Wyoming is defending its new law requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration. Now they have the U.S. Department of Justice on their side.

Friday, July 4

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THIS WEEK

- DOJ defends Wyoming’s proof of citizenship law

- Republicans want to disenfranchise overseas voters in Arizona

- Texas county hires leading anti-voting law firm to defend its gerrymandered map

- 3rd Circuit hears lawsuit over tossing out Pennsylvania mail-in ballots

WYOMING

DOJ sides with Wyoming in proof of citizenship voting lawsuit

Wyoming is defending ([link removed] ) its new law requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration – and now they have the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) backing ([link removed] ) them up.

Equality State Policy Center sued to block the law in May, arguing the measure imposes unconstitutional burdens on eligible voters, many of whom don’t have ready access to a U.S. passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers.

But the DOJ filed ([link removed] ) a statement Tuesday arguing Wyoming has broad authority to enact the law. It’s just the latest step in the Justice Department’s troubling ongoing shift towards attacking, instead of protecting, voting rights.

The agency submitted the statement to address “the legitimate interests of the State of Wyoming in preventing voter fraud and ensuring that citizens have confidence in the administration of elections,” according to the filing.

The DOJ also dismissed concerns that the law will prevent some voters from casting a ballot: “Almost every voting rule will impose some burden, but slight inconveniences, including the processes necessary to acquire photo identification to register or vote, do not delegitimize the State’s interest in preventing fraud or seriously hinder the ability to vote.”

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is backing Wyoming in the lawsuit, too, and has filed to intervene as a defendant alongside Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray (R), an election denier. Gray is not a fan of Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias, whose law firm is representing the plaintiffs in the case.

“We need all hands on deck to combat radical left-wing DNC attorney Marc Elias’ attacks on any and all conservative election integrity reforms,” Gray told Cowboy State Daily last week. Read more about the Wyoming lawsuit here. ([link removed] )

ARIZONA

RNC sues to block voting access for overseas U.S. citizens

Arizona Republicans have revealed the latest target of their voter suppression tactics: certain U.S. citizens living abroad who, under state law, are allowed to vote in Arizona elections.

Republicans filed ([link removed] ) a lawsuit ([link removed] ) Monday in hopes of striking down that law.

Arizona permits ([link removed] ) overseas citizens to vote if one of their parents is a registered Arizona voter, but the RNC is fighting to have them kicked off the rolls.

“Democrats want to cheat in our elections by allowing votes from people who have never established legal residency,” RNC chair Michael Whatley said ([link removed] ) in a press release.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen this. In North Carolina, Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin attempted to overturn the election he lost to Democrat Allison Riggs in part by arguing to throw out ballots from a similar group of overseas voters.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said his office will fight to defend these voters, “many of whom are the adult children of our military service members and American diplomats.” Read more about the Arizona lawsuit here. ([link removed] )

TEXAS

Texas County hires right-wing law firm to defend gerrymandered map

In one of Texas’ largest counties, officials have hired ([link removed] ) a D.C.-based right-wing law firm to defend its own gerrymandered map, which was produced by the firm and approved by Republicans last month. The mid-decade redistricting sparked hours of testimony from outraged members of the public, who argued the changes were unnecessary and would disenfranchise Black and Latino residents.

Tarrant County, home to Forth Worth, recently hired the Public Interest Legal Foundation ([link removed] ) (PILF) to redraw the boundaries of commissioner precincts. Republicans said their goal was to gain an additional seat on Commissioners Court, not discriminate against voters based on race. Minority voters quickly sued ([link removed] ) the county, arguing the gerrymander is racially discriminatory and violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.

PILF has made a name for itself filing lawsuits aimed at tightening voting rules and opposing efforts to protect minority voters from racial gerrymanders.

Democratic County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, who is up for re-election in 2026, could lose her seat under the new map. A far-right member of the State House announced ([link removed] ) his candidacy for the seat immediately after the map was adopted.

Hiring the same law firm to defend its map means Republicans are doubling down on hyper-partisanship. It could even be a prohibited conflict of interest, Simmons told her colleagues on Commissioners Court before they approved the contract in a 3-2 party-line vote.

Ultimately, Simmons said: “This is essentially hiring the arsonist to put out the fire.” Read more about the gerrymandering lawsuit here. ([link removed] )

PENNSYLVANIA

3rd Circuit hears lawsuit over tossing out undated mail ballots

In Pennsylvania, Republicans are continuing their attack on voting by mail, arguing that votes shouldn’t be counted if they have a missing or incorrect date on their outer return envelopes.

A district court in March ruled ([link removed] ) that the state’s date requirement for mail-in ballots violates the First and 14th Amendments – a decision that was quickly appealed.

At this week’s hearing, Republicans argued before the 3rd Circuit that the date requirement for mail-in ballots does not violate the constitutional right to vote because voters do not have the right to have their ballot counted if they did not fully comply with state law.

The RNC also argued in their brief ahead of the argument that the date requirement doesn’t implicate the Constitution at all because “the Constitution does not guarantee a right to vote by mail.” Read more about the Pennsylvania challenge here. ([link removed] )

OPINION

How the Supreme Court Gerrymandered the Law to Serve the GOP

Screenshot 2025-07-03 at 4.44.27 PM ([link removed] )

As members of the U.S. Supreme Court head out of town for their summer vacations, the rest of the country is left to make sense of several enormously consequential rulings the court released this month.

Leah Litman – a professor of law at the University of Michigan and author of the new book LAWLESS ([link removed] ) – offers a guide to some of those decisions in a new piece ([link removed] ) for Democracy Docket, arguing that the outcomes were “gerrymandered to favor Republican political projects.”

“Collectively, they make clear that the Republican appointees are fashioning the law based on the vibes of the Republican Party,” Litman writes. Read more here. ([link removed] )

NEW VIDEO

Behind the Scenes with JB Pritzker and Marc Elias

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker joined Marc to discuss the Republicans' budget bill, how he's working to protect democracy in Illinois, the future of the Democratic Party and more. Watch it on YouTube here. ([link removed] )

What We’re Doing

Democracy Docket reporter Jen Rice was delighted to receive the book Table for 9: Supreme Court Food Traditions & Recipes ([link removed] ) as a birthday gift last week. Published by the Supreme Court Historical Society, the book offers helpful recipes for anyone wanting to eat like a justice: oysters for breakfast like John Jay; Sandra Day O’Connor’s California green chile and cheese pie for lunch; and tomato sauce with tuna for dinner like Antonin Scalia. The book is also packed with SCOTUS food trivia, like Martin Ginsburg’s tradition of baking birthday cakes for members of the court, which was started by Earl Warren’s wife Nina.

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