Welcome to the September edition of The Lever. This month, we take a close look at Virginia and New Jersey, two states putting their new voting laws to the test with upcoming statewide elections.
You’ll also find a detailed policy breakdown that provides some national context for the provisions of the Freedom to Vote Act. Let’s get right to it.
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Virginia and New Jersey both have statewide elections on November 2, 2021 – outliers among the states – with state legislators, the governor, and other statewide offices all on the ballot. Early voting in Virginia is already underway.
In this month’s Hot Policy Take, we analyze how the consequential voting law changes in these two states will shape their upcoming elections.
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Today is National Voter Registration Day! Our friends at IntoAction created some easily shareable GIFs to spread the word about this important milestone in the election calendar.
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You can also check out the social toolkit from the folks at National Voter Registration Day.
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FROM THE EXPERTS
Among its provisions, the Freedom to Vote Act would create nationwide standards for early voting, mail voting, voting restoration, voter identification, and voter registration. But how exactly would it affect voting laws in the states?
Check out our recent post where we summarize how the bill’s provisions would affect existing state laws across the country, and how states approached these issues in the 2021 legislative session.
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WHAT WE'RE READING
The Atlantic recently took a deep dive into California’s recall election and its implications for future attempts to undermine elections.
“For races that conservatives are unlikely to win, like the California recall race, activists, pundits, candidates, and officials are preempting those losses with the idea that something is wrong with the election.” The result, Griswold said, “is it sows doubt in the entire election system to make it easier for extreme legislators to come in and suppress the vote.”
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THE MARKUP
The Markup is VRL’s weekly update for insiders on state election legislation. Here’s a snippet from yesterday's edition – a sample of what you can expect each week:
North Carolina legislature passes bill to grant itself broader election authority. North Carolina’s legislature passed S.B. 360 and sent it to the governor. The bill would require parties for any litigation challenging a statutory or constitutional provision to seek the approval of the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate prior to entering a consent judgment if the legislative leaders have intervened in the litigation or have been named as parties in their official capacities. This move takes power away from the Attorney General and the State Board of Elections, who previously could have settled these lawsuits without any additional approval. Fourteen states have enacted 21 bills this year that result in a shift in election authority.
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