CASE STUDIES IN EMERGENCY ELECTION LITIGATION

Federal Judicial Center 8/16/2023 1

Public List of Absentee Voters 

Meehan v. Philadelphia County Board of Commissioners 

(William H. Yohn, Jr., E.D. Pa. 2:04-cv-5123) 

Relying on a 1994 opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 

Third Circuit, Republican committees filed a federal action on election day 2004 complaining that the committees had wrongfully 

been denied a list of persons who had received absentee ballots so 

that the committees could initiate challenges to absentee votes. After proceedings late on election day and on the following morning, 

the district judge signed consent decrees delaying by a few days the 

counting of absentee ballots. At the end of the week, the plaintiffs 

voluntarily dismissed their action. 

Subject: Absentee and early voting. Topics: Absentee ballots; 

recusal; case assignment. 

In 1994, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a district 

court’s injunction against certification of an election in which the campaign 

for the apparently winning candidate had improperly encouraged a large 

number of voters to vote absentee without valid excuses.1 On the day of the 

2004 general election, the Republican committees of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania and the city committee’s chair filed an action against the board of 

commissioners for Philadelphia County complaining that the board had 

failed to provide the committee chair with a list of persons who had received 

absentee ballots so that the committees could initiate challenges to absentee 

votes.2 With their complaint, the plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary 

injunction.3

The case was assigned at first to Judge James McGirr Kelly, but following 

his recusal it was reassigned that same day to Judge William H. Yohn, Jr.4

Beginning at approximately 5:00 p.m. on election day, Judge Yohn heard arguments from both sides in court and signed a consent order requiring the 

board to provide the plaintiffs with a list of absentee voters, forbidding the 

board from counting absentee ballots until further order of the court, and 

scheduling a hearing for the following morning.5

1. Marks v. Stinson, 19 F.3d 873 (3d Cir. 1994). 

2. Complaint, Meehan v. Phila. Cty. Bd. of Comm’rs, No. 2:04-cv-5123 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 2, 

2004), D.E. 1; see Joseph Tanfani, Joseph A. Slobodzian & Mark Fazlollah, Stacks of Absentee 

Ballots in Philadelphia Put on Hold, Phila. Inquirer, Nov. 3, 2004, at A24. 

3. Preliminary-Injunction Motion, Meehan, No. 2:04-cv-5123 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 2, 2004), 

D.E. 2. 

4. Order, id. (Nov. 2, 2004), D.E. 3; Interview with Hon. William H. Yohn, Jr., Oct. 18, 

2012 (noting that both assignments were at random). 

Tim Reagan interviewed Judge Yohn for this report by telephone. Judge Kelly died on 

March 5, 2005. Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 

www.fjc.gov/history/judges. 

5. Order, Meehan, No. 2:04-cv-5123 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 3, 2004), D.E. 4; Docket Sheet, id.

(Nov. 2, 2004); see Jeff Gammage, Both Parties’ Weapon of Choice: Lawyers, Phila. Inquirer, 
Public List of Absentee Voters 

2 Federal Judicial Center 8/16/2023 

On Wednesday, Judge Yohn heard arguments in court and substituted 

his earlier order with a new consent order enjoining the counting of ballots 

until Friday morning.6 On Friday, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the 

case.7

Nov. 3, 2004, at B9 (reporting that the hearing lasted forty minutes). 

6. Order, Meehan, No. 2:04-cv-5123 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 3, 2004), D.E. 5; Docket Sheet, supra

note 5. 

7. Notice, Meehan, No. 2:04-cv-5123 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 5, 2004), D.E. 8; see Joseph A. Slobodzian, Phila. Officials to Tally Absentee Ballots, Phila. Inquirer, Nov. 4, 2004, at B11 (reporting that the dispute “lost steam as it became clear that the ballots would not change the 

outcomes of any races”).