Friday, October 18

Join us for a live panel discussion on Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. ET with Secretaries of State Adrian Fontes, Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Steve Hobbs and Jena Griswold, moderated by Marc Elias and Norman Eisen. This event is free to all thanks to our sponsor State Democracy Defenders Fund. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with elected officials who are at the forefront of safeguarding our democracy — sign up here.

RNC targets voting rights and elections in Southern states

• The Republican National Committee (RNC) asked the Georgia Supreme Court to reinstate seven last-minute rules passed by MAGA members of the State Election Board that could delay certification, require a hand count of ballots and more.

  
  

• The RNC stepped in to defend Florida's policy to reject voter registration applications due to minor typos. A lawsuit alleges the policy has caused Black Floridians' applications to be rejected at disproportionately higher rates.

  
  

• A federal judge tossed out part of the RNC’s legal bid to remove up to 225,000 North Carolinians from the state’s voter rolls.

  
  

Arkansas Supreme Court delivers win for West Memphis voters

• The Arkansas Supreme Court ordered West Memphis to open two early voting sites for the November election after county officials previously refused to open any early polling places in the majority-Black city.

  
  

• A lower court ruled on Sept. 30 that there must be one early voting site, but the state’s highest court took it a step further and mandated that there be two.

Since Jan. 1, 2023

Rep. Matt Gaetz introduces noncitizen voting bill

• Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) introduced a bill to allow states to purge noncitizens from their voter rolls at any time. This comes as the DOJ is suing states for conducting voter purges that are targeted at noncitizens but catching naturalized citizens.

  
  

How poll watching, a crucial part of elections, has become controversial

• Poll watching has been a longstanding, crucial routine part of elections. But right-wing groups are now training armies of poll watchers to detect election fraud that doesn’t exist — and, in the process, potentially intimidate voters. Read here to learn more.

  
  

New Defending Democracy podcast episode out now

• Comedian and former Sen. Al Franken (D) and Marc discussed taking part in one of the longest election recounts in history during this week’s episode of Defending Democracy.

  
  

• In the podcast’s first livestreamed recording, they caught up to discuss that experience, the right-wing media, the funniest politicians and why Franken loathes Sen. Ted Cruz (R). Watch it on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcasts.