Project Vote/Voting for Am., Inc. v. Long

• Decision Date: 15 June 2012
• Docket Number: No. 11–1809.,11–1809.
• Citation: 682 F.3d 331
• Parties: PROJECT VOTE/VOTING FOR AMERICA, INCORPORATED, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Elisa LONG, in her official capacity as General Registrar of Norfolk, Virginia; Donald Palmer, in his official capacity as Secretary, State Board of Elections, Defendants–Appellants. United States of America; the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; American Society of News Editors; The Associated Press; Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors; Atlantic Media Inc.; Citizen Media Law Project; Lin Media; The National Press Club; National Press Photographers Association; Newspaper Association of America; North Jersey Media Group, Incorporated; Radio Television Digital News Association; The Seattle Times Company; Society of Professional Journalists; Student Press Law Center; USA Today; Virginia Coalition for Open Government, Amici Supporting Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

682 F.3d 331

PROJECT VOTE/VOTING FOR AMERICA, INCORPORATED, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v. Elisa LONG, in her official capacity as General Registrar of Norfolk, Virginia; Donald Palmer, in his official capacity as Secretary, State Board of Elections, Defendants–Appellants.United States of America; the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; American Society of News Editors; The Associated Press; Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors; Atlantic Media Inc.; Citizen Media Law Project; Lin Media; The National Press Club; National Press Photographers Association; Newspaper Association of America; North Jersey Media Group, Incorporated; Radio Television Digital News Association; The Seattle Times Company; Society of Professional Journalists; Student Press Law Center; USA Today; Virginia Coalition for Open Government, Amici Supporting Appellee.

No. 11–1809.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: May 17, 2012.

Decided: June 15, 2012.

ARGUED:Earle Duncan Getchell, Jr., Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellants. Ryan Morland Malone, Ropes & Gray, LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellee. Erin H. Flynn, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Amici Supporting Appellee. ON BRIEF:Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II, Attorney General of Virginia, Charles E. James, Jr., Chief Deputy Attorney General, Wesley G. Russell, Jr., Deputy Attorney General, Stephen M. Hall, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia; Jeff W. Rosen, Lisa Ehrich, Pender & Coward, PC, Virginia Beach, Virginia, for Appellants. Douglas Hallward–Driemeier, Augustine M. Ripa, Ropes & Gray, LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellee. Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General, Diana K. Flynn, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for the United States, Amicus Supporting Appellee. Lucy A. Dalglish, Mark R. Caramanica, You–Jin J. Han, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Arlington, Virginia; Kevin M. Goldberg, Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, PLC, Arlington, Virginia, for American Society of News Editors and Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors; Karen Kaiser, Associate General Counsel, The Associated Press, New York, New York; Bruce L. Gottlieb, General Counsel, Atlantic Media, Inc., Washington, D.C.; Jeffrey P. Hermes, Citizen Media Law Project, Berkman Center For Internet & Society, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Joshua N. Pila, Regulatory Counsel, Lin Media, Providence, Rhode Island; Charles D. Tobin, Holland & Knight LLP, Washington, D.C., for the National Press Club; Mickey H. Osterreicher, East Amherst, New York, for the National Press Photographers Association; Rene P. Milam, Vice President/General Counsel, Newspaper Association of America, Arlington, Virginia; Jennifer Borg, General Counsel, North Jersey Media Group Inc., Hackensack, New Jersey; Kathleen A. Kirby, Wiley Rein LLP, Washington, D.C., for the Radio Television Digital News Association; Bruce E.H. Johnson, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Seattle, Washington, for The Seattle Times Company; Bruce W. Sanford, Bruce D. Brown, Laurie A. Babinski, Baker Hostetler LLP, Washington, D.C., for the Society of Professional Journalists; Frank D. LoMonte, Student Press Law Center, Arlington, Virginia; Barbara W. Wall, Vice President, Senior Associate General Counsel, Gannett Co., Inc., McLean, Virginia, for USA Today; Megan Rhyne, Virginia Coalition for Open Government, Williamsburg, Virginia, Amici Supporting Appellee.

Before WILKINSON, DIAZ, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed and remanded by published opinion. Judge WILKINSON wrote the opinion, in which Judge DIAZ and Judge FLOYD joined.

OPINION

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

The question here is whether Section 8(i)(1) of the National Voter Registration Act (“NVRA”), which requires public disclosure of “all records concerning the implementation of programs and activities conducted for the purpose of ensuring the accuracy and currency of official lists of eligible voters,” 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg–6(i)(1), applies to completed voter registration applications. The district court concluded that Section 8(i)(1) does apply to such applications and held that defendants—Virginia election officials—had violated the NVRA by refusing to disclose the completed applications with voters' Social Security numbers redacted. Because the district court correctly interpreted Section 8(i)(1), we now affirm the judgment.

I.

Plaintiff Project Vote/Voting for America, Inc. (“Project Vote”) is a nonprofit organization seeking to increase voter registration among young, low-income, and minority voters. This suit arose after Project Vote learned that students at Norfolk State University, a historically African–American college, experienced problems in registering to vote in the November 2008 primary and general elections in Virginia. In particular, Project Vote worried that the students' registration applications had been erroneously rejected by the Norfolk General Registrar, defendant Elisa Long, who is responsible for processing voter registration applications.

On May 11, 2009, a Project Vote affiliate—Advancement Project—requested that Registrar Long “make available for inspection and copying the completed voter registration applications of any individual who timely submitted an application at any time from January 1, 2008, through October 31, 2008, who was not registered to vote in time for the November 4, 2008 general election,” as well as “documents identifying the reasons the applications were rejected.” The request was made pursuant to NVRA Section 8(i)(1), which provides:

Each State shall maintain for at least 2 years and shall make available for public inspection and, where available, photocopying at a reasonable cost, all records concerning the implementation of programs and activities conducted for the purpose of ensuring the accuracy and currency of official lists of eligible voters, except to the extent that such records relate to a declination to register to vote or to the identity of a voter registration agency through which any particular voter is registered.

42 U.S.C. § 1973gg–6(i)(1). Registrar Long responded to the request on May 13, 2009, indicating that she would not allow inspection or copying of the requested materials. Martha Brissette, an attorney and policy analyst with the Virginia State Board of Elections (“VSBE”), then emailed Advancement Project in support of Long's refusal.

On May 15, 2009, representatives from Project Vote and Advancement Project visited Registrar Long's office in person and repeated their request, which was again refused. Accordingly, the organizations wrote to the Secretary of the VSBE, giving notice that Registrar Long was allegedly violating NVRA Section 8(i)(1) and requesting remedial measures. On September 25, 2009, VSBE forwarded to Project Vote and Advancement Project an informal opinion of the Attorney General of Virginia. The opinion concluded that “the completed voter registration application of any individual is not a part of the record of the implementation of programs and activities conducted for the purposes of ensuring the accuracy and currency of official lists of eligible voters covered by [the Public Disclosure Provision].” To date, defendants have not disclosed the requested records.

Project Vote filed a complaint against Registrar Long and the Secretary of the VSBE on February 16, 2010, alleging violations of Section 8(i)(1) and asking the court to require disclosure of the requested materials. Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint, asserting that Project Vote lacked standing to sue under the NVRA and that Section 8(i)(1) does not mandate public access to completed voter registration applications. The district court denied defendants' motion on October 29, 2010. The court concluded that plaintiff had standing and that “the common and ordinary meaning of the terms of [Section 8(i)(1) ] encompass voter registration applications, as these records concern ‘the implementation of programs and activities conducted for the purpose of ensuring the accuracy and currency of official lists of eligible voters.’ ” Project Vote/Voting for America, Inc. v. Long, 752 F.Supp.2d 697, 708 (E.D.Va.2010) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg–6(i)(1)).

Project Vote then moved for summary judgment. Defendants opposed the motion, reasserting their original arguments and also claiming that the district court's interpretation of the NVRA was incompatible with two other federal statutes, the Help America Vote Act (“HAVA”), 42 U.S.C. § 15301 et seq., and the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (“MOVE”) Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1973ff et seq. On July 20, 2011, the district court entered final judgment in favor of Project Vote. Rejecting defendants' arguments based on HAVA and the MOVE Act, the court concluded that NVRA Section 8(i)(1) “grants the plaintiff access to completed voter registration applications with the voters' [Social Security numbers] redacted for inspection and photocopying.” Project Vote/Voting for America, Inc. v. Long, 813 F.Supp.2d 738, 743 (E.D.Va.2011). The court subsequently stayed its judgment pending this appeal. See J.A. 449–52.

II.

The NVRA reflects the view of Congress that the right to vote “is a fundamental right,” that government has a duty to “promote the exercise of that right,” and that discriminatory and unfair registration laws can have a “damaging effect on voter participation” and “disproportionately harm voter participation by various groups, including racial minorities.” 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg(a). Congress enacted the NVRA in order to “increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote” in federal elections, “enhance[ ] the participation of eligible citizens as voters,” “protect the integrity of the electoral process,” and “ensure that accurate and current voter registration rolls are maintained.” Id. § 1973gg(b).

The NVRA directs states to establish at least three...