John,

Here are some democracy updates from the last few days you may have missed.

Schumer Vows Action on Voting Rights in the New Year
In the wake of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announcing this weekend he could not support the Build Back Better (BBB) bill in its current form, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced his plans for Senate business in the new year. In a letter to colleagues, Sen. Schumer not only vowed to continue work on BBB but also stated the Senate will consider voting rights legislation as early as the first week back — including changes “to any rules which prevent us from debating and reaching final conclusion on important legislation.” Read Schumer’s Dear Colleague letter here. [link removed]

New Redistricting Lawsuits Filed in Pennsylvania
On Friday, a group of Pennsylvania voters filed a lawsuit over the state’s congressional districts. With the Pennsylvania General Assembly controlled by Republicans and Gov. Tom Wolf (D) holding veto power, the suit argues it’s unlikely a new map will be in place in time for the 2022 elections absent court intervention. As a result of this impasse, the petition asks the court to block the use of the current congressional map in future elections and adopt a new one that is fairly apportioned. Read more about the case here. [link removed]

A second Pennsylvania impasse case was filed last week. Like the first, it argues there “is no realistic prospect that the General Assembly will pass a final congressional plan and the Governor will sign that plan before preparations for the primary election must begin.” Read more about the case here. [link removed]

These two Pennsylvania cases are examples of impasse litigation, which occurs when courts step in to redraw districts when politicians can’t agree on new maps — especially common in states like Pennsylvania where control of redistricting is divided between Democrats and Republicans. For more about impasse litigation, check out our Explainer. [link removed]

Significant Action in Several Voting Rights Cases
Last summer, Vote.org filed a lawsuit against Texas’s “wet signature” law, which requires individuals who submit their voter registration forms electronically or by fax to also submit a hard copy with their signature. On Friday, a judge denied a motion to dismiss — the second time the court rejected an attempt to throw out the case. Read the full alert here. [link removed]

Similarly, a Florida judge allowed a case challenging Florida’s new voter suppression law, League of Women Voters of Florida v. Lee, to move forward. After the court denied motions to dismiss earlier this fall, both the defendants and plaintiffs filed motions for summary judgment. In ruling on the motions, the judge is allowing all of the plaintiffs’ claims to proceed to trial, save for their assertion that the law’s prohibition on providing food and water to voters in line is unconstitutional. The judge granted summary judgment on behalf of the defendants regarding that claim. Read more about the orders here and keep track of all Florida litigation against the new law on our Cases page. [link removed]

Finally, the U.S. Postal Service announced a settlement agreement in a lawsuit brought by the NAACP over its handling of election mail during the 2020 election. After a year of litigation, the Postal Service agreed to take steps to safeguard voting by mail in future elections. The agreement will ensure that the millions of Americans who vote by mail will have their ballot counted in future elections. Read more about the settlement here. [link removed]

Can’t get enough news? You can always find more details about these updates on our Alerts page. [link removed]

Thanks for staying in the fight,
Team Democracy Docket




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