John,

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

Pennsylvania Voting Law Struck Down
In 2019, Pennsylvania passed a new law, Act 77, aimed at expanding voting access. The law increased mail-in voting opportunities by allowing any voter to cast a mail-in ballot, extending the mail-in ballot voting period to 50 days, creating a permanent mail-in ballot list and extending the deadline to return ballots.

Last Friday, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that the no-excuse mail-in voting provision violates the Pennsylvania Constitution and therefore all of Act 77 is invalid. The court pointed out that while the state constitution explicitly authorizes mail-in voting in specific cases, it does not address mail-in voting for all voters. The ruling has already been appealed to the state Supreme Court. Read more here. [link removed]

Florida Voter Suppression Law Heads to Court
Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his Republican allies rammed an extreme voter suppression bill through the Florida Legislature. Four lawsuits challenging the law, Senate Bill 90, were immediately filed. A two-week trial in federal court began yesterday. Make sure to read our latest Case Watch to get all the details. [link removed]

The Fight for Fair Maps in Georgia Continues
Shortly after Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed Georgia’s new redistricting plans into law, five cases were filed. The defendant in the cases, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), sought to dismiss three of these lawsuits: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. v. Raffensperger, Pendergrass v. Raffensperger and Grant v. Raffensperger.

On Friday, a federal judge rejected Raffensperger’s motions to dismiss in each of these cases, allowing the cases to move forward. The three cases have pending motions for preliminary injunctions, which could block the maps’ use for the next election cycle. A hearing is scheduled to begin on Feb. 7. Read more about the cases here. [link removed]

Massachusetts House Passes Voting Reforms
The Massachusetts House passed a bill to permanently authorize no-excuse mail-in voting and early voting for federal and state elections. The state Senate previously passed a similar bill, although the Senate version includes same-day registration which the House bill excluded. The two houses will now have to negotiate a final bill — you can read more 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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