FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL No. 18-15845 COMMITTEE; DSCC, AKA Democratic Senatorial Campaign D.C. No. Committee; THE ARIZONA 2:16-cv-01065- DEMOCRATIC PARTY, DLR Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. OPINION KATIE HOBBS, in her official capacity as Secretary of State of Arizona; MARK BRNOVICH, Attorney General, in his official capacity as Arizona Attorney General, Defendants-Appellees, THE ARIZONA REPUBLICAN PARTY; BILL GATES, Councilman; SUZANNE KLAPP, Councilwoman; DEBBIE LESKO, Sen.; TONY RIVERO, Rep., Intervenor-Defendants-Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona Douglas L. Rayes, District Judge, Presiding 2 DNC V. HOBBS Argued and Submitted En Banc March 27, 2019 San Francisco, California Filed January 27, 2020 Before: Sidney R. Thomas, Chief Judge, and Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, William A. Fletcher, Marsha S. Berzon*, Johnnie B. Rawlinson, Richard R. Clifton, Jay S. Bybee, Consuelo M. Callahan, Mary H. Murguia, Paul J. Watford, and John B. Owens, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge W. Fletcher; Concurrence by Judge Watford; Dissent by Judge O’Scannlain; Dissent by Judge Bybee * Judge Berzon was drawn to replace Judge Graber. Judge Berzon has read the briefs, reviewed the record, and watched the recording of oral argument held on March 27, 2019. DNC V. HOBBS 3 SUMMARY** Civil Rights The en banc court reversed the district court’s judgment following a bench trial in favor of defendants, the Arizona Secretary of State and Attorney General in their official capacities, in an action brought by the Democratic National Committee and others challenging, first, Arizona’s policy of wholly discarding, rather than counting or partially counting, ballots cast in the wrong precinct; and, second, House Bill 2023, a 2016 statute criminalizing the collection and delivery of another person’s ballot. Plaintiffs asserted that the out-of-precinct policy (OOP) and House Bill (H.B.) 2023 violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as amended because they adversely and disparately affected Arizona’s American Indian, Hispanic, and African American citizens. Plaintiffs also asserted that H.B. 2023 violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because it was enacted with discriminatory intent. Finally, plaintiffs asserted that the OOP policy and H.B. 2023 violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments because they unduly burden minorities’ right to vote. The en banc court held that Arizona’s policy of wholly discarding, rather than counting or partially counting, OOP ballots, and H.B. 2023’s criminalization of the collection of another person’s ballot, have a discriminatory impact on ** This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. 4 DNC V. HOBBS American Indian, Hispanic, and African American voters in Arizona, in violation of the “results test” of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Specifically, the en banc court determined that plaintiffs had shown that Arizona’s OOP policy and H.B. 2023 imposed a significant disparate burden on its American Indian, Hispanic, and African American citizens, resulting in the “denial or abridgement of ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals