FIGHTING AGAINST VOTER INTIMIDATION: FAIR FIGHT, INC. V. TRUE THE VOTE
Legal action
Fair Fight, Inc. is challenging the suppressive tactics of Texas-based organization, True the Vote, and its attempts to intimidate thousands of Georgia voters through illegal voter challenges intended to keep Georgians from exercising their fundamental right to vote.
ABOUT THE CASE
Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (“VRA”) outlaws any acts that are objectively likely to intimidate voters. Knowing the history of voter suppression and intimidation in this country, and particularly the state of Georgia, True the Vote and the other defendants in the lawsuit took affirmative steps to intimidate voters and try to keep them from voting in violation of § 11(b) of the VRA.
In the wake of the 2020 General Election, which saw historic turnout across the country, elected officials unhappy with the election results attempted to curb voter enthusiasm and this country’s expanding participation in the political process by perpetuating and fostering the Big Lie that election results were due to voter fraud. Although courts and elections officials across the country (and in Georgia) repeatedly found claims of widespread voter fraud to be wholly without merit, Defendants used the Big Lie as the basis to launch preemptive attacks to challenge the eligibility to vote of more than 364,000 Georgians in advance of the senate run-off, many of whom were Black and brown voters and first-time voters, on the grounds that these voters no longer reside in the State of Georgia. The challenges were false and meritless, and based on purported lists of names culled from the U.S. Postal Service National Change of Address (“NCOA”) registry— a notoriously unreliable means of determining voter eligibility. In their challenges, Defendants also failed to consider the numerous reasons an individual may file a NCOA form, yet still be eligible to vote in Georgia, particularly in the midst of a global pandemic.
To address the violations of federal law, Fair Fight, Inc. has sought relief from the federal court. Fair Fight is demanding that the court declare Defendants’ actions illegal, enjoin Defendants’ activities, and require True the Vote to cease all operations in Georgia.
Share Your Voting Story
If you are a Georgia voter who is interested in sharing your story of the issues you experienced due to voter challenges, please share your story.
RESOURCES
Documents
- Key Takeaways from Trial Days 4-6
- Key Takeaways from Trial Days 1-3
- ICYMI: Top Takeaways From Fair Fight Press Conference Ahead of Oct. 26 Trial of Fair Fight v. True the Vote
- ICYMI: Fair Fight v. True the Vote Virtual Pre-Trial Press Briefing
- Case Timeline & Key Background
- Fair Fight Announces October 26 Trial Date in Federal Suit Against True the Vote for Alleged Voter Intimidation Ahead of Jan. 5 2021 Runoff Elections
- Amended Complaint
- Order on Plaintiffs’ Motion to Dismiss Defendants’ Counterclaims
- Order on Plaintiffs’ Motion in Limine to Exclude Improper Expert Testimony
- Order on the Parties’ Cross Motions for Summary Judgment
CASE STATUS
Thursday, October 26, Fair Fight headed to trial against True the Vote (TTV) and several individuals we allege worked with TTV to intimidate Georgia voters during the 2021 runoff election that awarded the State’s two United States Senate seats to Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock.
Our legal complaint contends that not only did True the Vote offer a $1 million bounty for evidence of fraud, but they threatened to recruit former Navy SEALS to surveil polling places and drop boxes for suspicious activity. We have also alleged TTV committed unlawful voter intimidation through its plan to challenge over 360,000 Georgia voters who True the Vote claimed were ineligible to vote in the runoff. Our lawsuit argues True the Vote’s actions, and the actions of those acting in concert with True the Vote, violate Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act because they amount to voter intimidation and coercion. Our co-plaintiffs in the case are voters who have shared with us, and the Court, the intimidation they felt when they learned their right to vote had been challenged.
Our case was filed in December 2020, during the heat of the runoff, and alleges True the Vote’s challenges were intentionally frivolous and intimidating to voters. To support our claim that TTV’s challenges were frivolous, we have filed with the Court a report from one of our expert witnesses who has opined that True the Vote failed to appropriately account for deficiencies in the data and therefore created an overly inclusive and unreliable list of voters to challenge.
After several years of pretrial proceedings and motions, we are presenting our evidence to the Court. At trial, the issues are whether the defendants’ actions violated the Voting Rights Act and whether their actions constituted “speech” that the First Amendment protects. We are presenting evidence from voters, expert witnesses, and our own Cianti Stewart-Reid about the work that Fair Fight undertook in response to True the Vote’s actions.
Fair Fight looks forward to completing the presentation of our evidence to the Court and to establishing that voter intimidation is a real and present threat that cannot be ignored.