One question I often get is when, where, and how state courts and constitutions will matter for the 2024 elections. State Court Report is planning a lot of coverage this year to answer these questions, and I’m excited to announce a new Election 2024 page that will be a one-stop shop for all of our election content.

Our coverage will be wide-ranging. For one thing, voters around the country will decide whether to amend state constitutions to address abortion rights, voting and representation, and much more. (We already have a great article by the Brennan Center’s Erin Geiger Smith profiling the 14 states where abortion-related amendments could be on the ballot this year.)

We’re also already seeing litigation about the measures that are eligible to make it on the ballot, the processes states use for such initiatives, and the wording used to describe provisions to voters. (Do we have an explainer on how courts oversee ballot initiatives? Yes, we do!) In just the past few weeks, for example, a Nevada trial court permitted a ballot initiative that would impose a photo ID requirement for in-person voting and additional ID requirements for absentee ballots, while a different Nevada trial court barred two initiatives that would establish an independent redistricting commission. All of these measures were challenged under a state constitutional provision barring initiatives with unfunded mandates. Meanwhile, in Arkansas, a trial court recently heard arguments in a state constitutional challenge to a law that requires initiative signatures to be gathered from at least 50 counties, making it harder to put measures on the ballot.

We’re also planning explainers and coverage about all the ways state courts will be major sites for election litigation — both in the lead-up to and in the aftermath of Election Day. A recent study by the State Democracy Research Initiative found that more than 70 percent of election litigation in 2022 took place in state court. Much of that litigation focuses on nuts-and-bolts election administration questions (like ballot signature and date requirements) that can make voting easier or harder — which is frequently the point.

Disputes stemming from election denial, such as legal challenges against state or local officials who refuse to certify election results, are another likely area for litigation. And we’ll continue to track state court litigation challenging voter suppression laws under state constitutions, as well as lawsuits using the growing number of state-level voting rights acts.

And did I mention that most state judges are elected? This year, state supreme court justices are up for election in 33 states. We’ve covered how these races have become increasingly costly and politicized, particularly in the post-Dobbs era. We’ll be featuring pieces throughout the year to contextualize what’s at stake legally in some of the key races, including a new article by State Court Report founding editor Douglas Keith previewing the major races to watch.

“Judicial elections are increasingly shattering spending records and giving the appearance of any other battleground election in terms of campaign rhetoric,” writes State Court Report’s Douglas Keith, who says 2024 will likely continue that trend. With 33 states holding elections for 82 seats on their highest courts, Keith previews the races “we will be watching most closely between now and November for their potential impact on state constitutional law,” including in Michigan, Montana, and Ohio. Read more

Arizonans will decide in November whether to amend their constitution to make it harder for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments to appear on the ballot, by requiring qualifying signatures to come from citizens in every legislative district. The effect, writes Michael Bobelian, would be to require the “buy-in of more rural, redder districts” on ballot initiatives. “Geographic distribution requirements are not new,” Bobelian explains, “but they have increasingly become another political battleground over the past quarter century.” Read more

In 2022, multiple rogue election officials used unfounded claims of voter fraud as a pretext to refuse to certify valid election results. The Brennan Center’s Lauren Miller explains how election certification works and states’ enforcement mechanisms ensure completion of the process. These safeguards worked in 2022, and certification was finalized, but attacks on the process had never been so prevalent or coordinated. By “understanding the process, we can feel prepared to counter efforts to subvert our elections,” Miller writes. Read more

Legislatures in some states are looking to curb same-day voter registration and the use of student IDs as voter identification. The Brennan Center’s Erin Geiger Smith and New York University student Lena Pothier explore recent litigation over laws that suppress the youth vote. “That this new generation is engaged in civic life is a positive sign for our democracy,” they write. “But new restrictive voting laws — some of which are currently being reviewed by state supreme courts — may stifle that progress.” Read more

A group of midwives have filed a state constitutional challenge to a licensing law they say effectively criminalizes traditional practices of midwifery in Hawaii. Northeastern University law professor Martha F. Davis explains that midwives in Hawaii “have been uniquely positioned to provide traditional care to Native Hawaiians, especially those living in remote parts of the state who may be uncomfortable with Western medicine or unable to travel to medical facilities.” As reproductive health care increasingly moves underground in parts of the United States, she writes, access to midwifery care is more important than ever. Read more

To make it easier to find key state constitutional decisions and supporting material, State Court Report created the State Case Database, where we track, analyze, and compile hundreds of decisions issued since January 2021 from across the country. We organized them in a user-friendly interface searchable by issue, year, and state. State Court Report’s Nancy Watzman and Douglas Keith explain how to navigate the database and all the information it offers. Read more

Barris v. Stroud Township, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Upheld a town ordinance that restricts the location of gun ranges and limits firing guns to those ranges. The court also urged the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify its decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, noting the variety and inconsistencies in court opinions attempting to follow Bruen and calling it “unsettling.” // Slate

People v. Hardin, California Supreme Court
Rejected a federal equal protection claim by a man convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances, who was not eligible for parole under California law. The man had argued that there was no rational basis to exclude him from parole eligibility when most people convicted of a crime committed between the ages of 18 and 25 are eligible for a parole hearing under California law. // CalMatters

Fosella v. Adams, Appellate Division, Supreme Court of New York (lower court)
Struck down a New York City law that would have allowed noncitizens to vote in municipal elections, holding that the New York Constitution limits voting to citizens. The law would have allowed about 800,000 additional New York City residents to vote. // New York Times

Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, Wisconsin Supreme Court
Refused to reopen litigation brought by voters over state congressional redistricting maps. The current maps will stay in place for the 2024 election. The decision follows a December court order to redraw state legislative maps, which said that the ones drawn by the Republican-controlled legislature were unconstitutional. // Associated Press

You can find briefs and opinions from notable state constitutional lawsuits in our State Case Database.