Chad Thompson v. Michael DeWine, 976 F.3d 610

Ohio requires municipal ballot initiatives to gather signatures equal to 10% of prior gubernatorial voters; signatures must be original, in ink, witnessed by the circulator, and submitted at least 110 days before the election (Ohio Rev. Code §§ 731.28, 3501.38).
Three Ohio residents sought to place local marijuana-decriminalization initiatives on the ballot and sued, alleging that Ohio’s signature and submission rules, as applied during the COVID-19 pandemic, violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
The district court granted a preliminary injunction ordering Ohio to accept electronically signed and witnessed petitions, extend the submission deadline, and devise a system to reduce ballot-access burdens; it left the signature-quantity requirement intact.
This court previously stayed that injunction and now, on appeal, reverses the district court, holding (again) that plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits.
The Sixth Circuit applied the Anderson–Burdick framework, concluded Ohio’s requirements impose at most an intermediate burden, and found Ohio’s interests in preventing fraud and enabling orderly verification and legal review outweigh that burden; the court also held the district court overstepped by rewriting state election law.
The court emphasized Ohio’s stay-at-home orders explicitly exempted First Amendment activity (including petitioning), and reiterated that federal courts should not alter state election rules on the eve of an election.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Constitutionality of Ohio’s ballot-access requirements as applied during COVID-19	Thompson: pandemic restrictions plus Ohio rules together unconstitutionally burden petitioning rights	DeWine: rules are neutral, generally applicable, and necessary to prevent fraud and ensure orderly elections	Court: Plaintiffs unlikely to prevail; requirements constitutional as applied (intermediate scrutiny)
Proper level of scrutiny under Anderson–Burdick	Thompson: combined effects create a severe burden requiring strict scrutiny	DeWine: burden is reasonable/intermediate; not severe	Court: burden is at most intermediate, not severe (no exclusion or virtual exclusion)
Whether district court could require electronic signatures and extend deadlines	Thompson: emergency relief necessary to avoid disenfranchisement of initiatives	DeWine: court order rewrote state law and intruded on state election administration	Court: district court exceeded authority; federal courts may enjoin unconstitutional laws but may not re-write state ballot rules
Preliminary-injunction factors (likelihood, irreparable harm, equities, public interest)	Thompson: irreparable injury from exclusion and insufficient time to gather signatures	DeWine: state suffers irreparable injury if enjoined; equities and public interest favor maintaining election rules	Court: all factors favor Ohio (likelihood of success on merits, state irreparable harm, equities, public interest)

Thompson v. DeWine, 959 F.3d 804 (6th Cir. 2020) (applying Anderson–Burdick and staying district court injunction)
Winter v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7 (2008) (preliminary injunction standard)
Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780 (1983) (Anderson–Burdick framework for election regulations)
Burdick v. Takushi, 504 U.S. 428 (1992) (level of scrutiny depends on burden on rights)
John Doe No. 1 v. Reed, 561 U.S. 186 (2010) (state interest in election integrity)
Buckley v. Am. Const. Law Found., 525 U.S. 182 (1999) (deference to state election regulations and their justifications)
Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party, 520 U.S. 351 (1997) (states may enact reasonable election regulations to prevent disorder)
Hawkins v. DeWine, 968 F.3d 603 (6th Cir. 2020) (applied Thompson stay reasoning to similar Ohio rules)
Miller v. Thurston, 967 F.3d 727 (8th Cir. 2020) (upholding in-person signature requirement as less-than-severe burden)
Esshaki v. Whitmer, [citation="813 F. App'x 170"] (6th Cir. 2020) (severe burden found where stay order remained through petition deadline)