05/27/2022 Happy Friday! Welcome back! This week, we take a look at primary election results in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Texas and possible recounts that may occur. Court deadlines are fast approaching for states that have failed to enact new redistricting maps. In case you missed our email on Wednesday, read Marc’s latest piece here.
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Primary Elections Expose Republican Hypocrisy |
Primary season is in full swing. This Tuesday, in a test of Trump’s endorsing power in Georgia, incumbent candidates Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) resoundingly defeated their Trump-endorsed and “Big Lie” counterparts, former U.S. Sen. David Perdue (R) and U.S. Rep. Jody Hice (R).
It was a win against election deniers, but not a win against vote suppressors. Let’s not forget that both Kemp and Raffensperger support Georgia’s massive 2021 voter suppression law. As governor and secretary of state, these two leaders have defended Joe Biden’s 2020 win in the Peach State while embracing restrictive voting laws cut from the same “Big Lie” cloth.
After last Tuesday’s primary election in Pennsylvania, the race between Republican Senate candidates is still too close to call, triggering an automatic recount by state law. Remember, Republicans fought to throw out eligible mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania in 2020 for simply missing the date on outer security envelopes. Now GOP Senate candidate David McCormick is suing to ensure similar ballots are counted in his primary race.
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Opposing candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania Republican Party have now intervened in the case to oppose the counting of undated but otherwise eligible mail-in ballots. You can find updates on our live page.
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Recount recap: two Democratic Texas primaries may possibly head to a recount. The results in Tuesday’s runoffs were extremely close in Texas’ 15th and 28th Congressional Districts with the winners not yet called. Forget how recounts work? Learn more here. |
- In Texas’ 15th, an open seat led to a close challenge. As of Friday morning, the more progressive of the two Democratic candidates is holding onto a slight edge of a couple dozen votes.
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Courts Intervene and Impose New Maps
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There are new maps in New York. After the Empire State’s congressional and state Senate maps were struck down as unconstitutional, a trial court, assisted by a redistricting expert, released the final maps after midnight last Friday. The new congressional map has caused a significant shakeup among the state’s Democratic delegation. The map is also more competitive than the overturned map, with 21 of 26 seats nominally Democratic — but many with close margins between Democrats and Republicans.
- The map is a major setback in Democratic efforts to retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives this year.
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Court deadlines draw to a close in New Hampshire and Ohio. With Republican legislators and Gov. Chris Sununu (R) unable to agree on the configuration of New Hampshire’s two congressional districts, the state Supreme Court is prepared to step in today, May 27. The Legislature passed a new congressional map yesterday that Sununu vowed to veto, all but confirming the court will draw it instead. Tomorrow, May 28, a federal court will impose a set of new legislative maps in Ohio.
- On Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down the Commission's legislative maps for the fifth time. These exact maps are the ones that the federal court plans to impose on May 28. We’re watching to see what’s going to happen.
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Legislative Sessions Come to an End |
What passed? Within the next few weeks, a majority of state legislatures will conclude their 2022 sessions. Here’s a recap of just a few of the new, concerning voting and election laws: -
In Arizona: House Bill 2492 requires all Arizonans to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote, endangering the voter registrations of a large number of individuals. Arizona also banned same-day voter registration, even though the state does not have it.
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In Georgia: Senate Bill 441 empowers the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate election crimes.
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In Utah: House Bill 313 requires voters who did not provide voter identification during registration (usually people who registered online or at a voter registration event) to present it before voting. In a state where 94% of the population voted by mail in 2020, those voters will now have to include a photocopy of their identification with their mail-in ballot.
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Poll Watchers: Republicans’ Latest Weapon |
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Have a question? Join Marc and Democracy Docket today on Twitter Spaces at 2 p.m. ET for a discussion and Q&A on the latest democracy news. (Twitter Spaces is like a podcast, but live. You can listen to it without having a Twitter account.) |
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