Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; February 23, 2015; Federal Appellate Court
In 2009, Congress enacted the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, amending the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) to ensure that absent uniformed service voters and overseas voters receive absentee ballots at least 45 days before federal elections. District courts ruled in favor of the United States against Georgia and Alabama, finding their election procedures violated this requirement for runoff elections and granting various forms of relief.
Following these rulings, Georgia revised its election laws with H.B. 310, signed into law on January 21, 2014, which aligned its procedures with the 45-day requirement for runoff elections. The law established specific timelines for holding runoff elections related to federal offices and made additional changes to the election calendar, absentee voting, and campaign procedures. Consequently, the appeal from Georgia was dismissed as moot because the new legislation rendered the previous legal challenges irrelevant. The Supreme Court's precedent supports that legislative changes can moot ongoing litigation, confirming the court's lack of jurisdiction to provide meaningful relief.
The case of City of Mesquite v. Aladdin’s Castle, 455 U.S. 283 (1982), is noted for establishing that challenges to a governmental policy may remain relevant even after the policy is repealed if there is a substantial likelihood of reinstatement. This principle is echoed in Beta Upsilon Chi Upsilon Chapter at Univ. of Fla. v. Machen, which emphasized the lack of certainty regarding the city's intentions to reenact a repealed statute. In contrast, the Supreme Court in Ne. Fla. Chapter of Associated Gen. Contractors of Am. v. City of Jacksonville, 508 U.S. 656 (1993), upheld an appeal regarding a city ordinance that still favored certain groups. The general rule derived from these cases is that the repeal of a statute typically moots challenges unless there is evidence suggesting the government plans to revert to the old law.
In this context, H.B. 310 represents a significant electoral reform by the Georgia Legislature, which diminishes the likelihood of returning to the previous electoral system if the appeal is deemed moot. The presumption of non-recurrence applies here, as established in Atheists of Florida Inc. v. City of Lakeland, indicating that voluntary cessation by a government actor typically suggests that the offending conduct will not resume. Consequently, the appeal is dismissed as moot, the district court's judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded for dismissal due to lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Additionally, despite Georgia's initial assertion that the appeal was not moot, its later position confirmed that it would not revert to its former electoral practices. A recent ruling involving Alabama further supports that Georgia cannot revert to its previous interpretations regarding the UOCAVA's 45-day transmittal requirement.
