Constance Kramer v. Denny Hoskins

Summary

The court grants Constance Kramer’s motion for a preliminary injunction concerning her administrative complaint under Section 402 of the Help America Vote Act. It orders Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to provide a hearing, issue a final determination within 90 days, preserve specified election records, and refrain from enforcing the 30-day filing requirement to deny the hearing in the circumstances described. The court does not reach the merits of Kramer’s underlying HAVA complaint.

Holdings

1. A temporary restraining order with no expiration date that exceeds the time limit in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(b) must be treated as a preliminary injunction and evaluated under preliminary-injunction standards.
2. Missouri may not use the thirty-day post-certification requirement in 15 CSR 30-12.010(3) to deny Plaintiff a HAVA § 402 hearing on alleged ongoing violations or violations about to occur in future federal elections.
3. Missouri may not enforce the thirty-day filing deadline to deny Plaintiff a hearing concerning past election violations when voter-history data relevant to the alleged violations may be submitted after that deadline under Missouri law.
4. Identifying the Missouri Secretary of State's Elections Division as the respondent and providing its address was sufficient to satisfy 15 CSR 30-12.010(4)(A).
5. Plaintiff satisfied the requirements for a preliminary injunction because she demonstrated a sufficient likelihood of success, irreparable harm, favorable balancing of the equities, and a public interest in enforcing federal election requirements.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a purported temporary restraining order exceeding Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(b)'s time limit must be treated as a preliminary injunction.
2. Whether Missouri may use its thirty-day post-certification filing deadline to deny a HAVA § 402 administrative hearing concerning ongoing, future, or past election violations for which voter-history data may not yet have been submitted.
3. Whether Plaintiff's identification of the Missouri Secretary of State's Elections Division and an address satisfied Missouri's respondent-identification requirement.
4. Whether Plaintiff satisfied the requirements for a preliminary injunction.

Disposition

other