01/28/2022
Biden To Get a SCOTUS Pick
The big news out of D.C. this week — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer plans to retire, giving President Joe Biden the opportunity to select a new justice. As the oldest SCOTUS member, Breyer’s retirement ensures a favorable replacement for liberals. Making good on his campaign promise, it looks like Biden will nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
Last Sunday marked 58 years since the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, outlawing poll taxes. Poll taxes have a nefarious legacy, created for the specific purpose of disenfranchising Black voters.
While we don’t see poll taxes in the same form today, new election laws that increase the cost of voting can impact poor voters in the same way as regressive poll taxes. Pay close attention to:
ICYMI, check out our latest data dive: “Political Scientists v. The Public on Our Democracy.”
The Republican War on Drop Boxes Continues
The Arizona legislative session just began, but Republican lawmakers have already introduced a slew of restrictive voting bills. The omnibus House Bill 2596 would eliminate early voting, no-excuse mail-in voting, emergency voting centers and require all ballots to be counted by hand.
Amidst these voting restrictions is a particularly alarming provision: a new section to Arizona’s elections code that would give the partisan state Legislature the ultimate authority to “accept or reject the election results.”
In the opposite chamber, state Senate Republicans have already introduced several election bills of their own, including a near-ban on drop boxes.
But, it’s not just Arizona. Republicans in several states have decided that ballot drop boxes are unsafe and susceptible to fraud, despite a proven track record otherwise. What started as a Trump-led attack in 2020 has turned into an all-out Republican war on drop boxes, a cornerstone of their coordinated strategy to stop people from voting. If ballot drop boxes are safe, convenient and popular, what happened? Read “The Republican War on Drop Boxes” to find out.
Congressional Maps and Divided Cities
New York — Map-drawing responsibility is officially back in the hands of the New York state Legislature. Earlier this month, the Legislature voted down the first series of redistricting maps sent to them by the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission. This week, the commission gave up before their Jan. 25 deadline to submit new maps. Democratic commissioners criticized their Republican counterparts for stalling. “We have negotiated with our Republican colleagues in good faith for two years to achieve a single consensus plan,” the statement reads. “At every step, they have refused to agree to a compromise.” Democrats hold super-majorities in both chambers of the Legislature, and any map is subject to veto by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D).
Tennessee — Lawmakers approved a congressional map that carves up Nashville, which now awaits the signature of Gov. Bill Lee (R). The new map divides the 5th District, represented by Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper, between the neighboring whiter and rural 6th and 7th Districts. The proposed map cuts the share of Black residents in the 5th District from 24% to 11% and has been criticized for “weakening the voting power of the region’s economic powerhouse and the city’s black community.” Facing an unwinnable district, Cooper announced on Tuesday that he will not seek re-election, concluding his 32 years in office.
Kansas — The Republican-controlled Legislature followed Tennessee's lead, approving a congressional map that breaks up the Kansas City metro area and threatens re-election prospects for the state’s lone Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids. One of the two counties currently represented by Davids was split along a major interstate highway and shifts the northern part into a neighboring rural district. This county is also Kansas’ only majority-minority county. In defending the map, Rep. Steve Huebert (R) stated that gerrymandering and partisan politics are all “just things that happen.” The House vote on Wednesday was five votes below the necessary threshold to override any potential veto by Gov. Laura Kelly (D), though four Republicans were absent for that vote.
South Carolina — Gov. Henry McMaster (R) signed into law a new congressional map on Wednesday evening, just hours after it passed the Legislature. The new map doesn’t make drastic changes to the current lines, but solidifies GOP control in six of the state’s seven congressional seats. Critics say the map “packs” Black voters into the 6th District, the state’s lone majority-minority district represented by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.). Legal challenges are anticipated.
AND MORE:
- The Missouri Senate Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission failed to adopt a new Senate map, so the Missouri Supreme Court will take over, appointing six appellate judges to draw the new plan. Meanwhile, the House commission successfully finalized a new map and Missouri legislators remain in charge of drawing congressional lines.
- Pennsylvania Republicans passed a congressional map that has been vetoed by Gov. Tom Wolf (D). While impasse litigation was already moving prior to the actions of the Legislature and governor, this deadlock officially tees up the courts to draw new districts. The courts have accepted map proposals drawn by the different parties and a hearing on the maps concludes today.
Alabama and Ohio Courts Stand Up for Voters
Alabama — In a huge win, a federal court in Alabama blocked the state’s newly enacted congressional map from being used in future elections and ordered the creation of a new map with a second majority-Black district. In its lengthy opinion, the court outlined how two sets of plaintiffs are “substantially likely to prevail on their claim under the Voting Rights Act, under the statutory framework, Supreme Court precedent, and Eleventh Circuit precedent” and therefore a preliminary injunction blocking the use of the enacted map is warranted. The state has already appealed the decision to both the 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ohio — Ohio’s state legislative maps are back before the Supreme Court of Ohio after they were struck down for violating the state constitution earlier this month. The Ohio Redistricting Commission approved new maps on a party-line vote last weekend. The plaintiffs in the three cases challenging the first iteration of maps have submitted briefs arguing the new maps continue to violate Article XI of the Ohio Constitution. In particular, the new maps still give an undue partisan advantage to Republicans. As one of the briefs notes, “this Commission’s task is clear: It must comply with Article XI in its entirety. It has now failed to do so twice.” The plaintiffs urge the court to order the Commission to draw new maps once again.
AND MORE:
- Florida’s Senate Bill 90 purports to “protect” future elections from fraud — despite the absence of past fraud — but how does it really affect voters? Four cases challenging the law are headed to trial next week to debate whether this law violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law. Read “Florida’s New Voter Suppression Law Goes to Court” for all the crucial details.
- In case you missed our email on Tuesday, there are three new redistricting lawsuits: Republicans are challenging the new congressional maps in Michigan and New Mexico, while Democrats sued Kentucky over its new state House and congressional maps.
- On Tuesday evening, several groups filed a motion to intervene in a federal case seeking to purge voters from Michigan’s voter rolls. The proposed intervenors seek to defend against the disenfranchisement that could result from this lawsuit, arguing that voters may be “improperly purged from Michigan’s voter rolls due to error-prone or highly questionable database matching efforts.”
We’re thinking local. Here are three things to do today to stay engaged in the fight in YOUR community!
We’re taking action: In the face of Senate inaction, this week’s Spotlight offers a path forward, urging folks to protect elections in their local communities. First, look up what offices are on the ballot in 2022. Next, Run for Something will help you file, establish a campaign and support you all the way through Election Day 2022.
We're volunteering: Tuesday was National Poll Worker Recruitment Day. Help power elections and democracy this year as a poll worker. Get ready and find out how you can get involved here.
We’re watching: “Everyone who is watching this has a town square,” Marc explained to CNN’s Jim Acosta. Watch the full clip here on how every single person can stand up for democracy.
You Should Run for Local Office. Here’s Why
By Amanda Litman, co-founder and executive director of Run for Something. Read more ➡️
Each week, we pick a few reader questions about all things elections and share Marc’s answers. Got a question? Submit it here!
Kristen asks: I work for the New North Carolina Project. Are you hopeful that the state Supreme Court will strike down the gerrymandered maps?
Marc: I'm cautiously optimistic because of North Carolina’s history — last cycle, a racial gerrymander was corrected, then the court stepped in to stop a partisan gerrymander. The results were widely applauded. I hope the state Supreme Court does not permit the state to regress back to a horrendous partisan gerrymander.
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Noah asks: As 2022 elections start, what are you most concerned about? Are there any particular states where new laws could seriously impact voting?
Marc: There are lots of people who are at risk of being disenfranchised by the new voter suppression laws in Georgia, Montana, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas and Florida, to name a few. The laws are more complicated and make voting harder and less convenient. I worry that this will affect participation in 2022 and beyond.
“‘Today we’re talking about the filibuster, but consider this: We wouldn’t even be in this situation if Washington, D.C., had two senators—the two senators we deserve,’ Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser explained in a Martin Luther King Day speech to voting rights activists.” The Nation
“‘Once we reckon with the demons of Jim Crow that come from the soil of Mississippi, the country can start to unravel the truth about herself,’ Bennett said. ‘We can get a clearer definition and a clearer path forward, so we can define where we go next.’” The Center for Public Integrity
“That perspective focuses on the risk that the two chambers of Congress would concurrently vote to reject a legitimate slate of electors. That focus is understandable, because that’s exactly what Trump’s allies in Congress tried to do in 2021… But it misses the greater risk in the foreseeable future: that a critical governor and a hyperpartisan House could steal a state’s electoral votes, without the Senate.” Election Law Blog
