I sat down to write my latest email to you about Campaign Legal Center’s recent wins for democracy, but then heard the devastating news about the country’s great loss with the passing of Justice Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg broke barriers throughout our lifetime, and she repeatedly stood with voters and advocated for the voices of all Americans in our political process. Without her presence on the court, our democracy has lost an effective voice and defender. I was fortunate to spend a couple of days in her presence last summer at the Glimmerglass festival in Cooperstown, New York. She spoke about what had motivated her and what advice she had received along the way from family and friends that she found inspirational—advice that inspired me as well, to do more and work harder for our country in these perilous times.
As Justice Ginsburg would want us to, we continue the fight for voting rights. I want to share with you our latest victories for secure safe absentee voting, and how they fit in to existing democracy protection efforts leading up to the November general election.
First, we’ve been fighting for better mail ballot review policies, and we won a great victory for Pennsylvania voters last week. In response to a lawsuit brought by CLC, Pennsylvania will no longer reject someone’s ballot solely because of signature matching issues (in other words, because an election official—NOT a trained handwriting expert— thinks a voter’s signature doesn’t match their existing one on file).
Flawed signature match policies result in too many unsuspecting voters having their ballots tossed. We’ve been demanding fixes in several states, and we’ve had success. When voters decide to participate in an election, they deserve to have confidence that their vote will be counted.
With this win, Pennsylvania voters will be less likely to have their ballots tossed because, for example, they were rushing to sign their signature or because their signature changed over time, including for medical reasons, which is a common challenge experienced by our clients.
It’s important to communicate that Pennsylvania voters (like absentee voters in other states) STILL MUST sign their ballot; unsigned ballots will be tossed.
This policy change preserves election security. The state’s policy now is that, if a Pennsylvania ballot has a perceived signature match issue, it will still be accepted, but ONLY IF every other piece of identifying information on the ballot is correct, and there IS a signature. The only voters who can vote by absentee or mail ballots are eligible citizens who have confirmed their eligibility and identity with election officials.
We also reached a settlement last week for better ballot review policies inNew York. Our settlement with the state of New York specifies how voters will be contacted if their ballot is rejected due to technical issues and how they can fix the problem. All states should provide “notice and cure” opportunities for voters.
Additionally, we’re working to ensure that nobody is forced to vote in-person during a global pandemic if they feel unsafe doing so, and we’ve recently had success in Tennessee and Virginia. In those states, first-time voters who registered to vote online or by mail will now be able to vote absentee if they meet their state’s other eligibility requirements for doing so (they were previously required to vote in-person the first time, which is not acceptable during a public health emergency). The trustworthiness of the vote is not impacted by this good change—prospective Tennessee and Virginia voters must confirm their identity with election officials to register to vote in their state.
These victories will help ensure voters have access to safe and secure voting during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they’re also key to protecting the integrity of the election, which is among CLC’s top concerns for the upcoming weeks. Potential issues—including technical ones—must be clarified NOW so that they don’t become fodder for partisan disputes during the heat of the election. We want to make sure any needed policy changes or clarifications are made and publicized as soon as possible, so voters know what the rules are and have clear and accurate information. Let’s get it done NOW.
We have a duty as Americans to ensure that every voter can vote safely and that every vote is counted. Let’s make sure that happens in the weeks ahead, and let’s do it for RBG.
The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s rights to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process.
