Thursday, July 11

Wins for democracy today in Wisconsin, Alabama and Utah

• A Wisconsin appeals court affirmed a major victory that is expected to prevent thousands of mail-in ballots from being unfairly rejected in the 2024 election due to witness certificates with an incomplete address.

  
  

• A federal court rejected Alabama Republicans' attempt to drastically weaken the Voting Rights Act. A lawsuit seeking a fair congressional map in the state, beyond the 2024 election, will continue.

  
  

• The Utah Supreme Court ruled the GOP-controlled legislature violated the state constitution when it repealed a voter-approved amendment banning partisan gerrymandering. A lawsuit challenging the state's congressional districts will move forward.

  
  

• In a new YouTube video, Marc and Democracy Docket’s Paige Moskowitz dive into all of these cases.

New pro-voting lawsuits in Montana and Nevada

• Organizers behind an abortion rights amendment in Montana sued Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen (R) for changing rules about what petition signatures get rejected. The lawsuit claims Jacobsen is violating the state constitution.

  
  

• Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar (D) asked the state Supreme Court to require Washoe County to certify the results of two recounts for last month’s primary election after local officials refused to do so.

Republicans continue to spread lies about noncitizen voting

• House Republicans passed the SAVE Act to require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. The GOP claims the bill is needed to prevent noncitizens from voting in federal races — something that is already illegal and exceedingly rare.

  
  

• Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) directed the Republican secretary of state and county clerks to remove alleged noncitizens from the state’s voter rolls based on the false claim that the Biden administration is "actively promoting registration of noncitizens.”

Losses for voters in Kansas, Louisiana and Alabama

• A federal judge upheld the at-large method for electing members to the city commission in Dodge City, Kansas. A lawsuit alleged that the voting system discriminates against the city's majority Latino population.

  
  

• Louisiana and Alabama entered an agreement to share voter list maintenance data with one another after the Republican-led states left ERIC, a nonprofit group that helps maintain accurate voter rolls, due to far-right election conspiracy theories.

Voting Rights Act faces GOP attacks

• The 8th Circuit ruled that voters cannot sue under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). If voters can’t use Section 2 to protect their rights, what will be left of the VRA?

  
  

• The Department of Justice defended Section 202 of the VRA after state Republicans alleged that the provision is unconstitutional in a case challenging Georgia’s absentee ballot application deadline.