September 1, 2025

Labor Day marks the end of the summer. As the distractions of vacations and fun fade, what’s most important comes into focus. That's starting to happen in the courts too. This fall, courts will begin to weigh some major questions concerning the future of our country and democracy. The month of September is just the beginning.

Here’s what’s coming up.

— Ashley Cleaves, Legal Content Editor 

The Most Litigated Election Rule Ever?

• Pennsylvania’s handwritten date requirement may be the most litigated voting law in the country, so it’s fitting that this month the law will be back before the state’s Supreme Court,  which will hear claims that it violates Pennsylvania's constitution. 
  
  
• This won’t be the last time you hear about undated ballots. A federal appeals court already ruled the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments, but a GOP appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is likely. 

From the Classroom to the Courtroom

• As students head back to class, their voting rights will be litigated in a federal appeals court. Idaho passed two laws that eliminated the use of student ID for in-person voting and imposed strict photo ID requirements. Plaintiffs argue this was a targeted attack on student voting by GOP legislators seeking to suppress their votes. 
  
  
• A federal district court ultimately agreed with the state legislature, but pro-voting groups are taking the fight to the 9th Circuit, hoping to revive their challenge to the state’s burdensome laws.

Trump’s Anti-Democratic Agenda Remains on the Docket

• While we wait for Trump’s next unconstitutional executive order on voting, his administration is busy trying to defend the first one. A federal court will hear a lawsuit brought by 19 Democratic states challenging key provisions of the order that impose proof of citizenship requirements and target states with extended mail ballot receipt deadlines. The Trump administration is seeking to dismiss the case.
  
  
• The 4th Circuit will also hear the government’s appeal concerning DOGE’s access to sensitive personal data at the Social Security Administration. 

The Power is in the People 

• Advocacy groups in two red states are fighting attacks on their ability to bring key issues to the voters. They’ve got a good reason. Both Florida and Arkansas voters have used the ballot initiative process to block unpopular policies passed by lawmakers and approve popular policies opposed by the states’ Republican leadership.
  
  
• This month, federal courts in both states will hear arguments seeking to block efforts to curtail the power of the people.

A Short Wait for SCOTUS’ Long Conference

• Before each Supreme Court term, the justices meet to consider additional cases for review that came in over the summer. That meeting is called the “long conference” and it will happen at the end of this month. 
  
  
• You should keep an eye out for two election-related cases: Mississippi’s appeal of a decision striking down the state’s extended ballot receipt deadline and a request from Republican legislators concerning their ability to bring challenges to election laws as individual lawmakers.