Friday, Aug. 2

THE SCOREBOARD

5th Circuit delivers loss to Black and Latino voters in Texas case

• The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals weakened the Voting Rights Act for several southern states, ruling different minority groups cannot sue together to claim electoral districts are discriminatory. The court rules against voters challenging a map in Galveston County, Texas.

Pro-voting groups challenge Georgia voter suppression law

• Pro-voter groups filed a lawsuit challenging a new Georgia law that makes it easier to purge eligible voters from the rolls — especially unhoused voters — by further enabling mass voter challenges.

Ohio removes hundreds of alleged noncitizens from voter rolls

• Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) announced that the state’s county boards of election are removing 499 alleged noncitizens from the state's voter rolls after purging nearly 155,000 inactive voters last week.

Federal and state courts hand wins to Arizona voters

• Arizona laws that require strict documentary proof of citizenship for voting and make it easier to cancel voter registrations will remain blocked for the 2024 election, the 9th Circuit ruled. A lower court ruled the laws violate federal law.

  
  

• The Arizona Supreme Court declined a request from Stephen Miller's legal group to move its lawsuit challenging Maricopa’s election procedures to a more favorable court.

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Victory for voters with disabilities in Los Angeles County

• The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) entered a legal agreement with Los Angeles County to implement an accessible voting program compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act, resolving a lawsuit alleging that the county's polling places are inaccessible.

Federal voting rights legislation is crucial right now, advocates say

• The threat former President Donald Trump poses to democracy paired with the U.S. Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision reaffirms the urgent need to pass new federal voting rights legislation, Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) and Defend the Vote Founder Brian Melek argued in a new piece.

The latest in Trump campaign’s mail-in voting case in Nevada

• A Nevada state court held a hearing in a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee (RNC), Trump campaign and Nevada Republican Party challenging the state’s policy of counting ballots without a postmark received up to three days after Election Day.

  
  

• The RNC and Trump campaign lost a similar lawsuit in Nevada last month when a federal court rejected their challenge to the state's post-election ballot receipt deadline.

New Defending Democracy podcast episode out now

• In courtrooms across the country, decisions are being made that will impact how people can vote this fall. In a lightning round, Marc explains the pending court decisions you should be watching out for in August. Watch the new episode of Defending Democracy now on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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