Opinion ID: 624899
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Motion to Vacate or Modify the Consent Decree

Text: On November 3, 2008, shortly after the District Court denied the DNC's Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, the RNC submitted the Motion to Vacate or Modify the Consent Decree that is currently at issue. The RNC submitted several arguments in support of its motion: (1) since the 1987 modification, the enactment of (a) the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (the NVRA or Motor Voter Law), 42 U.S.C. §§ 1973gg et seq., (b) the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), 2 U.S.C. §§ 431 et seq., and (c) the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 15301 et seq. increased the risk of voter fraud and decreased the risk of voter intimidation; (2) the Consent Decree extends to types of conduct that were not included in the initial 1981 Complaint; (3) the Decree was interpreted too broadly and inconsistently with the parties' expectations at the time they entered the 1982 and 1987 settlements; and (4) the Decree violates the First Amendment by restricting communications between the RNC and state parties. The District Court held an evidentiary hearing on the motion during May 5 and 6, 2009 and also received post-hearing submissions from the parties. On December 1, 2009, the District Court issued an opinion, denying the motion to vacate the Decree. First, the District Court rejected the RNC's argument that the Consent Decree was void because it `improperly extend[s] to ... private conduct' and grants prospective relief beyond what the DNC could have achieved if the original 1981 action had been litigated. Democratic Nat'l Comm., 671 F.Supp.2d at 595. The Court, instead, held the Decree was not void because parties can settle lawsuits by agreeing to broader relief than a court could have awarded otherwise. Furthermore, the Court held that the RNC was barred from asserting this argument because the RNC willingly entered the Decree as a means of settling the initial 1981 lawsuit and the RNC again consented to the Decree, as modified, in 1987. The District Court also held that the Decree did not violate the First Amendment because, under the Decree, the RNC is free to communicate with state parties about subjects other than ballot security. Additionally, the Court noted that the First Amendment applies only to state actions and does not prevent private parties from agreeing to refrain from certain types of speech. Next, the District Court considered the RNC's arguments that the Decree should be vacated or modified due to changes in law, changes in fact, and the public interest in the RNC combating voter fraud. The Court found that neither the purported changes nor the public interest justified vacating or modifying the Decree. While the Court found that the Decree was not sufficiently unworkable to warrant vacating the Decree, the Court did find that four workability considerations justified modifying the Decree. Those considerations are that: (1) the potential inequity of the RNC being subject to suits brought by entities who were not party to the Decree when, under the BCRA, the RNC has to defend lawsuits using hard money, [4] while the DNC would not have to spend any money on such suits because it would not be a party [5] ; (2) the twenty-day notice requirement for preclearance prevents the RNC from combating mail-in voter registration fraud in a number of states with later mail-in voter registration deadlines; (3) the Decree lacked a clear definition of normal poll watching activities and the parties have not provided a definition, which has led the RNC to refrain from normal poll watching activities that the Decree was never intended to prohibit; and (4) the Decree lacked a termination date. Thus, although the District Court denied the request to vacate the Decree, the Court granted the motion to modify the Decree. The District Court's modifications can be summarized as follows: 1. Only parties to the Consent Decree, RNC and DNC, may bring an enforcement suit regarding a violation of the Decree. 2. The preclearance period is shortened from 20 days to 10 days. 3. Ballot security is defined to include any program aimed at combating voter fraud by preventing potential voters from registering to vote or casting a ballot. Democratic Nat'l Comm., 671 F.Supp.2d at 622. The modification also includes a non-exhaustive list of ballot security programs. 4. Normal poll-watch function is defined as stationing individuals at polling stations to observe the voting process and report irregularities unrelated to voter fraud to duly-appointed state officials. Id. The modification includes a non-exhaustive list of activities that do and do not fit into the Decree definition of normal poll-watch function. 5. The Decree does not apply to any RNC program that does not have as at least one of its purposes the prevention of fraudulent voting or fraudulent voter registration. 6. The Consent Decree expires on December 1, 2017 (eight years after the date of the modification). If, before that date, the DNC proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the RNC violated the Decree, the Decree will extend for eight years from the date of the violation. The RNC filed a timely appeal.