Opinion ID: 2744274
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Prudential Mootness

Text: Finally, the clerks urge us to apply the prudential mootness doctrine to the portion of the case that would otherwise survive. Clerks’ Br. at 13. The doctrine of prudential mootness does not apply. A case is prudentially moot if “circumstances [have] changed since the beginning of litigation that forestall any occasion for meaningful relief.” S. Utah Wilderness Alliance v. Smith, 110 F.3d 724, 727 (10th Cir. 1997). We may decline to grant relief when the “government . . . has already changed or is in the process of changing its policies or where it appears that any repeat of the actions in question is otherwise highly unlikely.” Bldg. & Const. Dep’t v. Rockwell Int’l Corp., 7 F.3d 1487, 1492 (10th Cir. 1993). The regulatory changes would not halt the threat of traceable ballots when voters use unique numbers or barcodes and the ballots are unique within a batch prior to final certification of the vote. Thus, a judgment for Citizen Center could provide meaningful relief. In these circumstances, the prudential mootness doctrine does not apply.