dilution of the weight of a citizen’s vote, also referred to [as] vote dilution…. Second, the Court has found that the Equal Protection Clause is violated where the state, having once granted the right to vote on equal terms, through later arbitrary and disparate treatment, values one person’s vote over that of another.
Moore, 2020 WL 6063332, at *12 (citing Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98, 104–05 (2000); Reynolds, 377 U.S. at 554). A rationale basis standard of review applies if the plaintiff alleges “that a state treated him or her differently than similarly situated voters, without a corresponding burden on the fundamental right to vote.” Obama for Am., 697 F.3d at 429 (citing McDonald v. Bd. of Election Comm’rs, 394 U.S. 802, 807–09 (1969)). If a fundamental right is implicated, the claim is governed by the flexible Anderson/Burdick balancing test. Burdick, 504 U.S. at 433–35; Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780, 788 (1983).
Wood’s equal protection claim does not fit within this framework.[1] Wood does not articulate a cognizable harm that invokes the Equal Protection Clause.
- ↑ The Court notes that, in the Amended Complaint, Wood alludes to issues caused by Raffensperger’s adoption of Ballot Trax—an electronic interface that permits an elector to track his or her ballot as it is being processed [ECF 5, ¶¶ 44–46]. Wood also alleges harm in that the Settlement Agreement permitted the DPG to submit “additional guidance and training materials” for identifying a signature mismatch, which Defendants “agree[d] to consider in good faith” [id. ¶ 47; see also ECF 5-1, ¶ 4]. Wood did not address how these items violated his constitutional rights—equal protection or otherwise—in either his motion or during oral argument. Therefore, the Court need not
