The 10th Circuit issued one Colorado-related opinion on Monday, July 6. Read the case summary and opinion, below.
Colo. Mont. Wyo. State Area Conf. of the NAACP v. Smith, Nos. 24-1328 & 25-1111 (10th Cir. July 6, 2026). This appeal concerns a dispute over alleged voter intimidation by private citizens investigating claims of election fraud following the 2020 presidential election. Shortly following the election, Shawn Smith, Ashley Epp, and Holly Kasun (collectively, Individual Defendants) formed an unincorporated association, United States Election Integrity Plan (USEIP), to investigate what they believed was large scale election fraud. In 2021, USEIP recruited volunteers and canvassed thousands of households and voters to verify Colorado voter roll information. The Colorado Montana Wyoming State Area Conference of the NAACP, League of Women Voters and Mi Familia Vota (collectively, Voter Organizations) sued USEIP and the Individual Defendants to put a stop to these activities, which the Voter Organizations alleged to be voter intimidation.
The Voter Organizations sued Smith, Kasun, and Epp individually as well as USEIP as an entity. However, the district court granted summary judgment for USEIP and dismissed it from the case because it found that unincorporated associations such as USEIP could not be sued under the laws invoked by the suit. The district court then held a three-day bench trial, at the conclusion of which it granted judgment on partial findings in favor of the Individual Defendants because it found the Voter Organizations failed to prove their claims. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 52(c). Following the entry of final judgment, the Individual Defendants moved for a fee award, which the district court denied. We have consolidated the merits appeal, No. 24-1328, and the fee appeal, No. 25-1111, for purposes of disposition.
Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney and Magistrate Judge N. Reid NeureiterPanel: ROSSMAN, MURPHY, and FEDERICO, Circuit Judges. (Entered for the Court by Judge Federico.)
Decision: We REVERSE the district court’s order granting summary judgment to USEIP and dismissing it from the case, REVERSE the district court’s order granting judgment on partial findings in favor of the Individual Defendants, VACATE the district court’s final judgment, and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We DISMISS the Individual Defendants’ appeal from the district court’s denial of its request for fees as moot. Read the opinion.