Out-of-state group can’t sue for Pa. voter registration records, federal appeals court rules

An out-of-state group that sued the commonwealth for records it claimed would show “non-U.S. citizens have been registering and voting in Pennsylvania for decades” lost an appeal in federal court.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Virginia-based Public Interest Legal Foundation has no standing to sue the Pennsylvania Department of State for voter registration records under a federal law intended to increase participation in elections.

“While a statute may authorize private suits to compel compliance with the law, private citizens are not deputized as private attorneys general empowered to enforce any and all violations of a statute without regard to their personal stake in the matter,” Circuit Judge Marjorie O. Rendell wrote in an opinion for the court.

A spokesperson said the Department of State is pleased with the decision. A PILF spokesperson said it is considering the court’s opinion and “will be moving forward from there.”

PILF sued the department in 2017 after then-Philadelphia Election Commissioner Al Schmidt said a glitch in Pennsylvania’s electronic driver’s licensing system could allow noncitizens to register to vote, citing 168 such instances in the city. Schmidt is now secretary of the commonwealth.

The Department of State confirmed that it was working to fix the problem but was not aware of the issue before Schmidt alerted them, the Associated Press reported at the time.

The lawsuit claimed the department was required to provide records under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), commonly known as the Motor Voter Law that, among other voting access provisions, required states to provide an opportunity to register to vote when applying for a driver’s license and other state services. 

A U.S. District Court judge ultimately ruled partly in favor of PILF and ordered the Department of State to pay attorney fees and costs to the organization. Both PILF and the department of state appealed.

The 3rd Circuit decision noted while the act provides for public inspection of records concerning programs to ensure the accuracy of voter rolls and remedial right to sue, a recent U.S. Supreme Court case raised the bar for a plaintiff in such a suit to show they have actually been harmed.

In support of its claim of injury and standing to sue under the NVRA, PILF argued that without the records, it could not analyze the department’s activities to maintain voter lists and was unable to carry out its mission of promoting what it calls election integrity and compliance with state and federal election laws.

The organization also claimed the denial hampered its production and dissemination of educational materials and that it had expended considerable time and money seeking the records. 

The 3rd Circuit said there is not a sufficient connection between the consequences PILF identified and Congress’ goals in enacting the NVRA. As an out-of-state public interest law firm that failed to show evidence of concrete harm caused by the secretary of the commonwealth’s refusal to provide the records it requested, PILF has no standing to sue, Rendell wrote.  

“PILF does not represent any Pennsylvania citizens who have been affected by the Secretary’s purported violation of the NVRA,” Rendell’s opinion says. “It has no direct ties to Pennsylvania voters and has not alleged how access to the records it seeks would ‘directly lead to action’ or that its ‘direct participation in the electoral process [has been] hindered.’”