CASE STUDIES IN EMERGENCY ELECTION LITIGATION

Federal Judicial Center 11/3/2023 1

The Legitimacy of President Obama’s Reelection 

Grinols v. Electoral College 

(Morrison C. England, Jr., E.D. Cal. 2:12-cv-2997) 

Four days before the Electoral College’s 2012 vote, a federal complaint challenged the President’s reelection on the grounds that the 

President allegedly was a citizen of Indonesia. The district court ultimately dismissed the action as a political question. The court of appeals affirmed the dismissal on the ground that the case was moot. 

Subject: Voting irregularities. Topics: Enjoining certification; 

case assignment; Electoral College. 

On December 13, 2012, four days before the Electoral College’s official voting, 

two would-be electors and three unsuccessful candidates for President filed a 

federal class-action complaint in the Eastern District of California’s Sacramento courthouse alleging that President Obama was ineligible for reelection 

because, among other things, he allegedly was a citizen of Indonesia.1

 The 

complaint prayed for various stays of the President’s reelection.2

The case was assigned to Judge Morrison C. England, Jr., who was out of 

the state at the time.3 As duty judge, Judge Kimberly J. Mueller denied the 

plaintiffs immediate relief, on December 14, for various procedural defects, 

and she gave the plaintiffs a deadline of December 21 to properly seek a temporary restraining order.4

 The plaintiffs filed such a motion on December 20.5

Judge England heard the motion on January 3, 2013.6

Judge England denied the plaintiffs immediate relief from the bench and 

supported his decision with an opinion issued thirteen days later.7 On May 23, 

he dismissed the federal claim in the plaintiffs’ amended complaint as a nonjusticiable political question, and he declined jurisdiction over state-law 

claims.8 On 

1. Complaint, Grinols v. Electoral Coll., No. 2:12-cv-2997 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 13, 2012), D.E. 2. 

2. Id. at 29–30. 

3. Transcript at 2–3, id. (Jan. 3, 2013, filed Jan. 17, 2013), D.E. 54 [hereinafter Jan. 3, 2013, 

Transcript]. 

4. Order, id. (Dec. 14, 2012), D.E. 8; Jan. 3, 2013, Transcript, supra note 3, at 3. 

5. Temporary-Restraining-Order Motion, Grinols, No. 2:12-cv-2997 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 20, 

2012), D.E. 12; Jan. 3, 2013, Transcript, supra note 3, at 2–3. 

6. Jan. 3, 2013, Transcript, supra note 3; Docket Sheet, Grinols, No. 2:12-cv-2997 (E.D. Cal. 

Dec. 12, 2012) [hereinafter E.D. Cal. Docket Sheet] (D.E. 13, 48). 

7. Jan. 3, 2013, Transcript, supra note 3, at 39–40; Opinion, Grinols, No. 2:12-cv-2997 (E.D. 

Cal. Jan. 16, 2013), D.E. 52, available at 2013 WL 211135; E.D. Cal. Docket Sheet, supra note 6. 

8. Opinion, Grinols, No. 2:12-cv-2997 (E.D. Cal. May 23, 2013), D.E. 127; see Transcript, 

id. (Apr. 22, 2013, filed May 21, 2013), D.E. 126; see also Amended Complaint, id. (Feb. 11, 

2013), D.E. 69. 
The Legitimacy of President Obama’s Reelection 

2 Federal Judicial Center 11/3/2023 

November 2, 2015, the court of appeals affirmed the dismissal on the ground 

that the case was moot.9

9. Grinols v. Electoral College, 622 F. App’x 624 (9th Cir. 2015). 

On two occasions, the court of appeals denied the plaintiffs interlocutory relief. Order, 

Grinols v. Electoral Coll., No. 13-15627 (9th Cir. June 20, 2013); Order, In re Grinols, No. 13-

70744 (9th Cir. Apr. 1, 2013).