Wednesday, April 23

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Wins for North Carolina voters

• Yesterday evening a federal appeals court blocked North Carolina from beginning ballot curing as part of Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin’s effort to overturn the results of the state’s 2024 Supreme Court race. Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat, had asked that the cure process be put on hold.
  
  
• Judges Toby Heytens and Paul Niemeyer — who were appointed by former Presidents Joe Biden and George H. W. Bush, respectively — approved the halt, while Judge Marvin Quattlebaum, an appointee of President Donald Trump, dissented.
  
  
• Marc and Paige Moskowitz explain the order and what happens next here.
  
  
• Today a three-judge panel in a North Carolina court blocked a Republican scheme to gain power over the state’s election board — the agency charged with running elections and enforcing campaign finance laws. 

Good news in Wisconsin, too

• A federal judge dismissed a fringe lawsuit challenging the integrity of Wisconsin's online voter portal. Voters use the portal to register to vote and request absentee ballots.
  
  
• The plaintiffs argued that the portal was not secure and asked the court to ban the website until its cybersecurity systems could be updated. The judge dismissed the case, finding that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring their claims.

The state of democracy requires us to expand the map

• The time and resources spent to protect voting rights are not evenly split across states. From 2021 to 2024, Pennsylvania saw 88 voting-related lawsuits filed. Three states got none. We must ensure we're fighting for the right to vote everywhere, Marc writes in a new data deep dive. 

Musk, Trump allies use impeachment threats to intimidate federal judges

• Elon Musk and other Trump allies have called for federal judges who have ruled against the president to be impeached and removed from the bench. Here's what you need to know about the growing threats against the judiciary.