Friday, Aug. 16

Republicans ask the nation’s highest court to uphold a strict proof-of-citizenship law that could imperil voting rights for certain Arizonians. A challenge to a voter suppression law in Montana reaches the 9th Circuit, and a judge rules that Virginia’s disenfranchising voting rights restoration policy is here to stay.

Arizona Republicans want SCOTUS to uphold proof-of-citizenship law

As the 2024 election approaches, Arizona Republicans are trying to prevent some voters from being able to register under the state’s blocked proof-of-citizenship law.

Last week, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Arizona Republicans filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to reinstate the law, which requires voters to provide proof of citizenship or residency in order to vote in presidential elections or vote early by mail for any office.

The case stems from an ongoing lawsuit from pro-voting groups against a slate of state voter suppression laws. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a ruling allowing some voters whose registration forms would have been rejected under the law to be registered.

Republicans are now asking the Court to reject state voter registration forms if the voter did not provide documentary proof of citizenship. Republicans are seeking a decision from the Court by Aug. 22.

Read background on the case and more about Republicans’ petition.

Also in Arizona, a Maricopa County judge ruled that the office of the county’s recorder doesn’t have to disclose the names of low level election workers to the public. This is a loss for the right-wing group We the People AZ Alliance, which sought the names of election workers that performed signature verification in the 2020 election.

Read more on the judge’s order.

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9th Circuit weighs challenge to Montana voter suppression law

The 9th Circuit will also hear a challenge from pro-voting groups to a Montana law criminalizing voters who are registered in multiple jurisdictions.

The law signed last year by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) states that “a person or elector may not purposefully remain registered to vote in more than one place in this state or another state any time.” A person found guilty of violating the law faces a fine of up to $5,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 18 months.

In September, the Montana Public Interest Research Group and the Montana Federation of Public Employees challenged the law in court, arguing its “reach far exceeds its stated purpose of prohibiting double voting” and that it violates the First and 14th Amendments by placing an undue burden on a person’s right to vote.

As it’s done in many anti-voting cases, the RNC filed a motion to intervene, which was granted in January. A federal district court preliminarily blocked the law, and the RNC and Montana officials appealed, putting the case before the 9th Circuit.

Read more on the lawsuit.

Judge rejects case against Virginia’s felony voting restoration policy

The fight to restore voting rights to people with criminal backgrounds suffered a setback in Virginia, after a judge rejected a lawsuit challenging the state’s voting rights restoration policy.

The federal lawsuit followed Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) decision to repeal the previous practice of automatically restoring voting rights to individuals with prior felony convictions upon sentence completion. Youngkin’s repeal reverted Virginia back to a 1902-era lifetime ban on voting for all individuals convicted of felonies enshrined in the state constitution.

A nonprofit and a disenfranchised individual sued Youngkin last year, alleging the policy violates the First Amendment by making voting rights restoration contingent on the governor’s discretion. They claimed the policy “constitutes an unconstitutional arbitrary licensing scheme regulating the exercise of the right to vote.” A federal judge disagreed and upheld the law.

While “no one would suggest that Governor Youngkin’s…system is transparent,” wrote Obama-appointed Judge John Gibney Jr., the law “is not a licensing scheme.”

The policy puts Virginia in the company of Mississippi, Tennessee and other states with varying lifetime voting bans on people with certain felony convictions and arbitrary, confusing processes through which people can get their rights restored.

Read more on Gibney’s ruling.

From Our Desk: Meet the Trump-linked think tank waging a legal war on elections

What We’re Doing

This week, the team at Democracy Docket is digging into the new book “Shameless: Republicans' Deliberate Dysfunction and the Battle to Preserve Democracy,” by progressive political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen. The book delves into the Republican Party’s decline and how to fight to preserve democracy. It also features insight from Marc Elias. Check it out here.

Also, ICYMI, Marc Elias and Paige Moskowitz discussed Republicans’ recent defeat in a Mississippi anti-voting lawsuit and the real motivations behind the party’s attack on mail-in voting. Watch on YouTube here.