12/17/2021

Filibuster Reform: The Fate of Voting Rights Hang in the Balance

With the end of the year quickly approaching, Senate Democrats are searching for the path forward for voting rights legislation. A group of senators are reportedly working together on rules reform discussions while on Tuesday, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) implored his colleagues to take action: "If Democrats alone must raise the debt ceiling, then Democrats alone must raise and repair the ceiling of our democracy. How do we in good conscience justify doing one and not the other?”

In contrast, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) doubled down on preserving the filibuster, saying upholding the 60-vote threshold is necessary “to protect the country from repeated radical reversals in federal policy” and that she’s unable to back a workaround for voting rights legislation at this time. But in fact, the U.S Senate has routinely abandoned the 60-vote threshold when necessary for legislative progress, including just last week for the debt ceiling. In “Voting Rights vs. The Filibuster: The Options,” we outline what those exceptions look like and explain the various ways the Senate can reform the filibuster.

As we await crucial action in the Senate, make sure to read Marc’s latest piece, “Democracy First,” where he calls for Democrats to focus on protecting free and fair elections with at least as much intensity as the Republicans who are plotting to undermine them.

Georgia Republicans Stoke Dangerous, False Claims Amid New Campaigns

Last Thursday, David Perdue, a one-term Republican senator from Georgia, filed a lawsuit in state court raising repeatedly-debunked claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election. The lawsuit alleges that there were multiple issues with the processing and counting of absentee ballots across Georgia, particularly in Fulton County, rehashing conspiracy theories. The timing of this lawsuit — filed 13 months after the 2020 presidential election — coincides with Perdue announcing his run for governor last week. He faces a primary against current Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R). Perdue stated last week that he would not have certified Georgia’s 2020 election results, unlike his opponent Kemp did.

Georgia was the focus of Republican ire during the 2020 election cycle due to its status as a swing state that voted for Biden and elected two Democratic senators (Perdue lost his reelection race to Sen. Jon Ossoff (D)). Many Republican lawsuits contesting the results centered on the validity of absentee ballots and courts repeatedly rejected claims that this new lawsuit raises (which is noteworthy considering that Perdue voted by mail in the 2020 election).

To add fuel to the fire, President Pro Tempore of the Georgia Senate, Butch Miller (R), introduced a bill on Monday to ban the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in Georgia. Once again, Miller’s rationale relies on debunked claims of fraud. Notably, Miller is also running for statewide office next year as a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.

Where Things Stand in all 50 States

With 2021 rapidly coming to a close, we’re also nearing the halfway point in the decennial redistricting process. The vast majority of states have released new plans to redraw their congressional and legislative districts and many have approved plans that, barring future developments due to lawsuits, will be in place for 2022. Read “December Redistricting Roundup: Where Things Stand in All 50 States” for an update on the status of redistricting — and redistricting litigation — across the country.

AND MORE:

• New Mexico's Democratic-controlled state Legislature passed a new congressional map last weekend. The map now goes to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) for signing as the Legislature continues to work on new state House and Senate maps in its special session.
• The Connecticut Supreme Court approved a request for an extension from the Connecticut Reapportionment Commission, which now has until Dec. 21 to finalize a new map for the state’s five congressional districts. If it doesn’t manage to pass a plan in time, the state Supreme Court will take over.
• The Virginia Supreme Court is currently drafting new congressional and legislative district maps. You can find the proposed maps drawn by the court’s special masters here. Public hearings took place on Wednesday and will happen again today at 1:00 p.m. ET. If you’re a Virginia resident who wants a say in your new district lines, you can continue to submit written comments to [email protected] (which will be posted on the court’s website) until 1:00 p.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 20.
• Don’t forget — it’s been 3.5 weeks and Gov. Kemp still hasn’t signed Georgia’s new maps into law. We are watching closely, as litigation is expected.

Wisconsin Courts Weigh In on Restrictive Voting Laws

Wisconsin — Last Thursday, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin upheld a strict voter ID law that limits the type of student IDs that may be used to vote. Wisconsin voters must present one of 10 allowed forms of ID in order to cast a ballot. A university- or college-issued ID is acceptable, but only if it includes an issuance date, an expiration date not more than two years after the issuance date and a signature. In 2019, Wisconsin Common Cause and an individual plaintiff filed a lawsuit challenging the strict requirements for student IDs, arguing that they create a barrier to voting for college students without any justifiable state interest in violation of the First and 14th Amendments. The lawsuit also argues that these requirements violate federal law because the absence of the required details are “immaterial omissions” that are not relevant to whether an individual is eligible to vote. On Dec. 9, the district court held that Common Cause did not have standing to challenge the student ID law. On the merits, the court rejected Common Clause’s claim that the student ID requirements “are not uniformly imposed on all voters” and immaterial to a voter’s eligibility, holding that the required information “is material to a determination whether an individual may vote under Wisconsin law.”

Also in Wisconsin this week, a conservative group trying to ban drop boxes in the state had a hearing on Thursday on their motions for summary judgment and a preliminary injunction. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wisconsin Elections Commission issued guidance encouraging the use of drop boxes for the 2020 primary and general elections. The plaintiffs allege that this guidance is contrary to Wisconsin election laws and are asking the state court to issue a preliminary injunction (to prevent the use of drop boxes while litigation continues) and grant their motion for summary judgment (asking the judge to rule on their claims without a full trial). To better understand the legal terminology around voting rights cases, explore our Explainer, “Legal Jargon 101.”

Alaska — With just one member in the U.S. House, Alaska only had to redraw its state legislative districts this year, which the state’s independent commission approved on Nov. 11. So far, there have been five lawsuits filed against the Alaska Redistricting Board. The first lawsuit was filed by Matanuska-Susitna Borough and a voter alleging that the new House districts do not properly represent the borough’s population growth over the past decade and violate the Alaska and U.S. Constitutions by diluting the vote of borough residents. Four additional cases were filed last week by: a group of Anchorage residents objecting to the Eagle River Senate districts; the city of Valdez over its new district placement; the borough of Skagway arguing it should be placed in districts with downtown Juneau; and a regional Native corporation and two residents of southwest Alaska arguing that their new districts split up communities of interest and dilute the voting strength of Alaska Natives in violation of the Alaska and U.S. Constitutions and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Several of the complaints also allege that the board violated Alaska’s Open Meetings Act by failing to offer adequate opportunities for public comment and declining to take citizen concerns into account.

AND MORE:

• On Monday, Texas House Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D) filed a lawsuit against Texas’ new congressional map for allegedly diluting minority voting strength. This suit brings the total of federal lawsuits against Texas’ new legislative and congressional maps to eight after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a similar lawsuit last week. There is also a lawsuit ongoing in state court against state House districts.
• After North Carolina finished redistricting on Nov. 4, two lawsuits, North Carolina League of Conservation Voters v. Hall and Harper v. Hall, were quickly filed. The state Supreme Court directed the trial court to rule on the cases by Jan. 11; a trial is scheduled for Jan. 3-5 with closing arguments on Jan. 6. Common Cause has intervened in the consolidated cases after its lawsuit challenging the race-blind map-drawing process was dismissed by the North Carolina Supreme Court.
• Last week, the Ohio Supreme Court held oral arguments in three cases against the state’s legislative districts. You can find a recap of the oral arguments and summaries of the cases in our Case Watch, “Fighting Partisan Gerrymandering in Ohio.”

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

We’re staying informed: We’re seeing an attack on our democracy unlike ever before. That’s why we’re so grateful you are a subscriber. Our goal at Democracy Docket is to keep you informed, but we only want to send you the content you’re most excited about — click here to take our one-minute survey on the coverage you most want to see in the new year.

We’re watching: Secretary Hillary Clinton spoke with NBC News’ Willie Geist on Sunday TODAY this past weekend, discussing her recent endeavors, her insights into what a Trump candidacy in 2024 could mean and more. Watch the full interview here.

We're reading: During the 2016 presidential election, Crystal Mason cast a provisional ballot while on a supervised release from prison. Since Mason was ineligible to vote under Texas’ felony disenfranchisement laws, unbeknownst to her, her ballot would be rejected, but she was later convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. “Most of the people accused of ‘voter fraud’ have made mistakes with no provable malicious intent as they navigate voting systems that grow ever more byzantine and frustrating,” writes Vann R. Newkirk II in a must-read for The Atlantic.

We're watching: On Monday, the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol conducted a hearing on holding former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress. The hearing included Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) reading text messages from Fox News hosts pleading for Meadows to have Trump step up to stop the violence. Watch the full hearing here.

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

Ben asks: If Congress passes federal voting rights legislation, would it immediately strike down voter suppression laws or do states need to be taken to courts?

Marc: It’s written in civics textbooks that if Congress passes a law — under their constitutional authority with respect to federal elections — states then have to implement it. That's the federalist system and the supremacy clause. However, I assume that Republican states will continue their fight against voting rights, and it will take many forms: some Republicans will sue to try to block the federal law, some will simply refuse to implement it and some will try to skirt around it. If any state does not implement it, I can assure you that my legal team and I will be ready to bring litigation.

Ron asks: Should Democrats put more effort into helping voters overcome all these voter suppression obstacles in practical ways, which are in their control, or in lawsuits, which can go either way?

Marc: Organizations throughout the country have done incredible work registering and mobilizing voters, even in the face of obstacles. It’s important work, but you cannot out-organize voter suppression efforts. We cannot normalize these laws and signal to Republicans that it is okay to continue to change the rules of the game, target certain groups of voters and undermine our democracy.

“A group calling itself Secure Vote Utah is hoping to get enough signatures to put an initiative on the 2022 ballot to do away with Utah’s mail-in elections in favor of all paper ballots. The proposal also scraps early voting and most absentee balloting and makes it more difficult to register to vote.” The Salt Lake Tribune

“Protesters filled the meeting room of the Spalding County Board of Elections in October… But this was an entirely different five-member board than had overseen the last election. The Democratic majority of three Black women was gone. So was the Black elections supervisor. Now a faction of three white Republicans controlled the board – thanks to a bill passed by the Republican-led Georgia legislature earlier this year. The Spalding board’s new chairman has endorsed former president Donald Trump’s false stolen-election claims on social media.” Reuters

“The Potter County Republican Party plans to conduct its own election during the Texas primary on March 1, independent of the county election administration... Experts say the move will introduce a higher risk of fraud, confuse voters, and likely result in legal challenges.” Votebeat