On The Docket 05/20/2022

Happy Friday!

Welcome to our weekly newsletter! This week, Missouri finished up redistricting, leaving New Hampshire as the last state to enact a new congressional map. Plus, some state courts issued disappointing decisions — we'll break them down for you.

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Redistricting Resolution in Missouri, Not Yet in New Hampshire

After months of back and forth between the two chambers, the Missouri Legislature reached an agreement on new congressional districts. On the second to last day of its legislative session, the Legislature finally passed a map that maintains the current six Republican, two Democrat split of its eight-member congressional delegation. [link removed]

That doesn’t mean everyone is happy. Republicans fully control the redistricting process in the state, but intense intraparty disagreement derailed the effort. A group of hardliners pushed for a 7-1 map that would have dismantled a Kansas City-based district. While the approved 6-2 map preserves the same partisan breakdown, it contains a series of compromises to the hardliners. Gov. Mike Parson (R) signed the map into law on Wednesday. [link removed]



There’s only one week left for New Hampshire. If the New Hampshire Legislature and governor fail to agree on a new congressional map by next Friday, the state Supreme Court will produce one. [link removed]

Making Sense of Court Rulings Out of Florida and Montana

In courtrooms across the country, judges make crucial decisions about voting rights and redistricting that have very tangible impacts on voting and representation. But, navigating the complex court system and understanding legal terminology poses its own unique challenge.

Here are two big news stories from this week that we can parse through together:

First, the Montana Supreme Court reinstated two previously-blocked voter suppression laws. In early April, a state trial court judge granted a preliminary injunction (temporary block) of four challenged laws, a decision that the state appealed. The state’s appeal to the Montana Supreme Court only asked the court to reinstate two of the four laws, one that ends Election Day registration and another that creates new voter ID restrictions. [link removed]

The Montana Supreme Court agreed with the state that, since these laws were in place for 2021 elections, it was best to pause (legal word: “stay”) the preliminary injunction, putting the two laws back into effect. Important note: this decision did not speak to the constitutionality of the challenged laws; there will be a full trial on the merits in upcoming months.

Second, a Florida court vacated the automatic stay of the state’s new congressional map. Woah. Let’s rewind: Last week, a trial court judge blocked the use of challenged districts (Black-performing districts in northern Florida that were targeted by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis) while litigation continues. The Florida secretary of state immediately appealed this decision, which would normally automatically pause (or “stay”) the trial court’s order blocking the map. [link removed]

However, the trial court judge then vacated the stay. This is good news — DeSantis’ map is currently blocked from being used in future elections and the court-ordered map is in place while the appeal is litigated. [link removed]

All Things SCOTUS: Reform Options and the Purcell Principle

For the past few weeks, millions of Americans have been outraged. A leaked copy of the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade (1973) has sent shockwaves across the country.

Serious concerns about the Court’s legitimacy have been swirling long before the leak. In April 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order creating a Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, a bipartisan group of legal experts who were tasked with investigating the contemporary debates around court reform. [link removed]

In our latest Data Dive, we explore three main reforms that emerged in the 288-page report and the path forward in Congress. [link removed]

Another concern is the increasing use of the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket.” There, a big question remains unanswered in the legal community: When is it too close to an election to change voting laws? Find the answer to that question, also known as the Purcell principle, here. [link removed]

More News

This week, the Kansas Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the state’s congressional map. A trial judge had previously found that the map violated the state constitution but, in a disappointing turn of events, the state Supreme Court reversed that decision and upheld the GOP-drawn map. A full opinion is forthcoming. [link removed]

On Monday, a special master appointed by a New York judge released a draft congressional map. The praise, criticism and incumbent jockeying came soon after. A finalized map will be released today. [link removed]

The Arizona Republican Party and its chairwoman are attempting, for a second time, to eliminate Arizona’s extremely popular no-excuse mail-in voting system, which has been in place since 1991. [link removed]

In the 2000 presidential election, poor ballot design in Palm Beach County, Florida may have cost Al Gore the presidency. Learn about ballot design, candidate order and straight party voting — and the very real impact on election results — here. [link removed]


SPOTLIGHT: Inside Our Fight To Restore Voting Rights to 56,000 North Carolinians


By Daryl Atkinson and Caitlin Swain, co-directors of Forward Justice. Read more ➡️ [link removed]

What We’re Doing

For decades, Republicans have been hyperfocused on building political power in state legislatures. Democrats have failed to do the same. Learn more about the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee’s plan to reverse that trend. [link removed]

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania was one of a handful of states to hold primary elections. The GOP nominee for Pennsylvania governor, Doug Mastriano, has made it clear that he is ready to weaponize gubernatorial authority, including by nominating the secretary of state, to disregard election results. We’re reading Popular Information’s newsletter introducing the radical nominee. [link removed]

Frightened by these results? Write letters with Vote Forward encouraging fellow citizens to vote. [link removed]
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There will be no Twitter Spaces this week. We'll be back as usual next week, but in the meantime you can listen to recordings of recent Spaces — like last week's with National Democratic Redistricting Committee president Kelly Burton — here.  [link removed]


Democracy Docket
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