Fourth Circuit sends NVRA voter list dispute back on standing question

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The 4th Circuit has sent a National Voter Registration Act dispute back to a federal trial court, directing it to determine whether the plaintiff has Article III standing to seek disclosure of South Carolina’s statewide voter registration list.

The appeal followed a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina granting summary judgment to the plaintiff, a Virginia-based nonprofit organization that analyzes state voter list maintenance practices. The district court ordered the defendant state election agency to disclose the voter registration list under Section 8(i)(1) of the NVRA, which requires public access to records concerning voter list accuracy and maintenance. The court concluded that the federal statute preempted a state law limiting access to registered South Carolina voters and later denied reconsideration.

On appeal, the defendant argued for the first time that the plaintiff lacked standing. The defendant contended the plaintiff failed to show an injury-in-fact stemming from the refusal to disclose the voter list, relying on recent decisions from the Third and Sixth Circuits that dismissed similar suits for lack of a concrete informational injury.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to resolve that issue on the existing record. Because standing was not addressed below, the court explained that determining whether the plaintiff suffered a sufficiently concrete informational injury would require factual findings that an appellate court is not equipped to make in the first instance. The court emphasized that Article III standing is a jurisdictional prerequisite and must be established before any merits ruling can stand.

Accordingly, the 4th Circuit remanded the case to allow the plaintiff to present evidence supporting its claim of informational injury and for the district court to determine whether Article III’s requirements are satisfied. The court expressly declined to reach the merits of the NVRA disclosure dispute, leaving those issues unresolved unless and until jurisdiction is established.

The eight-page opinion is Public Interest Legal Foundation Inc. v. Wooten, Lawyers Weekly No. 001-022-26.