Tuesday, April 15

If MAGA Republicans have their way, North Carolina is just the beginning of their authoritarian push to end free and fair elections. Want to help us hold them accountable? Upgrade to a premium membership today to help support pro-democracy journalism.

Allison Riggs vows to “fight as long as it takes” to stop GOP steal of North Carolina election

• In a rally in Raleigh Monday, North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs told supporters she plans to “fight as long as it takes” to ensure that every vote cast in the November election is counted.
  
  
• Riggs, along with state Democratic party and several pro-voting groups, appealed a court order allowing the state to disenfranchise around 5,000 military and overseas voters unless they cure their ballots. A federal judge Tuesday denied the requests for a stay in the curing process.

Pro-voting group sues Alabama county for racially discriminatory commission map

• The Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP and two voters challenging the voting map for the Madison County Commission. The lawsuit alleges that the current voting system violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
  
  
• According to the lawsuit, the current district structure of the Madison County Commission consists of one at-large seat and six single-member districts. White residents control six of the seven seats on the commission, even though they only account for 64% of the county’s voting population.

Trump’s DOJ continues Biden-era lawsuit against Wisconsin town that banned voting machines

• The U.S. Department of Justice, under former President Joe Biden, sued two Wisconsin towns in September 2024 for banning electronic voting machines, in violation of the Help America Vote Act.
  
  
• The Biden-DOJ settled with one town, Lawrence, and a district court granted the DOJ’s request for a preliminary injunction against Thornapple. Thornapple officials appealed the decision to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where oral argument was held Monday, with Trump-DOJ attorneys arguing in favor of electronic voting machines — something Trump previously railed against.
  
  
• The Trump administration has been directing the DOJ to drop many of the Biden-era pro-voting cases it's involved in.

The SAVE Act is “dead on arrival” in the U.S. Senate

• After the U.S. House passed the SAVE Act — an anti-voting bill that could disenfranchise millions of voters — last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the bill is “dead on arrival” in the Senate.
  
  
• The SAVE Act faces a major uphill battle in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster.