Welcome to the Tuesday, Sept. 8, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. Your source for 2020 voting information is here
2. Previewing the Republican primary for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District
3. August federal judicial vacancy count: 8% of positions are vacant

Your source for 2020 voting information is here

I hope you had a relaxing Labor Day weekend. Now that we’re on the other side of it, the November election seems closer than ever. In fact, we are 56 days away from Nov. 3.

Looking ahead to Election Day, today I want to share with you a new series of articles we published outlining voting requirements and deadlines for the election.

These pages include comprehensive information on the following topics:

• Voter ID requirements

• Absentee/mail-in voting eligibility requirements and deadlines

• Early voting dates

• Voter registration requirements and deadlines

• State laws governing time off from work for voting

• Election results certification dates

• Official state election websites

This information is provided for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the five permanently inhabited U.S. territories. My favorite part of the data is the user-friendly, interactive tables that can be searched and sorted by several criteria.

Stay tuned for state-specific articles as well, coming out in the weeks ahead. 

As states and localities begin their election preparations in earnest, there is ongoing debate and litigation surrounding several of these topics. It’s possible that the voting provisions we’ve outlined might change further as Nov. 3 approaches. Each day it seems like one of the states changes some part of their voting rules. Ballotpedia will be tracking these developments and updating our articles to reflect any changes.

Learn more

       

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Previewing the Republican primary for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District

Before we get to the general election, there are still three statewide primaries left. New Hampshire and Rhode Island are holding theirs today, and Delaware will finish the season off one week from today on Sept. 15.

New Hampshire has a particularly interesting state legislature, including a state House with 400 members. That makes it one of the largest governing bodies in the world. Eight hundred forty-nine candidates filed to run for the state House alone this year, while 848 filed in 2018.

Last week, I told you all about our newest state legislative competitiveness report. This year, New Hampshire ranks third in terms of competitiveness. Rhode Island ranks 41st. 

One battleground race we’re watching is the Republican primary for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District. 

Five candidates are running for a chance to face incumbent Rep. Chris Pappas (D), who was first elected in 2018. Matt Mayberry and Matt Mowers are leading the field in fundraising and news coverage heading into the election.

Mayberry is a veteran of the Air Force and a businessman who works at Carlisle Capital. His previous political experience includes serving as a Dover City Councillor, a school board member, and the chairperson for the New Hampshire Commission on Human Rights.

Mowers has worked as the Executive Director of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, an official in the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, and a Senior White House Advisor in the State Department.

Michael Callis, Jeff Denaro, and Kevin Rondeau are also running in the primary.

As of June 30, Mowers raised $571,870 to Mayberry’s $151,651. President Trump and House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have endorsed Mowers. Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) and former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee (R) have backed Mayberry. Two independent outlets rate the race as Likely Democratic.

Watch as the results roll in tonight here.

August federal judicial vacancy count: 8% of positions are vacant

Ballotpedia’s monthly federal judicial vacancy count reported that 72 of 870 judicial positions (8.3%) are vacant. Since April 2011, the largest number of Article III judicial vacancies occurred in July 2018, when 145 such positions were vacant. The chart below shows Article III vacancies from April 2011 to the present.

Highlights

• Vacancies: No new judicial vacancies since the July 2020 report. Seventy-two out of 870 active Article III judicial positions on courts covered in this report are vacant. Including the United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States territorial courts, 78 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant.

• Nominations: Five new nominations since the July 2020 report.

• Confirmations: One new confirmation since the July 2020 report.

Vacancies

Seventy-two out of 870 judicial positions (8.3%) are vacant. Here’s a breakdown:

• None of the 179 U.S. Appeals Court positions are vacant.

• 70 (10.3%) of the 677 U.S. District Court positions are vacant.

• Two (22.2%) of the nine U.S. Court of International Trade positions are vacant.

The lack of any vacancies on the U.S. Appeals Court is the first time this has happened since at least June of 1984. 

A vacancy occurs when a judge resigns, retires, takes senior status, or passes away. Article III judges, who serve on courts authorized by Article III of the U.S. Constitution, are appointed for life terms.

No judges left active status, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies, since the previous vacancy count. As Article III judicial positions, vacancies must be filled by a nomination from the president. Nominations are subject to confirmation on the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.

New nominations

President Trump has announced five new nominations since the July 2020 report.

New confirmations

The U.S. Senate has confirmed one of President Trump’s nominees to an Article III seat since the last report.

Since taking office, President Trump has nominated 272 individuals to federal judgeships. Two-hundred and three of those nominees have been confirmed—146 district court judges, 53 appeals court judges, two Court of International Trade judges, and two Supreme Court justices.

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