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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

GAINESVILLE DIVISION

DREAM DEFENDERS, et al.,

Plaintiffs,

v.

RON DESANTIS, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 1:20-cv-67-RH- GRJ

Judge Robert L. Hinkle

KIRK NIELSEN, et al.,

Plaintiffs,

v.

RON DESANTIS, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 4:20-cv-236-RH-MJF

Judge Robert L. Hinkle

PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

Plaintiffs hereby move for preliminary injunctive relief on their claims that 

Florida’s vote-by-mail, in-person voting, and voter registration processes violate 

the First and Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S Constitution; Section 2 of the 

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Voting Rights Act; Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act; Section 504 of 

the Rehabilitation Act; the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. 

In support of this motion, Plaintiffs rely on (i) their Memorandum in 

Support; (ii) Expert Reports of Daniel A. Smith and J. Morgan Kousser; and (iii) 

Declarations of Robert Woods, Andrea Mercado, Rachel Gilmer, Heather Wilkie, 

Acacia Williams, Bianca Baez, Sheila Young, John Jordan, Marsha Bukala, 

Murray Heller, Zetta Williams, Alice Wujciak, Celcio Romero, Paulina 

Hernandez, Nicholas Ciriello, Robin Will, and Kathryn Sadasivan.

Plaintiffs respectfully request the court to order the following relief, to be 

implemented in time to be effective for the August 28, 2020 primary election and to 

continue through the November 3, 2020 general election:

a) The Secretary and SOEs shall accept ballots postmarked by election day 

and received within 10 days thereafter;

b) The Secretary and the SOEs shall send vote by mail ballot applications to 

all voters in the State of Florida; 

c) The Secretary and SOEs shall allow voters to request alternative-address 

ballots by phone or online provided the voter provides adequate 

verification of identity;

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d) The SOEs and canvassing boards are enjoined from imposing any rules 

or ordinances altering the uniform vote by mail and emergency ballot 

procedures set by the Secretary of State;

e) The Secretary and SOEs shall extend early voting opportunities to 

include 30 days total of early voting, with voting locations distributed 

within the county to ensure that voters of color have equally convenient 

and safe access to early voting; 

f) The Secretary and SOEs shall notify voters of deficiencies by mail and 

telephone, email or text-message; 

g) The Secretary, the SOEs and canvassing boards shall accept cure 

affidavits that are received within fifteen days after the election;

h) The Secretary, the SOEs and canvassing boards shall accept cure 

affidavits without identification when the deficiency consists of missing 

information on the voter’s certificate, and the cure affidavit is sufficient 

to verify the voter’s identity;

i) The Elections Canvassing Commission shall extend the deadline for 

counties to submit election results to no earlier than fifteen days after the 

election;

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Plaintiffs respectfully request the court to order the following additional relief, 

to be implemented in time to be effective for the November, 2020 general election:

a) The Secretary of State (or, as appropriate, the SOEs) shall prepay postage 

for voter registration forms, VBM requests, VBM ballot returns, and cure 

affidavits;

b) Restrictions on third-party ballot collection shall be enjoined;

c) The SOEs shall add drop-boxes at all early voting sites during the entire 

early voting period and at all polling places on election day;

d) The Secretary, the SOEs and canvassing boards shall provide clear and 

unambiguous instructions explaining which identification is necessary to 

cure each ballot deficiency;

e) The Secretary, SOEs and canvassing boards shall add instructions, in 

English and Spanish, to VBM request forms and websites, explaining that 

contact information will be used for notification of deficiencies;

f) The Secretary shall allow all voters whose identities can be verified to 

register using online voter registration;

g) The Secretary shall provide voters with contemporaneous notice of 

errors made during online voter registration;

h) The Secretary and SOEs shall extend supervised voting to facilities in 

which individuals at high risk from COVID-19 reside; and

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i) The Secretary shall certify and approve, and the SOEs shall implement, 

an accessible electronic ballot delivery system for visually impaired 

voters.

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Respectfully submitted,

Dated: May 27, 2020

JUDITH A. BROWNE DIANIS**

GILDA DANIELS*

SHARION SCOTT*

JESS UNGER**

JENNIFER LAI-PETERSON**

Advancement Project National Office

1220 L Street N.W., Suite 850

Washington, D.C. 20005

(202) 728-9557

jbrowne@advancementproject.org 

gdaniels@advancementproject.org

junger@advancementproject.org

sscott@advancementproject.org

jlaipeterson@advancementproject.org

CHIRAAG BAINS*

Dēmos

740 6th Street NW, 2nd Floor

Washington, DC 20001

(202) 864-2746

cbains@demos.org

STUART NAIFEH*

KATHRYN C. SADASIVAN*

MIRANDO GALINDO*

EMERSON GORDON-MARVIN*

Dēmos

80 Broad St, 4th Floor

New York, NY 10004

(212) 485-6055

snaifeh@demos.org 

ksadasivan@demos.org

mgalindo@demos.org 

egordonmarvin@demos.org

s/ Stuart C. Naifeh

JOHN ULIN**

Arnold and Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

777 South Figueroa Street

44th Floor

Los Angeles, CA 90017

(213) 243-4000

John.Ulin@arnoldporter.com

JEFFREY A. MILLER**

Arnold and Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

3000 El Camino Road

Five Palo Alto Square, Suite 500

Palo Alto, CA 94306-3807

(650) 319-4500

Jeffrey.Miller@arnoldporter.com

JAVIER ORTEGA*

Arnold and Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

250 West 55th Street

New York, NY 10019-9710

(212) 836-8000

Javier.Ortega@arnoldporter.com

JEREMY KARPATKIN**

FLORENCE BRYAN**

WILLIAM OMOROGIEVA**

JUNGHYUN BAEK**

Arnold and Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

601 Massachusetts Ave., NW

Washington, D.C. 20001-3743

(202) 942-5000

Jeremy.Karpatkin@arnoldporter.com

Florence.Bryan@arnoldporter.com

William.Omorogieva@arnoldporter.com

Junghyun.Baek@arnoldporter.com

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KIRA ROMERO-CRAFT

(FL SBN 49927)

LatinoJustice PRLDEF

523 West Colonial Drive

Orlando, Florida 32804

(321) 418-6354

kromero@latinojustice.org

FRANCISCA FAJANA*

JACKSON CHIN**

LatinoJustice PRLDEF

475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1901

New York, NY 10115

(212) 739-7572

ffajana@latinojustice.org

jchin@latinojustice.org

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

*Admitted pro hac vice

**Application for admission pro hac vice forthcoming

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