On May 8, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-64–20, in which he ordered county election officials to send vote-by-mail ballots for the November general election to all California voters. The Executive Order specifies that the order does not limit the extent to which in-person voting opportunities are made available. On June 3, 2020 the Governor issued a second order, Executive Order N-67–20, which: (a) clarifies that inactive voters will not receive vote-by-mail ballots pursuant to his previous order, (b) requires that all counties use the vote-by-mail tracking system, and (c) sets forth rules for determining the number of in-person polling places in counties, based on the number of registered voters.
On May 24, 2020, the RNC, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the California Republican Party (“Plaintiffs”) initiated a lawsuit against Governor Newsom and Secretary of State Padilla (“Defendants”).
Plaintiffs relied on the repeatedly debunked myth of voter fraud to argue against the accessibility of mail ballots, among other claims.
CLCV and the CLCV Education Fund (collectively, “CLCV”) sought to intervene. CLCV are nonpartisan nonprofit organizations dedicated to enabling all Californians to combat climate change by participating in the democratic process. On June 23, 2020, the court denied their motion to intervene.
On July 9, 2020, the court issued an order granting the Plaintiffs’ request to voluntarily dismiss the case.
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