Friday, September 20

With two months until the 2024 race, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s fight to remove his name from ballots continues in Michigan and Wisconsin, while North Carolina election officials rush to reprint ballots to meet federal deadlines. In Ohio, the state’s highest court mostly affirmed language in a gerrymandering ballot initiative that opponents say could deceive voters. Nationally, Republicans are risking a government shutdown in a futile attempt to push through a proof-of-citizenship bill that President Joe Biden would almost certainly veto.

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North Carolina election board rushes to reprint ballots without RFK Jr.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections is rushing to reprint millions of ballots without Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name by the week’s end, after a legal battle culminated in the state’s highest court ordering the board to remove the third-party candidate’s name.

Kennedy, who suspended his campaign on Aug. 23, took to the courts in North Carolina to get his name removed from the ballot, so he wouldn’t draw support away from former President Donald Trump, who he promptly endorsed after his withdrawal. But election officials fought the request, arguing Kennedy’s request could seriously disrupt preparations for early voting.

The federal deadline for sending absentee ballots to military and overseas voters is Saturday. Last week, the election board announced it found a solution: send absentee ballots to military and overseas voters by Saturday and then send out the rest of the ballots next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Kennedy is seeking to remove his name from ballots in other key battleground states. In Wisconsin, the state’s 2nd District Court of Appeals agreed to hear Kennedy’s case after a lower court rejection. In Michigan, a federal judge rejected Kennedy’s request to have his name removed from ballots, the Detroit News reported.

In that ruling, Clinton-appointed Judge Denise Page Hood wrote that Kennedy was "asking the court to interrupt the election process because he no longer wants to participate." Read more about the North Carolina case.

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Ohio ballot initiative moves forward with disputed language

Ohio’s highest court largely upheld ballot language for a redistricting amendment after organizers challenged the language in court for allegedly being misleading and deceptive.

The ballot initiative, spearheaded by the nonprofit Citizens Not Politicians, would take mapdrawing out of the hands of lawmakers and vest that power into a citizen redistricting commission. Ohioans will vote on the measure this November.

In August, the GOP-controlled Ballot Board voted to approve Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R)’s title and language for the amendment, instead of what the initiative’s organizers wrote. Citizens Not Politicians sued the board, arguing the language was misleading. The language also drew outrage from pro-voting advocates and Ohio Democrats, who view it as an attempt to trick Ohio voters.

The amendment aims to end partisan gerrymandering, but the adopted ballot language said it would “[e]stablish a new taxpayer funded commission of appointees required to gerrymander the boundaries of state legislative and congressional districts to favor the two largest political parties in the state of Ohio.”

Although it mostly upheld the language, the majority-conservative high court ruled the Ballot Board must make a few clarifications, including that voters can express their views to the new redistricting commission during public hearings. The board made two revisions on Wednesday. Read more about the high court’s decision, including the dissent.

GOP proof-of-citizenship push could cause a government shutdown

A concerted GOP-backed effort to pass a law implementing a proof of citizenship requirement for voter registration could lead to a government shutdown as Republicans try to pass the requirement in a spending bill, despite Democrats clearly signaling their opposition.

The U.S. House voted 202-220 Wednesday to reject a bill that would have funded the government for the next six months and included the proof-of-citizenship requirement.

The first half of the bill focuses on budgetary issues, but the second half contains the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require anyone registering to vote in federal elections to provide proof of citizenship with documents like a passport or a birth certificate.

It has long been illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. Regardless, Republicans have coalesced around the issue at the state and national level. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R), reportedly egged on by Trump, has been determined to push the bill through, saying in a statement Tuesday that “Congress has an immediate obligation to do two things: responsibly fund the federal government, and ensure the security of our elections.”

In order to avert a shutdown, a spending bill must be passed and signed by Biden before midnight on Sept. 30. Read more about the GOP-backed SAVE Act.

From Our Desk: Trump’s Agenda 47 — What It Means for Democracy

What We’re Doing

Over 200 election-denying public officials in a number of battleground states are running for reelection in state and local races, according to a new investigation by Democracy Docket Senior Writer Matt Cohen. Using data from Public Wise’s Election Threat Index, Cohen analyzed hundreds of races on the ballot this November. “All of these people currently hold public office and have publicly taken actions and positions that denied or attempted to overturn the results of an election, or undermined the results of an election.” Read more here.

NEW EPISODE: Rep. Dan Goldman on Project 2025, Fixing the Supreme Court and GOP Extremism

New York Congressman Dan Goldman (D) joins Marc Elias to discuss why he’s made voting rights a top issue, the major concerns he has about Project 2025, efforts to fix the U.S. Supreme Court and Republican voter suppression. Watch on YouTube here.