05/03/2024

Louisiana’s congressional districts hang in the balance after a federal court struck down the state’s new map with two majority-Black districts. Republicans in Pennsylvania are trying to revive a fringe election law theory previously rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

And, in New York, a Republican challenge to the state’s new no-excuse mail-in voting law heads to an appellate court, while eight Republican-led counties seek to block another state law that moves certain elections from odd-numbered to even-numbered years.

Louisiana is Left Mapless — Can SCOTUS help?

A yearslong fight over Louisiana’s congressional district came to a head on Tuesday when a federal district court blocked the state’s new congressional map with two majority-Black districts, culminating in an eleventh-hour bid to the nation’s highest court.

Earlier this year, it seemed as though the Pelican State was close to resolving its legal issues over the congressional map after the state Legislature in January passed Senate Bill 8, which created a new map that included two majority-Black districts. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, signed the new map into law.

That map was enacted after voters and civil rights groups challenged a previous version of Louisiana’s congressional map in 2022, taking issue with the map’s lone minority opportunity district (out of six total districts) and arguing that a second district is needed to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

But not long after Landry’s approval, a group of 12 individuals who identify themselves as “non-African American” voters filed a lawsuit against the map, alleging it's an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments.

Now, the case could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. After the district court’s decision, a group of Black voters and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund appealed and asked the Court to review the lower court ruling.

In the meantime, Louisiana has no congressional map. Jared Evans, senior policy counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, told Democracy Docket that his team is asking the Court to allow Louisiana to proceed with the new map for this fall’s election. That request entailed asking the high Court to pause the district court decision blocking the map — even if the Court decides to address other aspects of the district court opinion at a later date.

The state needs a map by May 15, according to the state attorney general. “Time is of the essence,” Evans told Democracy Docket. “The number one [priority] is to get a map in place.”

Evans noted that a similar course of action was taken in an Alabama case — Allen v. Milligan. In that case, voters and nonprofit organizations sued Alabama over its congressional map in 2021. After a district court blocked the map and ordered the creation of a new one, the U.S. Supreme Court paused the order, meaning that the blocked map could remain in place for the 2022 elections. Ultimately, though, Alabama enacted a map in time for this year’s elections that complies with the Voting Rights Act.

Pennsylvania Republicans Push Fringe Election Law Theory — Again

Pennsylvania Republicans are asking the Supreme Court to once again consider the independent state legislature (ISL) theory that only legislatures can regulate federal elections — a radical theory that has thus far failed in the courts.

GOP state lawmakers filed a petition last week asking the Court to reopen a lawsuit that challenged voter-related executive actions by President Joe Biden and Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), based on the radical ISL theory. The legislators argue in their petition that the district court erred when it dismissed their case in March for lack of standing.

The lawsuit is challenging an executive order signed by Biden in 2021 to promote voting access, and a move by Shapiro to implement automatic voter registration (AVR) at departments of motor vehicles (DMVs) across Pennsylvania. Biden directed the federal government to pursue a number of efforts, outlined in his executive order, to expand voting rights.

The renewed case is Republicans’ latest attempt to advance a discredited theory that would essentially give state legislatures unchecked power to set election policy and congressional maps, meaning there could be no lawful intervention from other state powers — like the courts or executive orders — because the Elections Clause of the Constitution vests that authority solely into state legislatures, according to the theory.

Last year, the Supreme Court rejected the theory in the landmark Moore v. Harper case, which stemmed in part from a petition from North Carolina Republicans that challenged a court-mandated congressional map.

Also in Pennsylvania, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear a case challenging the state’s requirement that a mail-in ballot must have the correct date on its envelope in order to be counted. The order means the court won’t reconsider its earlier ruling that upheld the requirement, but it also sent one of the lawsuit’s claims back to the district court for further consideration.

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New York State Republicans Challenge New Election Laws

Republicans are challenging two election laws both aimed at increasing voting access in New York State. One piece of legislation — the Even Year Election Law — moves multiple county and town elections from odd-numbered- to even-numbered years. The other — the Early Mail Voter Act — allows any voter to vote by mail during the early voting period.

Before the passage of the Early Mail Voter Act, voters seeking to cast an absentee ballot could only do so if they were going to be absent from the county or New York City, or if they could not vote in person due to an illness or physical disability.

Now, voters can vote by mail during the early voting period — without needing an excuse.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of the New York Republican State Committee, Republican National Committee and other GOP entities seeks to block enforcement of the law, arguing that it violates the state constitution, which enumerates two classes of voters who can vote using absentee ballots.

In December, a state court denied the GOP plaintiff’s request for temporary relief, then later dismissed the lawsuit. The plaintiffs then appealed, and oral argument was held this week in the state appeals court.

Also in the Empire State, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed the even-year bill into law last December, touting the passage of the law as a step toward “expanding access to the ballot box and promoting a more inclusive democracy.”

Since then, eight Republican-led counties have sued to block the law in state court, arguing that the new law violates Article IX of the New York Constitution, which gives local governments the authority to determine when elections are held for local officials.

OPINION: This November’s State Legislative Elections Are Key To Protecting the Presidential Election

The aftermath of Election Day in 2020 saw some Republicans attempt to subvert the election results by sending fake electors to Congress in order to keep former President Donald Trump in power. Though those efforts failed, and led to indictments, guest author Lauren Popper Ellis from The States Project reminds readers that Trump is, again, on the ballot this year. Read more. ➡️

What We’re Doing

In her recent analysis, Democracy Docket’s Rachel Selzer unpacks an alarming strategy from national Republicans to disenfranchise voters through the courts in Mississippi.

• “The Legislature’s move to revoke its previously uncontroversial receipt deadline — which has been in place for almost four years — is transpiring against the backdrop of a legal offensive led by the Republican National Committee (RNC),” Seltzer writes. Read more.

• But the RNC isn’t the only right-wing group pushing more anti-voting lawsuits ahead of the 2024 election. Matt Cohen reports that a little-known conservative advocacy group called the Arizona Free Enterprise Club has filed at least three lawsuits challenging various aspects of the election process in Arizona, a critical swing state. Read more.

Also, ICYMI, Marc and Paige sat down to discuss Project 2025, a troubling plan involving over 100 conservative groups, led by the Heritage Foundation, that would overhaul the executive branch of the federal government to enact extreme policies and augment the president’s power. Watch on YouTube.

If you care about democracy, you must pay attention to the courts. Marc describes some of the lawsuits being decided now that will impact the elections in November — lightning edition. Watch it on YouTube.