Wednesday, Aug. 28

THE SCOREBOARD

Pennsylvania courts will expedite appeals in 2024 election cases

• The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued new guidelines on how the state's courts will expedite review of election-related lawsuits this fall. The rules take effect tomorrow as the state preps for what is expected to be a litigation-heavy election year.

  
  

• Many election cases are being appealed by pro-voting parties, and if courts rule in their favor, that could increase voting rights for Pennsylvanians in the upcoming election.

Michigan Supreme Court delivers victory for voters

• The Michigan Supreme Court ruled in favor of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) and reinstates rules Benson set in 2022 that regulate the behavior of partisan election challengers in polling places.

New York GOP appeals challenge to state’s new absentee voting law

• New York Republicans appealed the rejection of their lawsuit challenging a new law that streamlines the processing of absentee ballots to New York's highest court.

  
  

• The 2021 pro-voting law allows for the review of absentee ballots on a rolling basis and requires voters who request an absentee ballot but decide to vote in person to use a provisional ballot. It also prevents legal challenges to absentee ballots that have been cast.

Texas is the latest state to face a voter roll maintenance lawsuit

• United Sovereign Americans, a right-wing group, filed a new lawsuit claiming Texas is not maintaining its voter rolls. The group wants Texas to adopt new voting procedures and be blocked from certifying the November election until it can demonstrate the election was lawfully conducted.

  
  

• The case is nearly identical to four other lawsuits the group filed this year in Florida, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

U.S Postal Service decides not to move Reno, Nevada operations to California

• The United States Postal Service scrapped plans to move its Reno, Nevada mail processing operations to California. The decision follows a lawsuit from Washoe County that argued the plan would significantly delay election mail in northern Nevada.

What voting rights protections does the U.S. Constitution offer?

• People may be shocked to learn that nowhere in the original text of the U.S. Constitution does it say that citizens have a right to vote.

  
  

• In a new YouTube video, Democracy Docket’s Sophie Feldman breaks down the voting rights protections found in the U.S. Constitution, federal law and state constitutions and the Republican effort to curtail these safeguards.

Deep dive into Jack Smith’s new indictment against Trump

• Federal prosecutors led by special counsel Jack Smith filed a new superseding indictment returned by a jury Tuesday against former President Donald Trump in connection with his efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election.

  
  

• In another YouTube video, Marc and Democracy Docket’s Paige Moskowitz break down the impacts of this indictment.