Clark Hill’s Georgia Litigation Team Successfully Defends Voting Machines

On March 31, Georgia litigators Bryan Tyson, Bryan Jacoutot, and Diane LaRoss secured an order to dismiss a long-running case against Georgia’s voting machines following a 17-day trial last year in federal court in Atlanta.

The Clark Hill litigators and co-counsel represented state officials for more than six years, consistently arguing that the federal court lacked jurisdiction over the plaintiffs’ claims because the plaintiffs lacked standing to pursue them.

Shortly after granting the dismissal order, the court also denied the plaintiffs’ request for nearly $6 million in attorney’s fees against the state.

“We’re very pleased to finally see this case dismissed while also saving taxpayers millions of dollars,” Tyson said. “Voters can and should have confidence in Georgia election results.”

In Curling v. Raffensperger, the plaintiffs argued that Georgia’s voting system was so vulnerable to manipulation that it was unconstitutional, but they never presented evidence of any votes that were changed in an election. Specifically, they claimed a QR code printed on paper ballots as part of Georgia’s voting system made it impossible to verify that their votes were accurately recorded, and they also asserted that having to review their ballot selections twice was overly burdensome.

In the March 31 ruling, the court did not reach the merits of the plaintiff’s arguments and instead determined that neither claim constituted an “invasion of a legally protected interest under governing precedent.”

“Unlike other courts, in a federal court you can’t just put forward a generalized grievance about the law that everybody else shares, you need a specific injury to you,” Tyson said. “The plaintiffs don’t like Georgia’s chosen voting system and primarily focused on making policy arguments that a federal court cannot address.”

“That may seem like a trivial distinction, but it goes to the heart of the scope of a federal court’s authority under the Constitution,” Jacoutot said. “We balance power very carefully among three co-equal branches in our system of government, and standing requirements help ensure courts stay within their lane.”

“We are particularly proud of Georgia election officials who work tirelessly to make elections safe and secure—this is an important win for them,” LaRoss said.

In addition to winning on the basis of their standing argument, Tyson also said the evidence at trial proved there was never any evidence of vote manipulation or malware within the state’s Dominion machines.

“There’s no reason to be worried about the election outcomes in Georgia. We have a great voting system. We have a great election system and great people running it, and people can trust the results of elections, which is ultimately what everybody needs to be able to do,” Tyson said.