03/18/2022

John,

With the Senate failing to act on voting rights reform, Democrats are asking what’s next in the fight for voting rights. While some have turned to reform of the Electoral Count Act, a better move would be to improve access to voting in their own states. Too often we ignore the problems voters face in blue states.

New York has a ban against providing free food and water to voters in line — a ban that Georgia uses to justify its own. Black voters in Washington have their ballot rejected at four times the rate of white voters. Simply put, no state has a perfect system for voting and every state can and must do better.

In my latest article, I propose a strategy for blue states to affirmatively increase voting rights. Democratic legislatures should use their power to make it easier to vote. This will safeguard the voting rights of their citizens, raise the bar for what is considered normal and undercut voter fraud myths by showing that expanding voting opportunities works.

Read “Blue States Must Do More to Protect Democracy” on Democracy Docket now.

Let’s keep up the fight,
Marc

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Hearing Is Next Week

The process for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court is moving along. After meeting with many senators over the past few weeks, her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. ET on March 21 and last for four days. Judge Jackson will give her opening statement on Monday and begin answering senators’ questions on Tuesday. The hearing will be livestreamed here, and be sure to catch up on our rundown of Judge Jackson’s background.

In other SCOTUS news, we’re waiting for action on two emergency applications over Wisconsin’s redistricting. GOP state lawmakers have asked the Court to block the new state Senate and Assembly maps, while five GOP congressmen have asked it to block the new congressional map, all of which were adopted by the state Supreme Court. Given recent decisions in other redistricting cases that it was too close to upcoming elections to grant relief, we can expect the Court to deny the applications.

Introducing 2022’s Voter Suppression Bills

Republican voter suppression didn’t stop in 2021. We’re keeping our eye on new bills making their way through the legislative process across the country. A few to watch:

• Florida’s Senate Bill 524 is on its way to the governor’s desk. It creates an unnecessary and expensive new agency to investigate election crimes that could be weaponized to target election officials and intimidate voters. The bill also increases the frequency of voter purges and bans ranked choice voting. Finally, it changes the name of drop boxes in the state — a move that will cost taxpayers thousands of dollars.


• Georgia’s House Bill 1464, similar to the Florida bill, gives the Georgia Bureau of Investigation the power to investigate election crimes. The bill also limits outside funding for elections offices, lets anyone review paper ballots and requires fewer voting machines on Election Day.


• New Hampshire’s Senate Bill 418 would disqualify the votes of same-day registrants that don’t prove their residency within 10 days of an election. The bill is similar to a previous law struck down by the New Hampshire Supreme Court in 2021.

We’ll let you know if and when any of these bills become law — and any legal challenges that might arise.

The Last Four States to the Party

Despite having a Republican trifecta, redistricting in the Sunshine State has been mired by disputes between the governor and lawmakers. The reason? A northern Florida district designed to give Black voters representation — a district DeSantis contends is unconstitutional and the Legislature insists is protected. For more, read our “Redistricting Rundown: Florida.”

Including Florida, four states have yet to enact new congressional maps. Here are some quick updates about the other three:

• In Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) vetoed the congressional map passed by the Legislature. During Louisiana’s regular legislative session, the Legislature may try to override his veto, but it’s not clear Republicans have the required two-thirds majority to do so.


• In Missouri, the Legislature will reconvene on March 21 and try to reach an agreement on a congressional map before the candidate filing deadline at the end of the month.


• In New Hampshire, the state Senate has passed the state House’s congressional map, but Gov. Chris Sununu (R) has already vowed to veto it once it reaches his desk.

Bayou and Buckeye State Blues

Two new lawsuits challenge districts in Louisiana. Voters and civil rights organizations in Louisiana have filed a lawsuit against the state’s new legislative districts. Last week, Gov. Edwards let new maps for the state Senate and House become law without his signature because they fail to “do anything to increase the number of districts where minority voters can elect candidates of their choosing.” The complaint echoes the governor’s criticism and argues the Republican-controlled Legislature failed to add enough majority-Black legislative districts in the new maps.

Additionally, another lawsuit has been filed over the state’s congressional map now that Edwards has vetoed the Legislature-passed plan. The case is similar to one filed last week and asks a state court to step in to ensure Lousianans have a fair map based on 2020 census data in time for 2022 elections.

Ohio redistricting continues to be a mess. Wednesday night, the Supreme Court of Ohio struck down the third set of legislative maps passed by the Ohio Redistricting Commission for violating the Ohio Constitution by favoring Republicans. The Commission has until March 28 to pass new maps. Meanwhile, the state Supreme Court is also reviewing Ohio’s second congressional map.

Next door in Pennsylvania, federal judges dismissed several claims in a Republican redistricting suit. The lawsuit, filed in February, sought to challenge the congressional map adopted by the state Supreme Court. The plaintiffs made two objections based on the U.S. Constitution’s Elections Clause and a third based on the requirement that districts have equal populations. The judges dismissed the claims based on the Elections Clause, while a motion to dismiss the equal population claim is pending.

AND MORE:

• Several redistricting cases saw action in the courtroom this week. We’ll let you know of any significant updates once we have them.
  
  
  • A trial in the case challenging New York’s congressional map started on Monday and ended Wednesday. Closing arguments are scheduled for March 31.
  
  
  • A trial in the case challenging Maryland’s congressional map began on Tuesday and ends today.
  
  
  • A court held a preliminary injunction hearing in a case against Michigan’s new congressional map.


• The Court of Appeals of Maryland has delayed the state’s primary elections from June 28 to July 19 as a result of a lawsuit challenging the state’s legislative districts. A hearing in the case is scheduled to begin March 23.


• A second impasse lawsuit has been filed in Missouri asking a state court to ensure new congressional districts are in place for upcoming elections.


• The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania upheld the state’s new legislative maps.

Arkansas Voter Suppression Laws in Court

If there’s one category in which states don’t want to rank last, it’s voter turnout. In that category, Arkansas sits at the very bottom of the list. Despite this, in the 2021 legislative session, Republican legislators decided to push forward multiple pieces of legislation that add new burdens to several different aspects of the voting process. Soon after, a lawsuit was filed against four of the new laws, arguing that they violate the Arkansas Constitution.

A trial on the laws began this Tuesday — find all the facts you need to know in our latest Case Watch, “Challenging Arkansas’ Four New Voter Suppression Laws.”

AND MORE:

• Democrats have filed to intervene in an Arizona lawsuit to protect the state’s mail-in voting system from a Republican attack.


• A group in Colorado called the United States Election Integrity Plan is going door-to-door asking voters how they voted in 2020 and questions about fraudulent ballots. Various civil rights organizations have sued to stop this practice, arguing it amounts to voter intimidation. The groups ask a federal court to immediately put an end to this “door-to-door campaign of voter harassment.”


• A court in Indiana has issued a preliminary injunction blocking a law that limits absentee voting for people with disabilities. The law required voters who are vision impaired who wished to vote absentee at home to make an appointment with a “traveling board” — election officials who would visit their home to assist with filling out a ballot. Now, voters will be able to complete their ballots with the assistance of anyone of their choosing in the upcoming May primary.


• Three Texas lawsuits filed in 2019 and 2020 — one fighting the state’s elimination of straight ticket voting, one challenging its limited mail-in voting system and one against the signature matching process for mail-in ballots — were sent back to the district court after the 5th U.S. Circuit of Appeals found the claims against the Texas secretary of state were barred by sovereign immunity.

New York Has Bad Voting Laws Too

Some voters waited as long as five hours. State law made it illegal to give them snacks or water. This was not in Georgia. Nor Florida. This was in New York City. Read more ➡️

What is the status of the Texas redistricting lawsuits?

There are a number of federal lawsuits filed by different organizations, including one brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. All of those cases are currently in discovery right now. They are unlikely to be resolved in time for 2022, but those lawsuits will continue for 2024 and beyond.

What states are you most concerned about right now?

I am concerned about the whole country — it is less about a specific state and more about growing authoritarianism, aided by voter suppression laws. However, there seems to be competition among Republicans for which state can pass the worst law. Unless we can prevent these voting restrictions from being rewarded within the Republican party, we're going to continue this never-ending struggle for free and fair elections.

Thanks to Casey and Shana for asking questions this week – feel free to ask your own here or join today’s Twitter Spaces at 2 p.m. to ask Marc directly.

This week we’re thinking about down ballot races. Daily Kos has a new podcast, “The Downballot,” that explores key elections that don’t always get much attention. One recent episode covers recent news in North Carolina and features a guest appearance by Run for Something’s Amanda Litman. Be sure to check out Run for Something’s latest slate of endorsements — maybe one of the 119 candidates is running in your area?

Also new this week is a report from the Washington Post investigating how Georgia is targeting elections offices. It’s a must read for anyone concerned about democracy.