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Stefanik v. Hochul

Lawsuit brought by New York members of Congress and the Republican Party, backed by RITE, against New York Governor Kathy Hochul and state elections officials challenging a September 2023 law that creates no-excuse mail voting throughout the state. The RITE-backed plaintiffs argue that the 2023 mail-voting law violates the New York constitution, which requires in-person voting unless a voter is physically absent or unable to make it to the polls due to illness or disability.

The mail-voting law was enacted after a failed constitutional amendment, in 2021, that would have created no-excuse absentee voting. The RITE-backed plaintiffs filed suit on September 20, 2023, the day the bill was signed into law, seeking a permanent injunction. Plaintiffs also requested a preliminary injunction.

On February 6, the plaintiffs filed an appeal challenging the trial court’s dismissal. They also requested the appellate court to issue a temporary injunction blocking the law, which the court denied.

On May 9, 2024, the state appellate court dismissed the case. Subsequently, on May 13, the plaintiffs appealed to the New York Court of Appeals, where oral arguments took place on July 30, 2024.

On Aug. 20, 2024, the New York Court of Appeals upheld the law, concluding litigation.

Case Documents

Complaint (September 20, 2023)

Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction (September 20, 2023)

DCCC Memorandum In Support of Motion to Intervene (September 29, 2023)

DCCC Proposed Answer to Complaint (September 29, 2023)

State’s Opposition to a Preliminary Injunction (October 6, 2023)

Dem. Commissioner Opposition to a Preliminary Injunction (October 6, 2023)

DCCC Proposed Memo in Opposition to a Preliminary Injunction (October 6, 2023)

GOP Commissioner Supporting Preliminary Injunction (October 6, 2023)

DCCC Proposed Motion to Dismiss (October 11, 2023)

Plaintiffs’ Reply in Support of Summary Judgment (October 12, 2023) 

State’s Motion to Dismiss (October 16, 2023)

GOP Comm. Support Plaintiffs’ Mot. for Summ. Judgment (November 14, 2023)

Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment (November 14, 2023)

RITE Letter re: February Election (December 4, 2023)

Intervenor Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss (December 7, 2023)

Dem. Commissioner Opposition to Summary Judgment (December 7, 2023)

State Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss (December 7, 2023)

Order (Dec. 26, 2023)

Plaintiffs’ Memo Seeking Injunction Pending Appeal (Dec. 28, 2023)

Intervenors' Opposition to Preliminary Injunction (Jan. 5, 2024)

Dem. Commissioner Opposition to Preliminary Injunction (Jan. 5, 2024)

Plaintiffs' Opening Brief (Feb. 15, 2024)

Intervenor-Defendants' Opening Brief (March 18, 2024)

State Defendants' Opening Brief (March 18, 2024)

Court of Appeals Order (Aug. 20, 2024)

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Andrew C. McCarthy

Bestselling author Andrew C. McCarthy is a contributing editor at National Review, a senior fellow at National Review Institute, and a Fox News contributor. He is a former Chief Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York and led the terrorism prosecution against the “Blind Sheikh” (Omar Abdel Rahman) and eleven other jihadists for conducting a war of urban terrorism against the United States that included 

the 1993 World Trade Center  bombing and a plot to  bomb New York City landmarks. After working on other national security cases, including investigations in Africa after the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, he helped supervise the Justice Department’s command center near ground-zero in lower Manhattan following the 9/11 attacks. During his 20-year career as a prosecutor, he received numerous honors, including the Justice Department’s highest awards. He taught trial advocacy at New York Law School, and constitutional issues in criminal law at Fordham Law School. Andy speaks and writes widely on law and national security, radical Islam, politics, and culture. He has testified before Congress as an expert on issues of constitutional law, counterterrorism, and law-enforcement. In addition to his regular columns at National Review, Andy writes frequently for other major national publications. His most recent New York Times bestselling book is Ball of Collusion(Encounter Books, 2019), about the Russiagate controversy (an updated version was published in 2020). His other books include Willful Blindness (2008), The Grand Jihad (2010), Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy (2012), and Faithless Execution (2014). He has also written several pamphlets in the Broadside series published by Encounter Books, most recently Islam and Free Speech (2015).

Andrew C. McCarthy

Bestselling author Andrew C. McCarthy is a contributing editor at National Review, a senior fellow at National Review Institute, and a Fox News contributor. He is a former Chief Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York and led the terrorism prosecution against the “Blind Sheikh” (Omar Abdel Rahman) and eleven other jihadists for conducting a war of urban terrorism against the United States that included 

the 1993 World Trade Center  bombing and a plot to  bomb New York City landmarks. After working on other national security cases, including investigations in Africa after the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, he helped supervise the Justice Department’s command center near ground-zero in lower Manhattan following the 9/11 attacks. During his 20-year career as a prosecutor, he received numerous honors, including the Justice Department’s highest awards. He taught trial advocacy at New York Law School, and constitutional issues in criminal law at Fordham Law School. Andy speaks and writes widely on law and national security, radical Islam, politics, and culture. He has testified before Congress as an expert on issues of constitutional law, counterterrorism, and law-enforcement. In addition to his regular columns at National Review, Andy writes frequently for other major national publications. His most recent New York Times bestselling book is Ball of Collusion(Encounter Books, 2019), about the Russiagate controversy (an updated version was published in 2020). His other books include Willful Blindness (2008), The Grand Jihad (2010), Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy (2012), and Faithless Execution (2014). He has also written several pamphlets in the Broadside series published by Encounter Books, most recently Islam and Free Speech (2015).

Bobby Burchfield

Bobby R. Burchfield is a co-founder, with Karl Rove, of Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections, Inc., and currently serves as RITE’s Chairman. Before retiring from the practice of law in March 2021, after serving as a partner in three international law firms, Bobby was a trial and appellate  lawyer who tried cases before judges and juries and argued appeals throughout the United States. His cases addressed a broad  range of subjects  including antitrust, commercial  disputes, constitutional law,  election law, and class action issues. Bobby argued two important First Amendment cases

in the Supreme Court of the United States (McConnell v. FEC and McCutcheon v. FEC), as well as two dozen appeals in the lower courts. Over a 40-year career, Bobby never lost a jury trial. Among other recognitions, he was listed for many years in Best Lawyers in America, and Chambers Partners rated Bobby highly for Commercial Litigation and for Election Law. Bobby is an Adjunct Professor at George Washington Law School, teaching a seminar entitled “Fundamentals of Free Speech as Applied to Contemporary Issues.” He also serves on the Board of Trustees at Wake Forest University, is Vice President for Finance for the Executive Board of the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts (NCAC), is Chair of two Super PACs, and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the George Washington Law School. A graduate of Wake Forest University (BA 1976 with distinction in Economics and Political Theory) and the George Washington Law School (1979 with high honors), where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review, Bobby clerked for the Hon. Ruggero J. Aldisert of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He served as General Counsel of President George H.W. Bush’s Re-Election Campaign in 1992, by appointment of President George W. Bush on the Antitrust Advisory Commission (2005-07), and at the request of President Donald J. Trump as Ethics Advisor to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust (2017-2021).

Bobby Burchfield

Bobby R. Burchfield is a co-founder, with Karl Rove, of Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections, Inc., and currently serves as RITE’s Chairman. Before retiring from the practice of law in March 2021, after serving as a partner in three international law firms, Bobby was a trial and appellate  lawyer who tried cases before judges and juries and argued appeals throughout the United States. His cases addressed a broad  range of subjects  including antitrust, commercial  disputes, constitutional law,  election law, and class action issues. Bobby argued two important First Amendment cases

in the Supreme Court of the United States (McConnell v. FEC and McCutcheon v. FEC), as well as two dozen appeals in the lower courts. Over a 40-year career, Bobby never lost a jury trial. Among other recognitions, he was listed for many years in Best Lawyers in America, and Chambers Partners rated Bobby highly for Commercial Litigation and for Election Law. Bobby is an Adjunct Professor at George Washington Law School, teaching a seminar entitled “Fundamentals of Free Speech as Applied to Contemporary Issues.” He also serves on the Board of Trustees at Wake Forest University, is Vice President for Finance for the Executive Board of the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts (NCAC), is Chair of two Super PACs, and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the George Washington Law School. A graduate of Wake Forest University (BA 1976 with distinction in Economics and Political Theory) and the George Washington Law School (1979 with high honors), where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review, Bobby clerked for the Hon. Ruggero J. Aldisert of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He served as General Counsel of President George H.W. Bush’s Re-Election Campaign in 1992, by appointment of President George W. Bush on the Antitrust Advisory Commission (2005-07), and at the request of President Donald J. Trump as Ethics Advisor to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust (2017-2021).