A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal panel of judges decided that Election Integrity Project California (EIPCa) does have the standing to sue over the 2020 presidential elections after presenting oral arguments last month.
The federal appellate court vacated and remanded in part the Central District of California’s June 2021 dismissal on Nov. 3.
“Because EIPCa adequately alleged both a frustration of its mission and a diversion of its resources, we reject the defendant's argument that EIPCa manufactured its injury by 'choosing to spend money fixing a problem that otherwise would not affect the organization at all' and contrary to the dissent, the complaint plausibly alleges that it will need to continue to divert such resources in the future,” the Nov. 3 opinion states.
The panel of three judges included Sandra Ikuta, Danielle Forrest, and Holly Thomas, who dissented.
“Getting past standing allows us to keep alive our equal protection clause and our elections clause as well,” said attorney Mariah Gondeiro, who represents EIPCa. “It allows us to get into discovery, which is important.”
As previously reported nearly a year ago in the Southern California Record, EIPCa and GOP candidates, who campaigned for office in 2020, sued various county election officials and Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 4, 2021, asking for an inspection of election machines before certifying November 2020 results.
“We just want to see discrepancies across counties and how they're counting votes,” Gondeiro told the Southern California Record. "In 2020, we had a massive amount of people who were all consistent in their affidavits that election workers weren't adequately looking at signatures. They weren't adequately vetting signatures. So, getting a copy of the ballots will be important.”
EIPCa submitted 600 affidavits documenting election irregularities.
However, U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. ruled that the plaintiffs failed to show that injury was concrete and particularized.
"The Ninth Circuit is always a very difficult venue," Gondeiro said. "Winning at the Ninth Circuit is absolutely a big step because we were lucky in getting a very good panel. We definitely rolled the dice and we got lucky."
The GOP Congressional candidates who are plaintiffs in the litigation include Mike Cargile, Ronda Kennedy, Greg Raths, and Chris Bish.
None were elected.
"The lawsuit isn't about any one particular candidate or race," Gondeiro added. "It's about the election laws and procedures going forward. That's what makes our lawsuit different. We're not focused on any one particular candidate."