party was provided the copy of voter registration lists based on the ballot access of Libertarian Party candidates in 2018, including Elijah Boyd, Alabama House District 10 (doc. 28-3 ¶31); Matt Shelby, Alabama House District 96 (doc. 28-3 ¶31); Frank Dillman, Macon County Commission, District 4 (doc. 28-3 ¶32); and Michael Reeves, Baldwin County Board of Education, District 2 (doc. 28-3 ¶32). Other minor parties also have qualified for ballot access, including the Independence Party which qualified a candidate for the Alabama House of Representatives in 2014 (doc. 28-9) and the Constitution Party which qualified a candidate for the United States House of Representatives and one for the Alabama House in 2010 (doc. 28-8).
In addition to political parties which satisfy the ballot access requirements, the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts, chiefs of elections of other states, as well as others, are provided free computerized lists. (Doc. 28-3 at 4-5).
When requests for a voter registration list are made to the online portal of the Secretary's office, the lists are automatically generated, but the online portal is not designed to provide free lists, so requests for free copies of voter registration lists must be processed by Clay Helms ("Helms"), Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Elections for the Secretary of State of Alabama, or an employee in the Secretary of State's office. (Doc. 28-3 ¶17). Helms states in a declaration that if voter registration lists were provided to more entities for free, it could become difficult for the Secretary of State's office to keep up with demand and to perform other elections responsibilities. (Doc. 28-3 ¶21).
The Libertarian Party states that it is undisputed that the lists are kept electronically and that a data file is sent to the Electronic Registration Information Center on a monthly basis. (Doc. 28-2 at 149).
The Libertarian Party seeks a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief for a claimed violation of its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. It is the Libertarian Party's position that Alabama law, which only allows political entities to receive the statewide voter registration list without charge if they qualify for ballot access, violates its constitutional rights. In moving for summary judgment, the Secretary maintains that the Alabama law at issue is constitutional because the burden on the Libertarian Party's rights is minimal and the State's interests are sufficiently strong to justify the burden imposed. (Doc. 30 at 41). In resolving the pending motion for summary judgment, this Court turns first to the analytical test which applies to the constitutional challenge and then the analysis under that test.
The parties both take the...
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