Tomorrow is the deadline for Georgia to enact new maps.
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Daily Docket — Thursday, Dec. 7
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In a Community Fight, Galveston County Voters Combat Discriminatory Districts ([link removed])
By Rochelle Garza
Here are some updates from today.
* The 5th Circuit blocked ([link removed]) Galveston County, Texas from enacting new, fair commissioner districts for 2024. A panel of three judges from the circuit previously affirmed that the map violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting Black and Latino voting power.
* The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) submitted a brief in a GOP lawsuit ([link removed]) challenging an Illinois law that allows mail-in ballots to be counted if postmarked by Election Day and received up to 14 days later. The DOJ argues the law protects military and overseas voters.
+ Learn more about how the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act ensure that Americans abroad can vote in federal elections here ([link removed]) .
* The Georgia Legislature passed ([link removed]) new gerrymandered congressional and legislative maps following a federal court order to draw additional majority-Black districts. Democrats and advocacy groups say the districts still violate the Voting Rights Act.
* The ACLU, on behalf of the Prisoners Legal Advocacy Network, sued ([link removed]) Delaware, alleging that the state is violating the U.S. Constitution by failing to provide eligible incarcerated voters any opportunity to cast their ballots.
* U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) introduced ([link removed]) a bill that would guarantee the right to vote in federal elections for all Americans who have criminal convictions, regardless of their incarceration status or nature of conviction.
* Former President Donald Trump appealed ([link removed]) a decision from his Washington D.C. election subversion case ruling that he is not "absolutely immune" from criminal charges for actions he took as president. Trump asks the court to pause all proceedings while the appeal plays out.
* A Nevada voter filed ([link removed]) a lawsuit challenging a proposed ballot measure ([link removed]) that would establish an independent redistricting commission in the state. The lawsuit alleges that the ballot measure language is "legally deficient" and violates state law.
+ A second lawsuit was filed ([link removed]) challenging an almost identical ballot measure ([link removed]) that would establish an independent redistricting commission for all redistricting after 2030.
Here’s what to expect tomorrow.
* Now that the Georgia Legislature sent the new, yet still gerrymandered maps to Gov. Brian Kemp (R), he must sign them by the end of day tomorrow.
* The U.S. Supreme Court will consider in conference whether to take up two cases we are tracking: a congressional redistricting lawsuit ([link removed]) in Arkansas and a legislative redistricting lawsuit ([link removed]) in Washington. The Court may announce whether or not it will hear the case as soon as Monday, Dec. 11.
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