Disability Law Center of Alaska; v. KEVIN MEYER, Lieutenant Governor of Alaska; STATE OF ALASKA, DIVISION OF ELECTIONS

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
DISABILITY LAW CENTER OF
ALASKA; et al.,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
KEVIN MEYER, Lieutenant Governor of
Alaska; STATE OF ALASKA, DIVISION
OF ELECTIONS,
Defendants-Appellees.
No. 20-35778
D.C. No. 3:20-cv-00173-JMK
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Alaska
Joshua M. Kindred, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted August 5, 2021
Anchorage, Alaska
Before: WARDLAW, MILLER, and BADE, Circuit Judges.
Disability Law Center and other plaintiffs appeal the district court’s order
denying their motion for an affirmative preliminary injunction that would have
required Alaska to mail absentee ballot applications to all Alaska voters in advance
of the 2020 election. Because the 2020 election has passed, we “can no longer
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
FILED
AUG 24 2021
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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grant any effective relief sought in the injunction request.” Akina v. Hawaii, 835
F.3d 1003, 1010 (9th Cir. 2016) (per curiam) (citations omitted). This appeal is
thus moot. Id.
Plaintiffs urge that this appeal presents an issue that is capable of repetition
yet evading review. Whether or not the case as a whole presents such an issue, this
appeal does not. The appeal concerns only the denial of a requested preliminary
injunction that was limited to the 2020 election. As plaintiffs acknowledge, their
claims for declaratory relief are still pending before the district court, and therefore
“dismissing the preliminary injunction appeal will not, by itself, insulate the
defendants’ practices from judicial scrutiny.” Akina, 835 F.3d at 1011.
Accordingly, the issues presented in this appeal will not evade review simply
because we dismiss this interlocutory appeal as moot. Still, “[w]e pass no
judgment on what aspects of the plaintiffs’ lawsuit continue to present a live
controversy,” Akina, 835 F.3d at 1011 n.3, and leave further proceedings to the
district court.
DISMISSED AS MOOT.

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