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Here’s what to expect in the courts this month.
To prepare you for the month ahead, we’ve outlined what courtroom activity and fillings we anticipate as well as what outstanding decisions we are watching for.
Here are key dates and case developments coming up.
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Oct. 3, 2023: Hearing in a federal lawsuit over Alabama’s congressional map on proposals submitted by a court-appointed special master for new 2024 congressional districts that comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).
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Oct. 5, 2023: Hearing in Republicans’ new lawsuit challenging New York’s absentee voting law, Assembly Bill 7931. The law allows for the review of absentee ballots on a rolling basis, requires voters who request an absentee ballot but decide to vote in person to vote using a provisional ballot and prevents legal challenges to already cast absentee ballots.
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Oct. 5, 2023: Oral argument in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals regarding Maine’s appeal of a decision in a federal lawsuit that required the state to produce its voter registration data to the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a conservative legal group.
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Oct. 6, 2023: Oral Argument in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Republicans’ appeal of the decision that blocked Louisiana’s congressional map for likely violating the VRA.
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Oct 11, 2023: Oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding Republican legislators’ appeal of a decision that blocked South Carolina’s congressional map for being an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
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Oct. 13, 2023: Hearing in a Republican-backed lawsuit seeking to block New York’s new Early Mail Voter Act. The hearing concerns Republicans’ request to preliminarily block the new pro-voting law as litigation continues.
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Oct. 16, 2023: Trial in a federal lawsuit brought by a conservative group challenging New Mexico’s ability to criminally prosecute a right-wing group for violating New Mexico statutes that protect voter data.
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Oct. 23, 2023: Trial in the Georgia 2020 election subversion indictment for two of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell.
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Oct. 25, 2023: Hearing in a federal lawsuit that will determine if Louisiana’s policy regarding re-enfranchisement for “suspended” voters — citizens whose voter registrations were suspended due to a felony conviction — will be temporarily blocked.
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Oct. 26, 2023: Trial in a federal lawsuit challenging True the Vote’s alleged voter intimidation tactics in Georgia.
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Oct. 31, 2023: Hearing on the Republican National Committee and other conservative groups’ motions to intervene in and motions to dismiss a state-level lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s onerous absentee voting rules.
We are waiting for decisions in the following lawsuits.
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A lawsuit brought by Republicans challenging New Mexico’s congressional map for being a partisan gerrymander. The trial court has until Oct. 6 to issue a decision.
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A set of lawsuits challenging Georgia’s legislative and congressional maps for violating Section 2 of the VRA.
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A lawsuit challenging Utah’s congressional map for being a partisan gerrymander that unfairly favors Republicans.
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A lawsuit challenging Arkansas’ legislative maps that will dictate whether private plaintiffs — and not just the U.S. Department of Justice — have the right to bring lawsuits under Section 2 of the VRA.
Here are some recent updates.
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Louisiana voters asked the 5th Circuit to pause its decision delaying the drawing of a new, fair congressional map with a second majority-Black district. The 5th Circuit immediately denied the request.
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A federal judge dismissed a case filed by a voting rights group and voters arguing that Arkansas' error-prone signature matching process violates the First and 14th Amendments and the Civil Rights Act.
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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) vetoed Senate Bill 749, which would remove the governor’s power to appoint election board members to the state board, granting it to the North Carolina Legislature instead. Republicans in the Legislature have enough votes to override the veto.
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The Ohio Supreme Court will not review the state's new legislative districts as a part of ongoing lawsuits, the court's conservative majority ruled. New litigation would have to be filed to challenge the gerrymandered districts.
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Pro-voting groups filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Montana law that imposes fines and criminal penalties on people who are registered to vote in more than one state.
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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), several New York congressional Democrats and voters moved to defend New York's new mail-in voting law from a legal challenge by the Republican National Committee. The law allows all New York voters to vote by mail during the early voting period.
- A federal judge denied Jeffrey Clark's request to move his Fulton County criminal charges to federal court.
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