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![handle is hein.congcourts/fjctgbv0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
CASE STUDIES IN EMERGENCY ELECTION LITIGATION
Trying to Get on the Ballot
After Voting Has Started
Raiklin v. Virginia Department/Board of Elections
(John A. Gibney, Jr., E.D. Va. 3:18-cv-288)
A district judge denied immediate relief to a pro se plaintiff who filed
an action challenging his exclusion from a primary election ballot,
because he filed the complaint after early voting had started.
Subject: Getting on the ballot. Topics: Getting on the ballot;
laches; pro se party; primary election; early voting; absentee ballots.
Ivan Raiklin filed a pro se federal complaint in the Eastern District of Vir-
ginia's Richmond courthouse on May 1, 2018, alleging that he was wrongfully
excluded from the June 12 primary election ballot for United States Senator.'
He styled his complaint as a Complaint and Request for Emergency Injunc-
tion.2
On May 9, Judge John A. Gibney found that laches precluded immediate
relief.
Raiklin may ultimately prevail on the merits of his claim, but the Court can-
not equitably enjoin the defendants from printing primary ballots without
Raiklin's name when he knew of the defendants' intentions to keep him off
of the ballot in early April yet failed to bring this case until after primary bal-
lots had already been printed and made available to the public for voting.'
Early voting began on April 27.' Between filing his motion and [the time
of Judge Gibney's ruling], Raiklin [had] not contacted the Court to request a
hearing on his motion.6
Judge Gibney dismissed the complaint without prejudice on July 9 for fail-
ure to prosecute the action, also noting mootness.'
1. Complaint, Raiklin v. Va. Dep't/Bd. of Elections, No. 3:18-cv-288 (E.D. Va. May 1,
2018), D.E. 1; see Dismissal Opinion, id. (July 9, 2018), D.E. 12 (noting allegation of a refusal
to properly count the candidate's ballot petition signatures); see also Jenna Portnoy & Laura
Vozzella, Senate Hopeful Files Lawsuit Over Ballot Exclusion, Wash. Post, May 2, 2018, at B4.
2. Complaint, supra note 1, D.E. 1, 3.
3. Preliminary Injunction Denial Opinion, Raiklin, No. 3:18-cv-288 (E.D. Va. May 9,
2018), D.E. 5; see Dismissal Opinion, supra note 1.
4. Preliminary Injunction Denial Opinion, supra note 3, at 2.
5. See Portnoy & Vozzella, supra note 1; see also Preliminary Injunction Denial Opinion,
supra note 3.
6. Preliminary Injunction Denial Opinion, supra note 3, at 1.
7. Dismissal Opinion, supra note 1.
Federal Judicial Center 7/10/2018
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