Case Summary

On May 6, 2020, Fair Maps Nevada filed suit against Barbara Cegavske in her role as Nevada's Secretary of State, contending that the state's ballot measure signature deadline and in-person signature requirements ought to be amended for 2020 ballot measures in light of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Plaintiffs had been attempting to get a measure on the 2020 Nevada ballot that would create an independent redistricting commission with authority to draw the state's congressional and legislative district maps, and to that end they sought an injunction extending the signature-gathering deadline and granting permission to gather electronic signatures. Plaintiffs alleged that the state's failure to modify these requirements in the midst of the pandemic placed an undue burden on their rights to political association and participation under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution as well as the Constitution of Nevada.

Following a remote hearing conducted on May 21, 2020, the district court partially granted the plaintiffs' request for injunctive relief on May 29, 2020. Pursuant to the court's order, the deadline for submitting petition signatures for verification was pushed back to August 5, 2020, but electronic signatures would still not be permitted.

Case Library

U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada - 3:20-cv-00271

Fair Maps Nevada v. Cegavske
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