6/28/2024

Tennessee election officials seek proof of citizenship from over 14,000 residents in what critics are calling an intimidation tactic. A Black Alabama mayor can finally lead his town nearly four years after he was elected mayor under a new settlement. And a notorious Donald Trump advisor credited with creating the administration’s most extreme immigration policies is challenging election procedures in two battleground states.

Tennessee scares voters with letters seeking proof of citizenship

Tennessee election officials sent letters this month to over 14,000 individuals asking them to either verify their U.S. citizenship or request removal from the voter rolls.

The move alarmed some Democratic state legislators, one of whom told Democracy Docket the letters are Republicans’ latest attempt to intimidate voters. “I've never seen such blatant voter intimidation,” Tennessee state Rep. Gloria Johnson said this week. The letter from the Republican secretary of state’s office was sent to individuals whose records appear to reflect that they aren’t U.S. citizens.

Tennessee law also outlines the process for notifying registered voters that they could be removed from voter rolls, and it doesn’t appear to authorize the secretary of state’s office to send letters directly to residents. Nashville Councilor Sandra Sepulveda, the city’s only Latino councilwoman, asked recipients of the letter to report it to the ACLU of Tennessee, which sent a letter Thursday to the secretary of state’s office threatening to sue over the apparent requirements.

Republican legislators across the country have pressed the issue of noncitizen voting this year, even though it’s illegal in federal elections. But the issue isn’t new, as more jurisdictions like Washington, D.C. have passed laws authorizing residents who aren’t U.S. citizens to vote in local elections. Earlier this month, Louisiana’s GOP governor signed legislation that will require people to include proof of citizenship with their voter registration applications.

Johnson, whose constituent received a letter despite becoming a U.S. citizen in 2022, expressed concern over how the notice could spook new citizens who don’t want to run afoul of state and federal law. “They've done everything right,” she said. “It's just beyond the pale.” Read more on the letter here.

Black mayor can finally lead Alabama town years after his election

A Black man who won an Alabama mayoral race but was blocked from taking office by his white predecessors can finally lead the town after settling a lawsuit with the previous mayor and his town council.

The settlement, which awaits approval from a federal judge, comes years after Patrick Braxton was elected to lead the small majority-Black town of Newbern. Upon his victory in 2020, outgoing mayor Haywood Stokes and his town council locked him out of the town hall and did not allow him to perform his mayoral duties, Braxton alleged in his 2022 complaint.

“[Patrick] Braxton is the lawful mayor of Newbern,” the settlement declares, “and he shall hold all the powers, privileges, duties, responsibilities, privileges, authority, benefits and all other rights enjoyed by prior mayors and entrusted to the mayor of Newbern under Alabama state law.”

Braxton and the town also agreed that all town council positions and town clerk positions are vacant, according to the settlement. “All individuals holding themselves out as town officials or otherwise acting on behalf of the Defendant Town of Newbern, excluding Plaintiff Braxton, will effectively resign.”

The agreement could spell the end of an ordeal that for Braxton began almost four years ago. “I knew I was gonna be able to serve again, you know,” he told Capital B last week. “It’s just how long it was gonna take for us to get some kind of resolution first for this.” Read more background on the case, and watch us break down the recent developments.

How Stephen Miller is using America First Legal to assail voting rights

America First Legal (AFL) is far from the only conservative organization seeking to undermine progressive causes and target the policies of President Biden’s administration. But it is the only such group led by Stephen Miller, top advisor to former President Donald Trump who’s credited with shaping the administration’s harshest immigration policies.

A new analysis from Matt Cohen, who covers far-right movements and groups and their many legal maneuverings for Democracy Docket, details what AFL has been doing since its inception in April of 2021, and how Miller and AFL are challenging election and voting policies in Arizona and Pennsylvania — two states that will be critically important this fall.  

Of the dozens of extremist lawsuits and legal actions AFL has filed so far, four have challenged election procedures: two drop box challenges in Pennsylvania, an Arizona lawsuit concerning election procedures, and a denied petition in a lawsuit to ensure Pennsylvania’s new congressional districts were in place for the 2022 midterm elections.

In Pennsylvania, for example, the 2022 lawsuits challenged the use of drop boxes in Chester and Lehigh Counties. “Though both lawsuits were eventually dismissed, they’re prime examples of AFL’s attempts to find opportunities to legally disrupt the elections process.”

Should AFL’s Arizona lawsuit prove successful, “many of [the state’s] most fundamental election procedures will be declared unlawful, enjoined, and significantly changed.” Read why here.

OPINION: Can Sheriffs Endorse Candidates While in Uniform? This One Thinks He Can

After a New York jury convicted former President Donald Trump of 34 felonies, a California sheriff took to social media to express his support in what appeared to be his official, taxpayer-funded vehicle. “I think it’s time we put a felon in the White House,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said. “Trump 2024, baby.”

“Wearing his Riverside County Sheriff’s Office uniform … Bianco went viral on Instagram while he waited for a train to pass,” Democracy Docket guest author Jessica Pishko writes. “When some political commentators raised concerns … Bianco doubled-down, saying in an interview that it was all meant to be tongue-in-cheek.” Read more here.

What We’re Doing

ICYMI, the 2024 election is a few months away, but we’re already concerned about what issues we could face in the aftermath. Marc Elias breaks down potential post-election problems from certification to contests and more. Watch on YouTube here.