Find out what’s on the docket in February.
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Daily Docket — Wednesday, Jan. 31
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By Marc Elias
Here are some recent updates.
* Arizona Republicans sued ([link removed]) Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) over the new Elections Procedural Manual, the state’s election law handbook. Lawmakers claim that Fontes overstepped his power when creating some guidelines.
* The notoriously conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voided ([link removed]) a decision that protected fair state Supreme Court representation for Black voters in Louisiana. The entire court will now rehear the case, threatening protections of the Voting Rights Act.
* North Carolina voters sued ([link removed]) over the state's new Republican-drawn congressional and legislative maps, arguing they unfairly benefit Republicans and violate the state constitution. The voters ask the court to block the districts for the 2024 election.
* The New Mexico Senate passed ([link removed]) a bill to ban guns within 100 feet of a polling place and 50 feet of a drop box. The bill now heads to the Democratic-controlled House.
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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’s what to expect in the courts this month.
* Feb. 5, 2024:
+ Oral argument in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a right-wing lawsuit ([link removed]) challenging a host of California’s mail-in voting laws and procedures.
+ All amicus briefs in support of the respondents are due in the Colorado case ([link removed]) currently before the U.S. Supreme Court that challenges Former President Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on the state’s primary ballot.
* Feb. 8, 2024:
+ A hearing in a state-level lawsuit ([link removed]) to determine if Montana’s voter registration penalty law will be temporarily blocked.
+ Oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump’s appeal ([link removed]) of a state Supreme Court decision removing him from Colorado’s primary ballot.
* Feb. 12, 2024: Oral argument in the 9th Circuit in a lawsuit ([link removed]) challenging part of the Uniform and Military Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act ([link removed]) that precludes former U.S. state residents from voting absentee for president in their former state if they are currently living in Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa or Puerto Rico.
* Feb. 20, 2024: Oral argument in the Kansas Supreme Court in a lawsuit ([link removed]) challenging multiple provisions of a 2021 voter suppression law ([link removed]) .
* Feb. 21, 2024: Hearing in federal lawsuit ([link removed]) brought by a conservative group challenging a new Minnesota law ([link removed]) that seeks to combat election misinformation, voter intimidation and harassment.
* Feb. 26, 2024:
+ Hearing in a state-level lawsuit ([link removed]) challenging a power-grab law that reduced the size of Nashville, Tennessee’s metro council by half.
+ Trial begins in a federal lawsuit ([link removed]) challenging the at-large system used for electing members to Dodge City, Kansas’ local government. The plaintiffs allege that the at-large system dilutes Latino voting power in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
+ Trial begins in a federal lawsuit ([link removed]) challenging Mississippi’s state House and Senate districts for unlawfully diluting Black voting power in violation of the Voting Rights Act and U.S. Constitution.
* Feb. 28, 2024: Deadline for New York’s independent redistricting commission to submit ([link removed]) a new congressional map to the Legislature after the state’s highest court struck down ([link removed]) the map.
We are waiting for decisions in the following lawsuits.
* A state-level lawsuit ([link removed]) challenging Utah’s congressional map for being a partisan gerrymander that unfairly favors Republicans.
* A federal lawsuit ([link removed]) that will determine if the entire 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will rehear a decision holding that private individuals and groups cannot challenge maps and voting laws under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
* A federal lawsuit ([link removed]) pending before the U.S. Supreme Court that will determine whether South Carolina’s congressional map will be struck down for racial gerrymandering.
* A federal lawsuit ([link removed]) pending before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that will determine if former President Donald Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for official acts he took while in office.
Here are some recent updates.
* Arizona Republicans sued ([link removed]) Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) over the new Elections Procedural Manual, the state’s election law handbook. Lawmakers claim that Fontes overstepped his power when creating some guidelines.
* The notoriously conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voided ([link removed]) a decision that protected fair state Supreme Court representation for Black voters in Louisiana. The entire court will now rehear the case, threatening protections of the Voting Rights Act.
* After a federal judge blocked part of North Carolina's new voter suppression law, state officials amend ([link removed]) election rules to protect voters who utilize same-day registration from having their ballots rejected without their knowledge.
* The New Mexico Senate passed ([link removed]) a bill to ban guns within 100 feet of a polling place and 50 feet of a drop box. The bill now heads to the Democratic-controlled House.
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