Colorado Montana Wyoming State Area Conference of the NAACP v. Smith
July 6, 2026·24-1328·Panel Decision·Federico·By Aisha Johnson
The Tenth Circuit reversed a district court judgment that dismissed an unincorporated association as a defendant in a voter intimidation case. The court held that unincorporated associations qualify as persons who can be sued under the Voting Rights Act and Section nineteen eighty-five of the Ku Klux Klan Act.
Voter organizations sued an unincorporated association and its individual leaders for voter intimidation following the two thousand and twenty presidential election. The district court dismissed the association, ruling it could not be sued, and granted judgment on partial findings for the individual defendants after a bench trial. The voters organizations appealed, challenging the dismissal and the trial outcome.
The court’s reasoning
The court analyzed the statutory text and legislative history of Section nineteen eighty-five and the Voting Rights Act. It found that unlike Section nineteen eighty-three, these statutes were intended to address group violence and private actors. The court held that the term person includes unincorporated associations under these laws. The court also found the voter organizations had standing because the defendants’ actions interfered with their core business activities.
What it means going forward
The case is remanded for a new trial with the unincorporated association included as a proper defendant. This allows the plaintiff to present evidence regarding the organization’s coordinated campaign rather than solely the actions of individual members.
