06/03/2022
While our country endures one crisis after another — COVID, Ukraine, inflation, abortion bans and most recently the human tragedy caused by the epidemic of gun violence — the Republican attack on free and fair elections continues.
Since their humiliating defeats in court following Trump’s loss in 2020, Republican lawyers and operatives have been looking for new ways to subvert our elections. They have endless resources and a single focus.
In my latest, I implore that if we are to prevent that from happening, we need a similar degree of commitment.
We will not be able to address climate change, secure reproductive rights or enact common sense gun control unless we have a functioning democracy. The other side knows that. It is why subverting our elections is their top objective.
Read “Republicans Are Plotting To Subvert Elections Right Before Our Eyes” on Democracy Docket now.
Let’s keep up the fight, Marc
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Technical Ballot Mistakes Cause a Stir in Pennsylvania |
There are two parallel, but distinct, lawsuits in Pennsylvania — both with major updates this week. The issue at the center of both: undated mail-in ballots. These are otherwise valid ballots that are missing handwritten dates next to the voters’ signatures on the outer ballot envelopes. There’s also a third lawsuit about counting mail-in ballots; in this case, it deals with different technical defects.
Last Friday, a federal appellate court ruled that undated mail-in ballots in a Lehigh County judicial election must be counted because that minor omission, not including the date, is unrelated to a voter’s eligibility. Then, this Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court paused this ruling on its shadow docket. Lehigh County’s undated mail-in ballots will remain uncounted for the time being.
This decision could have consequences for an ongoing lawsuit in state court regarding Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary election. U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick (R) filed a lawsuit in state court to ensure undated mail-in ballots are counted; his opposing candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania Republican Party have intervened in opposition. A hearing was held Tuesday and a decision was released late Thursday evening. The state court judge sided with McCormick’s campaign, ordering counties to count the undated ballots, but maintain separate results — one with the undated ballots included and one without — until a final decision is reached. The case is progressing quickly, but we’re keeping you up to date here.
- A recount in the McCormick-Oz contest began last Friday. Oz currently leads McCormick by fewer than 1,000 votes.
More ballot pandemonium in Pennsylvania: This week, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of voters from Lehigh and Northampton Counties whose mail-in ballots were rejected in the Democratic primary for state Senate District 14. Allegedly, 117 ballots were rejected in these counties for missing an outer “secrecy” envelope and 143 ballots were rejected because election offices didn’t receive the ballots until after 8 p.m. on Election Day (even if the ballots were mailed on time and the delay was caused by the U.S. Postal Service).
- In all of these cases — surrounding undated mail-in ballots, ballots without outer envelopes or ballots received late due to mail delays — the plaintiffs argue that these mail-in ballots should be counted because they have an “immaterial defect” unrelated to voters’ eligibility and not doing so violates the First and 14th Amendments and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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Congressional Redistricting Is Complete for 2022 (But Not Beyond) |
First in the nation in primaries, but last in the nation for redistricting. On Tuesday, the New Hampshire Supreme Court adopted a new congressional map, making New Hampshire the final state to do so, after the Republican Legislature and Republican governor failed to agree on one. - New Hampshire voters sued several months ago when it became clear that the redistricting process had reached a stalemate. The New Hampshire Supreme Court took control of the process, appointed a special master to draw a fair map and gave the Legislature until May 26 to agree on a map.
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On May 27, absent any enacted map, the special master released his proposed “least-change” plan. The court then adopted this map on May 31. The enacted map maintains much of the old districts, moving five towns and roughly 9,000 individuals from the 1st Congressional District to the 2nd Congressional District. Both districts remain competitive.
All congressional maps have now been redrawn with 2020 census data, and nearly all lawsuits are settled for this election year, but that doesn’t mean redistricting litigation is over. At least 14 states could see maps change before 2024. -
One of those states is Florida. A trial court judge found that the map designed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) “diminishes African Americans’ ability to elect candidates of their choice” and likely violates the state’s constitution. That decision was appealed, then paused, then vacated, then paused again. After this wild back and forth between courts, this Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court ultimately refused to get involved. This means DeSantis’ unfair map is currently in effect for 2022, but litigation on the merits of the map will continue beyond this election cycle and could very well impact later elections.
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Democracy Wins in South Dakota and Nevada |
Back in September 2020, two Native American tribes, a voting rights organization and individual Native American voters sued South Dakota and its election officials alleging that the state didn’t offer voter registration options at motor vehicle agencies or state-run public assistance offices, which is required by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Last Thursday, May 26, a federal judge agreed that South Dakota had violated multiple provisions of the NVRA.
- This is a win for the plaintiffs and voters of South Dakota who previously had to face unnecessary and illegal hurdles simply to register to vote. The case is not completely over yet as remaining claims in the lawsuit will move forward.
In another win this week, a court in Clark County, Nevada (Las Vegas area) rejected a GOP lawsuit trying to dramatically expand election observation. The voters who filed the lawsuit were asking for election observers to be present at “every step of the election,” including at drop boxes and voting machines. Opposing groups were concerned that this would be a disruptive, partisan process to impede ballot counting. Instead, the plaintiffs will be permitted to observe the processing and counting of ballots alongside other eligible observers in accordance with existing Nevada and Clark County law — meaning, the efforts to detrimentally expand observation rights failed.
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Voting Rights and Redistricting Litigation: What To Expect in June |
Hearings are scheduled for June 3 and 7 in Arizona over Republicans’ attempts to disband the state’s highly popular vote-by-mail system. Georgia’s massive voter suppression law finally heads to court on June 9 and over the next month.
Read our “Litigation Look Ahead: June” for an overview of all the cases with likely court action over the next month. Want to know what actually ends up happening at the end of June? Keep an eye out for our new monthly newsletter, The Brief, and encourage friends and family to subscribe.
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At the end of Maryland’s legislative session, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) vetoed a bill that would have allowed local elections officials to begin counting mail-in ballots they receive up to eight business days before Election Day. The bill also created a mechanism for officials to notify voters of mistakes and give them an opportunity to cure. In his veto message, Hogan said he supported those measures but rejected the bill because it did not include a process to verify signatures. Critics say his veto simply means there will be unnecessarily unequal access for Maryland voters.
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Watch Out: “Big Lie” Candidates Running for Governor |
The gubernatorial races we need to be watching in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and elsewhere. Read more ➡️ |
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Happy Pride Month! Our American story isn't complete or equal without LGBTQ+ individuals. Representation matters — that's why we want 23,000 LGBTQ+ candidates to run and win elected office.
As we saw in reports this week from The New York Times and Politico, Republicans have a hyper-focused election subversion plan, largely taking place within local election offices and polling places. That’s why Run for Something launched Clerk Work in April — a three-year plan to recruit and support 5,000 candidates for offices in charge of local election administration.
Tune in to today’s Twitter Spaces where Run for Something’s Amanda Litman will be joining Marc to discuss Clerk Work and the need to save democracy from the ground up within local election administration.
Enjoy the summer sunshine with a new book. We’re recommending “Our Unfinished March” by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, a “brutal, bloody, and at times hopeful history of the vote” with a crucial playbook on how to save our democracy before it's too late. |
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Have a question? Join Marc and Run for Something’s Amanda Litman 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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