On October 30, 2010, three days before the November 2010 general election, the Lawyers’ Committee, with the assistance of the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, filed a brief as amicus curiae in Minnesota Majority v. Mansky, No. 0:10-cv-4401 (D. Minn.), to oppose the effort by a number of Tea Party-related groups in Minnesota to engage in deceptive practices at the polls on election day.
The Tea Party groups filed suit against Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and other officials saying they should be allowed, under the First Amendment, to wear pins that said “Please I.D. Me” at polling locations even though they knew that identification is not required to vote. Our brief was filed in support of the defendants, and argued that this was a deceptive practices issue, not a free speech issue.
The district court rejected the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order that would have allowed them to wear the buttons. The court relied, in part, on the concerns raised in our brief.
To read the amicus brief, please click here.
To read the district court’s denial of the request for a temporary restraining order, please click here.
