On The Docket 11/19/2021

IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL

Will the Senate Finally Confront the Filibuster?

In a letter to Senate colleagues on Nov. 14, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowed to keep working towards passage of voting rights legislation. He wrote, “to that end, a number of our colleagues – with my full support - have been discussing ideas for how to restore the Senate to protect our democracy.” Schumer stated Democrats would work to find “an alternative path forward to defend the most fundamental liberty we have as citizens” — an alternative path where, in the near future, we may finally see significant changes to the filibuster. [link removed]

Read our latest Explainer, “What Is the Filibuster and How Can the Senate Reform It?,” to learn about how the filibuster actually works, its history of thwarting progressive policies and, given the intransigence of today’s Republican party, what steps Senate Democrats would need to take to bypass it and enact voting rights legislation. [link removed]

On Monday, President Joe Biden signed the long-awaited infrastructure bill into law, providing billions for the nation’s aging infrastructure. Last night, House Democrats were delayed in trying to pass the second part of President Biden’s domestic agenda after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R) spoke for over eight hours on the floor, a move Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D) called a “temper tantrum” containing “unhinged” claims. The House plans to reconvene for a final vote on the Build Back Better Act this morning at 8 am. [link removed]

IN THE STATES

Don’t Forget About Petitions and Ballot Initiatives

Michigan — A study by Progress Michigan found that Michigan Republicans’ scheme to circumvent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) veto could eliminate one of every five polling locations in the state. Republicans are currently gathering signatures for the “Secure MI Vote” petition, a collection of voter restrictions such as a strict voter ID law and a ban on sending out absentee ballot applications. If the petition gathers enough signatures, the Republican-controlled Michigan Legislature would be able to enact voter restrictions without Gov. Whitmer’s approval. Included in the petition is a ban on in-kind contributions to local election clerks, which would prohibit election clerks from using donated locations, like churches, as polling places. The Progress Michigan study found that if the ban goes into effect, 20% of polling locations could be eliminated. Voters in Genesee, Kalamazoo, Kent and Ottawa counties — home to 1.5 million Michiganders — could lose nearly half of their polling places. “I hope people are able to see the danger and impact of this proposal,” said Mary Clark, president of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks. “This would absolutely negatively impact legally registered voters in my jurisdiction and every jurisdiction in this state.” [link removed]
As we enter the 2022 election cycle, Democracy Docket will be tracking election-related ballot initiatives across the country. We are keeping a close eye on voter ID campaigns in Arizona and Nebraska, among others. In the meantime, review our Explainer, “The Petition Process and Ballot Initiatives Explained,” where we cover the basics of ballot initiatives, explaining how and why a state law or constitutional amendment may appear on your very own ballot. [link removed]

REDISTRICTING ROUNDUP

As More States Wrap Up Redistricting, Washington Misses Important Deadline

Washington — On Monday, the Washington State Redistricting Commission narrowly missed their midnight deadline to approve new congressional and legislative maps. Washington’s Redistricting Commission is composed of four voting members — two Democrats and two Republicans, as well as a nonvoting chairperson. Notably, the Commission’s final hours of discussions took place behind closed doors in stark contrast to the preceding months of public meetings and in potential violation of the state’s Open Public Meetings Act. On Tuesday, the Commission canceled a scheduled press conference and released a statement saying that they failed to meet the deadline despite substantial work from the previous evening “marked by mutual respect and dedication to the important task.” The responsibility to draw new legislative and congressional districts now falls to the Washington Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the Washington Commission published its final maps and sent them to the state Supreme Court in the hopes that the court may consider them. “While we acknowledge we missed the deadline for our maps to be considered by the [Legislature], we see no reason why the Court can’t do so,” said Commission Chair Sarah Augustine. “These maps reflect the input of thousands of people who took part in the process with us. It would be a shame to see these maps go unconsidered simply because the clock struck 12.” [link removed]

Nevada — On Tuesday, the Democratic-controlled Nevada Legislature approved new legislative and congressional maps after convening for a special session last Friday. Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) signed the new redistricting plans into law later that day. Currently, there are three Democrats and one Republican in Nevada’s congressional delegation; the approved map will likely maintain this split. Lawmakers shifted portions of Las Vegas’ solid blue district into two neighboring swing districts, drawing criticism from some groups for dividing Latinx voters. Democrats made several small changes to the proposed maps during the special session, notably attempting to count incarcerated people at their last home address as opposed to their prison location and ensuring tribal reservations were not split across districts. “These maps are fair and legal and accurately reflect the diversity of our state,” said Assembly member Brittney Miller (D) ahead of the vote. [link removed]

Ohio — On Thursday, the Republican-dominated Ohio Legislature approved a new congressional map despite protests from fair maps advocates that it is a partisan gerrymander. The map now heads to the desk of Gov. Mike DeWine (R), who is likely to sign it into law. In 2015 and 2018, Ohio voters approved amendments to reform the state’s redistricting processes, creating a commission composed of seven members — the governor, secretary of state, auditor and two members appointed by each party in the Legislature. In September, the Republican-controlled commission approved state legislative maps to be enacted for the next four years. Several lawsuits have already been filed against the legislative maps for being partisan gerrymanders. The commission failed to create a congressional plan however, shifting the responsibility to the General Assembly. The approved map’s breakdown gives Republicans at least 12 of the delegation’s 15 congressional seats. The National Democratic Redistricting Committee called out this unfair skew, one that “gives Republicans 80% of the seats despite them only earning 54% of the statewide vote in the last decade.” The map passed on party-line votes and will only be enacted for four years, which is likely enough time for Republicans to further cement their control come 2025. [link removed]

AND MORE:
Georgia finished up legislative redistricting this week and is set to approve a congressional map within the coming days. The state House and Senate maps are criticized for not being reflective of Georgia’s 2020 census data, which revealed a diversifying state and explosive growth in major cities and their suburbs. The proposed congressional map raised similar complaints. “Right now, our congressional delegation is split among 14 seats, eight Republicans and six Democrats,” Georgia State Rep. Beth Moore (D) explained to Democracy Docket. “This new map would clearly shift that to nine Republicans and five Democrats in a state that proved in 2020 that we are a 50-50 state.” [link removed]
Last Friday, Montana’s redistricting commission approved the state’s new congressional map — notably, the 2020 census allotted the state a second congressional seat for the first time in 30 years. On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Legislature approved a new congressional map that now awaits the signature of Gov. Charlie Baker (R). Despite protests over the division of two working-class cities in southeastern Massachusetts, there were no dramatic shifts to the state’s nine congressional districts. The same can’t be said about neighboring New Hampshire, where this week, the House Special Committee on Redistricting advanced a congressional map that makes the most significant changes to the state’s two congressional districts since the late 1800s. The full Legislature will consider and vote on the GOP-proposed map in January. [link removed]
Independent commissions are commonly offered as solutions to gerrymandering during the redistricting process. But there are other, more radical ways to address the root of the problem — one such reform would completely alter the way we elect our legislators. Read our latest, “Proportional Representation: Reimagining American Elections to Combat Gerrymandering,” to learn how proportional representation works and its key advantages over our current electoral system. [link removed]

IN THE COURTS

The Anatomy of a Voting Rights Lawsuit

Alabama — On Monday, two lawsuits were filed challenging Alabama’s newly-passed legislative and congressional maps. In the first case, Thomas v. Merrill, Alabama’s newly-drawn state House and Senate districts are challenged for violating the 14th Amendment. The complaint alleges that the map drawers used race as a predominant factor in drawing the districts “in a manner not narrowly tailored to comply with Section 2 of the VRA [Voting Rights Act] or any other compelling governmental interest.” The second case, Milligan v. Merrill, challenges Alabama’s new congressional map for similar reasons. Specifically, the complaint argues that Black voters were packed into the 7th Congressional District and cracked among three other districts in order to avoid drawing a second district where Black voters could elect their candidate of choice. The plaintiffs point out that, similar to the legislative redistricting process, the Alabama Legislature did not conduct any racial polarization analysis “to determine whether the packing of CD 7 was necessary to satisfy the VRA,” despite requests from the Black community and outside advocates. The lawsuit asks the court to declare the congressional map unconstitutional and order the creation of a new map that includes two majority-Black districts. [link removed]

North Carolina — On Wednesday, a lawsuit was filed in North Carolina state court challenging the state’s newly-passed legislative and congressional maps. The complaint, filed on behalf of the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters and a group of voters consisting of former elected officials, civil rights leaders and math and computer science professors, argues that the new state House, Senate and congressional maps dilute the voting strength of Black voters and entrench Republican power across the state. The lawsuit asks the court to block the use of the current maps for the 2022 election cycle, ordering the use of proposed remedial maps if needed, and delay the candidate filing deadline for the 2022 elections to ensure that fair maps are in place. On Thursday, another lawsuit was filed in state court challenging North Carolina’s newly-passed congressional map. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of plaintiffs from Harper v. Lewis, a crucial North Carolina redistricting case from 2019 that blocked the use of a gerrymandered congressional map for the 2020 elections. Earlier in November, these plaintiffs sought to file a supplemental complaint in Harper given that their case against the previous map remains open and they are raising nearly identical arguments against the 2021 map. However, since the court has not yet taken any action to move the case forward, the plaintiffs are filing this lawsuit on its own in order “to ensure that they have a venue in which to assert their rights under the North Carolina Constitution as to the 2021 Plan.” [link removed] [link removed]

AND MORE:
Redistricting responsibility in Virginia has fallen to the state Supreme Court, which will hire two outside experts — one nominated by Republicans and the other by Democrats — to prepare maps for the judges to consider. Last Friday, the court rejected all three experts nominated by Republicans, unanimously determining that the GOP nominees have partisan conflicts of interest that prevent them from “prudently exercising independent judgment.” [link removed]
On Tuesday, another lawsuit was filed in federal court challenging Texas’ newly-passed legislative and congressional maps. The complaint argues that the state’s new districts intentionally dilute the voting power of Texans of color, specifically Black, Latinx and Asian American and Pacific Islander voters. This is the sixth federal lawsuit and the seventh lawsuit overall to be filed against the maps drawn following the release of 2020 census data. [link removed]
Voting rights lawsuits focus on addressing barriers to or attacks on the ballot box, no matter how small they may seem. This week, we broke down three of the six main categories of voting rights litigation and provide some common topics litigated in each area. To understand how certain policies are handled in court, read “Breaking Down Voting Rights Litigation: Part One” and keep an eye out for the second part of this series coming soon. [link removed]


WHAT WE’RE DOING

Three things to do today to stay engaged in the fight!

We’re taking action: Ahead of next week’s holiday, we’re looking for organizations that need our support. Our advice for donating: identify local organizations that make a tangible impact in your community and give money directly. Also, keep your eyes out for a special Thanksgiving newsletter from Team Democracy Docket next week.

We’re reading: Huma Abedin, longtime advisor to Hillary Clinton, has her own story to tell in her newly published memoir “Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds.” [link removed]

We’re watching: “I want you to be part of this campaign,” said Beto O’Rourke in a video announcing his candidacy for Texas governor. [link removed] The former congressman and 2020 presidential candidate stands in stark contrast to current Gov. Greg Abbott (R), whose tenure has been defined by voter suppression laws and supporting Trump’s “Big Lie,” restricting access to crucial reproductive health services and most recently, enacting heavily gerrymandered maps. Also, you don’t want to miss MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace grilling former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) hypocritical exclusion of Fox News on a book about conspiracy and lies. [link removed]

ASK MARC

Each week, we pick a few reader questions about all things elections and share Marc’s answers. Got a question? Submit it here! [link removed]

Allison asks: I’m from Utah, and along with many others, we tried to convince Gov. Spencer Cox (R) that he needs to veto the recently-passed maps. His response was that the Utah Constitution would not permit that because it gives redistricting power to the Legislature. Is that valid?

Marc: Short answer — no, that’s not a valid reason. I don’t know much about Gov. Cox, but my read is that he fits into a pattern of Republican governors who say they are powerless and feign outrage at the gerrymandered maps, when in fact, they have full veto power. This reminds me of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) who basically said he was embarrassed by the Ohio legislative maps but did nothing to stop them. Since the "Big Lie" infiltrated their party, Republican governors try to soften their complicity with nice words, but that’s all they are. They're not actually standing up for democracy.

Teddy asks: You talk a lot about gerrymandering targeting the communities of color in urban areas. We know that there are communities of color that are concentrated across rural areas, especially in the South. What does gerrymandering there look like?

Marc: I don’t want to suggest that the only place where we see racial gerrymandering is in metro areas. We have seen Republicans engage in racial gerrymandering to prevent communities of color, whether located in cities or not, from exercising voting power. Sometimes it's partisan gerrymandering, sometimes it's racial, but it absolutely can be both.


WHAT BODE’S BARKING ABOUT

“From congressional offices to community meeting rooms, threats of violence are becoming commonplace among a significant segment of the Republican Party… In effect, they warn, the Republican Party is mainstreaming menace as a political tool.” New York Times [link removed]

“The number of Americans who have engaged with state legislatures and independent commissions working to redraw political boundary lines in the decennial redistricting process has hit vertiginous new heights… The increased engagement by the public does not always guarantee that legislators are listening, however.” The Hill [link removed]

“The machinations are unfolding right across the US at all levels of government, from the local precinct, through counties and states, to the national stage of Congress. The stage is being set for a spectacle that could, in 2024, make last year’s unprecedented assault on American democracy look like a dress rehearsal.” The Guardian [link removed]



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