On The Docket 04/29/2022

Happy Friday!

Welcome to our weekly newsletter! This week, we give you a deep dive into Florida’s latest election law and an update on two Nevada ballot initiatives. Also, a big decision came down for New York redistricting.

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Here’s What’s in Florida’s New Election Law

What’s happening in Florida is confusing — we’re going to walk you through it. Here’s what’s relevant: two pieces of legislation and an ongoing lawsuit. The first law, Florida’s famously bad 2021 voter suppression law, Senate Bill 90, has been challenged (and provisions have been struck down) in court. In the meantime, the Legislature passed a new election law, Senate Bill 524. [link removed]

S.B. 524, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday, most notably creates the Office of Election Crimes and Security, a special police force that will work alongside the Florida secretary of state to investigate allegations of fraud. Voting advocates are worried that the force will lead to voter intimidation and harassment. [link removed]

That’s not all. S.B. 524 bans ranked choice voting, prohibits the use of private donations for election administration funding, makes it a felony to return more than two mail-in ballots, increases the penalties third-party voter registration organizations (3PVROs) can face for making mistakes and more.

S.B. 524 also includes a provision that requires a written warning on voter registration forms stating that a 3PVRO may not return the form on time. We know what you're thinking: this isn't good. While it isn't great, it is a step back from what S.B. 90 required, which was a verbal warning. Curiously, the change follows a ruling that struck down the verbal requirements for violating the First, 14th and 15th Amendments and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The lawsuit against S.B. 90 is important for S.B. 524 in other ways. When the judge struck down S.B. 90, he placed Florida under preclearance requirements for the next 10 years, meaning certain legislative changes require court approval. Consequently, just hours after DeSantis signed S.B. 524, the state of Florida stated it will not enforce S.B. 524’s new restrictions on drop boxes and 3PVROs until further guidance from the courts. [link removed]

However, the state has appealed the decision striking down S.B. 90. The future of S.B. 90 hangs in limbo, so the future of S.B. 524 does as well.

New York’s Highest Court Strikes Down Redistricting Maps

On Wednesday, New York’s highest court released its decision on the state’s congressional and state Senate maps: the court ruled that the New York Legislature did not have constitutional authority to step into the redistricting process after the Independent Redistricting Commission failed to pass new maps and therefore the two maps are invalid. The court also found that the congressional map was drawn with “impermissible partisan purpose” to favor Democrats. Now, a trial court judge, with the assistance of the court-appointed special master, must “adopt constitutional maps with all due haste.” [link removed]

GOP Petitions at Risk of Not Qualifying for November Ballots



Some good news out of Nevada: judges severely hampered two GOP-backed ballot initiatives that aimed to create new voter ID requirements and roll back three provisions of the universal mail-in voting law passed in 2021. Because of impending deadlines for signature collection, the rulings likely ended the campaigns to get these two anti-voter measures on the ballot in November. Learn more about the proposed ballot initiatives and legal challenges here. [link removed]

Ballot measures to tighten voting laws are also circulating in Michigan. This week, it was reported that several Republican petitions missed an initial deadline. We’ll be watching closely to see if they get the required 500,000 signatures by the June 1 deadline. 👀 Let’s hope not. [link removed]

More News

In our Tuesday email we highlighted some other crucial redistricting updates — Kansas’ congressional map was stuck down for being a Republican gerrymander and diluting minority voting strength and DeSantis’ Florida map faces its first lawsuit. [link removed]
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President Joe Biden has been proactively fulfilling his pledge to create a more diverse judiciary. Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to consider five women of color nominees, several of whom come from civil and voting rights backgrounds. [link removed]

Mississippi has one of the harshest felony disenfranchisement laws in the country. Arizona isn’t much better. Far short of remedying the strictest elements of their policies, Republican lawmakers in both states tried to make small changes to ease the rights restoration process. Their efforts in Mississippi failed this week when Gov. Tate Reeves (R) vetoed the bill there, but we’re still awaiting action in Arizona from Gov. Doug Ducey (R). [link removed]
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The Little Known Rule That Makes It Harder to Register to Vote


We conduct nearly all transactions online, so why does voter registration remain stuck in the past? Democracy Docket talked to Vote.org about “wet signature” requirements. Read more ➡️ [link removed]

What We’re Doing

Last week, former President Barack Obama gave a speech about the threats democracy faces from disinformation — here’s the full speech and Obama’s accompanying reading list. [link removed]
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Still confused about what’s in Florida’s latest grab bag of bad laws? Democracy Docket has you covered with some of our latest content:
“The Republican Election Law That Could Bankrupt Our Elections” covers the growing numbers of states enacting bans on private money in elections. [link removed]

“The Vilification of Community Ballot Collection” details how ballot collection is crucial to certain communities. Yet, the Republican Party has largely dominated the narrative around this practice, confounding illegal tampering with legitimate assistance and enacting new restrictions. [link removed]

“How Third-Party Organizations Conduct Voter Registration” explains the role of groups that work to engage unregistered voters and the state laws governing their efforts. [link removed]

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