WILLIAM B. SHIPLEY, NINA MARIE, and KATHERINE WUTHRICH, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CHICAGO BOARD OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS and JAMES M. SCANLON, Defendants-Appellees.
No. 17-3511
United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit
January 27, 2020
ARGUED JANUARY 7, 2020 — DECIDED JANUARY 27, 2020
Before BRENNAN, SCUDDER, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. No. 16-cv-07424 — John Robert Blakey, Judge.
ST.
The problem with Plaintiffs’ allegations, however, is that Illinois law expressly precludes the findings of the post-election audit from changing or altering the election results. In other words, no matter how improper the Board employees’ conduct was during the audit, it could not have affected Plaintiffs’ right to vote. For this reason, the district court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim. And for the same reason, we affirm the district court‘s judgment.
I. Background
The Illinois Election Code,
After an election, the Board randomly tests a small percentage—five percent to be exact—of the electronic voting equipment in service during that election. Section 24C-15 of the Code, which is at the heart of this appeal, provides the procedure for the post-election audit of the electronic voting equipment.
A. The five percent audit
Section 24C-15 covers three topics, as indicated by its title: “Official Return of Precinct,” “Check of Totals,” and “Audit.” The section does not contain subdivisions, internal headings, or otherwise obviously subdivide the topics, but a read of the section quickly reveals its structure. The first paragraph deals with the Official Return
The second paragraph in section 24C-15 outlines the five percent audit procedure that we are concerned with here. “Prior to the proclamation, the election authority shall test the voting devices and equipment in 5% of the precincts within the election jurisdiction, as well as 5% of the voting devices used in early voting.”
The procedure for auditing, or testing, the electronic voting equipment is simple. The Board manually counts the votes marked on the permanent paper record and then compares those hand-tallied vote totals to the DREVS-generated results. See
B. Plaintiffs’ allegations
After the March 15, 2016 primary election in Illinois, the Board conducted the statutorily mandated five percent audit from March 23, 2016, through March 29, 2016, at a storage facility in Chicago. Plaintiffs Shipley and Wuthrich were credentialed election monitors and attended one or more of these audits. According to Plaintiffs, they observed troublesome behavior.
The Board performed the five percent audits by having one Board employee read aloud the individual votes from the permanent paper record while another employee would hand record the votes on a tally sheet. The machine-generated final vote count was allegedly preprinted at the top of the tally sheet in bold—essentially, according to Plaintiffs, giving away the answers to the test. The Board employees, Plaintiffs allege, also used pencil to make the tally marks, permitting the employees to erase tallies at the end so that their test count would match the preprinted final count. Or, similarly, employees would add tallies at the end to make up any difference or just stop counting once the test count reached the “target” vote count. Plaintiffs also contend that Board employees actively attempted to obscure Plaintiffs’ view of the tally sheets. This improper conduct was “widespread and pervasive” throughout the observed audits.
Troubled by their observations, Plaintiffs attended an April 5, 2016 Board meeting for consideration of returns and proclamation of the results of the primary election. They also submitted their concerns to the Board in writing in advance of the public meeting. But Plaintiffs allege
C. The district court proceedings
Plaintiffs1 filed a three-count complaint in federal court. Count I, brought under
declaratory and injunctive relief, requesting that the court permanently enjoin the Board from further violating the Illinois Election Code.
The Board moved to dismiss pursuant to
Upon reconsideration, and in light of the new motion to dismiss, the district court agreed with the Board. “Simply put, the plain text of section 22-9.1 unambiguously says that the discovery procedure‘s results, and thus the 5% test‘s results, cannot change election results. Under Illinois law, the only outcome of an error in the 5% test count is a public[ly] available written report.” The court therefore dismissed Count I because “[n]o matter how flagrantly [the Board] might have doctored the numbers during its 5% test, that test‘s results could not possibly have affected the election results under Illinois law.” As to Count II, the district court incorporated its previous memorandum and opinion dismissing the count, which found that Plaintiffs’ allegations did not identify with whom Plaintiffs were prevented from associating with or any interference with “petitioning” the government. With the dismissal of Counts I and II, the court dismissed Count III because there was no longer a claim of a deprivation of any federal constitutional right to support federal jurisdiction.
The court dismissed the complaint with prejudice because Plaintiffs did not request leave to replead and, in any event, any attempt to replead would be futile.2
II. Discussion
We review a district court‘s grant of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim de novo. Chicago Studio Rental, Inc. v. Illinois Dep‘t of Commerce, 940 F.3d 971, 977 (7th Cir. 2019). We accept well-pleaded facts as true and draw all reasonable
Plaintiffs allege the deprivation of three constitutional rights: the right to vote, freedom of association, and the right to petition the government.3 The focus of Plaintiffs’ lawsuit, and their briefing, is the right to vote claim, but we will address each constitutional claim in turn, along with the equitable relief claim.
A. Right to vote
It is undeniable that the right to vote is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution. See, e.g., Burdick v. Takushi, 504 U.S. 428, 433 (1992). The right to vote is not just the right to put a ballot in a box but also the right to have one‘s vote counted. United States v. Mosley, 238 U.S. 383, 386 (1915). “The right to vote can neither be denied outright, nor destroyed by alteration of ballots, nor diluted by ballot-box stuffing.” Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 555 (1964) (internal citations omitted). Plaintiffs cannot state a claim for a violation of the right to vote, though, because the five percent audit cannot alter or discard any vote cast. The Illinois Election Code compels this conclusion.
Because we are interpreting an Illinois statute, we apply Illinois‘s principles of statutory construction. See Doe v. Archdiocese of Milwaukee, 772 F.3d 437, 440–41 (7th Cir. 2014) (“When interpreting a state statute, we apply the same principles of statutory construction that a state court would apply.“). In Illinois, the “primary objective in construing a statute is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the legislature.” JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Earth Foods, Inc., 939 N.E.2d 487, 490 (Ill. 2010). “The plain language of a statute is the most reliable indication of legislative intent.” Id. “[W]hen the language of the statute is clear, it must be applied as written without resort to aids or tools of interpretation.” DeLuna v. Burciaga, 857 N.E.2d 229, 236 (Ill. 2006). The analysis here starts and stops with the plain language of section 24C-15 and, as incorporated therein,
Section 24C-15 provides that if, during the five percent audit of the electronic voting equipment,
an errorless count cannot be conducted and there continues to be difference in vote results between the certificate of results produced by the Direct Recording Electronic Voting System and the count of the permanent paper records or if an error was detected and corrected, the election authority shall immediately prepare and forward to the appropriate canvassing board a written report explaining the results of the test and any errors encountered and the report shall be made available for public inspection.
If this plain reading of section 24C-15 was not clear enough on its face, the provision concludes by stating that the “results of this post-election test shall be treated in the same manner and have the same effect as the results of the discovery procedures set forth in Section 22-9.1 of this Code.”
Section 22-9.1 governs the ability of a candidate to petition for discovery within five days after the last day for proclamation of the results of an election. A petition for discovery includes a request to test a portion of the automatic tabulating equipment. But, critical to the effect of the five percent audit, the
results of the examination and count shall not be certified, used to amend or change the abstracts of the votes previously completed, used to deny the successful candidate for the same office his certificate of nomination or election, nor used to change the previously declared result of the vote on a question of public policy.
Plaintiffs devote most of their time to arguing that the district court ignored their allegations and demanded a higher degree of factual pleading than the federal rules require. Plaintiffs miss the forest for the trees. The issue is not one of facts, but one of law. No matter how factually detailed, egregious, or willful the misconduct alleged, the five percent audit cannot affect the election results under Illinois law. Therefore, Plaintiffs cannot state a plausible claim that the Board deprived them of their right to vote.
We note, parenthetically, that this does not mean that all allegations of misconduct during a five percent audit are without recourse entirely. Indeed, such allegations may state a claim for violation of the Illinois Election Code. But that is a state law claim for a violation of state law, not a federal claim for a violation of constitutional rights. “A violation of state law does not state a claim under
B. Waiver of remaining constitutional claims
Plaintiffs also claim that the Board violated their constitutional rights to freely associate and to petition the government. But on appeal, Plaintiffs offer only a few cursory sentences in support of their freedom of association and right to petition the government claims, buried in the middle of other arguments, and without any adequate
Even if we were to forgive the waiver, Plaintiffs fare no better on the merits. Plaintiffs have failed to state a plausible claim that the Board violated their right to freely associate or their right to petition the government. We briefly address each constitutional claim.
1. Freedom of association
The Constitution protects two forms of free association. “The first, freedom of expressive association, arises from the First Amendment and ensures the right to associate for the purpose of engaging in activities protected by the First Amendment.” Montgomery v. Stefaniak, 410 F.3d 933, 937 (7th Cir. 2005) (citing Roberts v. United States Jaycees, 468 U.S. 609, 617-18 (1984)). “The second, freedom of intimate association, protects the right ‘to enter into and maintain certain intimate human relationships.‘” Id. (quoting Roberts, 468 U.S. at 617). We assume that Plaintiffs assert the first variety. The freedom of expressive association accords “protection to collective effort on behalf of shared goals” to help “in preserving political and cultural diversity and in shielding dissident expression from suppression by the majority.” Roberts, 468 U.S. at 622.
Certainly, Plaintiffs allege a collective effort to monitor elections on behalf of their shared goal to promote election integrity. But Plaintiffs do not allege how they were prevented from associating or with whom they were prevented from associating. Without more, Plaintiffs have failed to state a claim that the Board violated their right to freedom of association.
2. Right to petition the government
“The right to petition the government for redress of grievances is found in the First Amendment to the Constitution.” Hilton v. City of Wheeling, 209 F.3d 1005, 1006 (7th Cir. 2000). “The right to petition allows citizens to express their ideas, hopes, and concerns to their government and their elected representatives ....” Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri, 564 U.S. 379, 388 (2011). Although “various levels of public participation in various kinds of policy decisions may be” sensible, the Supreme Court “has never held, and nothing in the Constitution suggests it should hold, that government must provide for such participation.” Minnesota State Bd. for Cmty. Colls. v. Knight, 465 U.S. 271, 285 (1984). “[T]he rights to speak, associate, and petition [do not] require government policymakers to listen or respond to individuals’ communications on public issues.” Id. “So while the government may not interfere with the right to petition, it need not grant the petition, no matter how meritorious it is.” Hilton, 209 F.3d at 1007 (internal citations omitted).
C. Equitable relief
Finally, Plaintiffs sought a declaration regarding the parties’ legal rights and liabilities with respect to the Board‘s alleged noncompliance with section 24C-15 and a permanent injunction enjoining the Board from further violating the Illinois Election Code. The district court found that having dismissed the constitutional claims, no “federal case or controversy” remained to support jurisdiction and dismissed the declaratory judgment count. Plaintiffs now argue on appeal, for the first time, that state law remedies are inadequate to address “the violations to federal and constitutional rights” alleged in this lawsuit. The argument was not presented to the district court and is therefore waived. Owens v. Auxilium Pharm., Inc., 895 F.3d 971, 974 (7th Cir. 2018). Notwithstanding the issue of waiver, Plaintiffs’ argument fails.
The Declaratory Judgment Act permits a federal court to award a declaratory judgment only in “a case of actual controversy.”
And with respect to the prospective injunctive relief Plaintiffs’ seek, the future harm “must be both real and immediate, not conjectural or hypothetical.” City of Los Angeles v. Lyons, 461 U.S. 95, 102 (1983) (quotations omitted). “For purposes of standing to seek injunctive relief against future harm, courts generally assume that litigants ‘will conduct their activities within the law and so avoid prosecution and conviction.‘” Simic v. City of Chicago, 851 F.3d 734, 738 (7th Cir. 2017) (quoting O‘Shea v. Littleton, 414 U.S. 488, 497 (1974)). Without the dismissed constitutional claims, Plaintiffs “have alleged nothing more than garden variety election irregularities that could have been adequately dealt with through the procedures set forth in [Illinois] law.” Bodine v. Elkhart Cty. Election Bd., 788 F.2d 1270, 1272 (7th Cir. 1986).
D. Motion to strike
There is one other matter we must address: the Board‘s pending motion to strike Plaintiffs’ appellate reply brief.
Given our preceding discussion and our holding, we deny the Board‘s motion as moot. In doing so, we do not countenance Plaintiffs’ behavior. “A party must file one brief with the court, and to alter one version without informing the court is unethical.” Khan v. Midwestern Univ., 879 F.3d 838, 846 (7th Cir. 2018). We remind counsel, though we should not have to, that they must comply with the court‘s orders.
III. Conclusion
Section 24C-15, and