09/23/2022
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Welcome back! On Monday, we released a report on the dramatic increase in GOP-affiliated lawsuits filed so far this year. As of Sept. 16, the number of 2022 lawsuits is 486% higher than the total GOP lawsuits from 2021. “What makes the GOP’s current litigation strategy even more toxic is that it feeds a false right-wing narrative of fake election fraud,” Marc explained in his latest article reacting to our report.
To keep track of the rapid ramp up of litigation over the next few weeks and months, we’ll keep you updated with our new weekly scoreboard. Check out this week’s numbers below! |
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U.S. House Passes Reform to Electoral Count Act |
After months of murmurs about legislation to reform the antiquated Electoral Count Act (ECA) of 1887, which governs how Congress counts Electoral College votes, the U.S. House of Representatives acted decisively this week. Just two days after Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) introduced the Presidential Election Reform Act, the House passed it 229-203, with all Democrats and nine Republicans voting in favor. All nine Republicans who supported the measure are either retiring or lost their primaries.
In July, a bipartisan group of senators released their own proposal to reform the ECA — S. 4573, the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act — and the Senate Rules Committee will mark up the proposal on Sept. 27. Both chambers of Congress will need to agree on a single bill for it to reach President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.
- We unpack the Senate’s ECA reform bill here and explain why it’s needed in the first place (hint: the Electoral College) here.
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Candidate Q&A: Chelsea Clark on Her Run for Ohio Secretary of State |
“My responsibility, and one thing that will also come first, is making sure that you actually restore people’s faith in a system,” explained Chelsea Clark, the Democratic nominee for Ohio secretary of state, in our latest candidate Q&A.
Clark also spoke about the intransigence of the Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC), which includes her opponent, current Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), and what that says about the powerbrokers of Ohio politics. Since last year, the GOP members of the ORC “have obstructed this entire process and they have blown past constitutional deadlines,” Clark told Democracy Docket. Read more ➡️
To no one’s surprise, the ORC failed to enact a new congressional map by its deadline last Saturday. Two months ago, the state Supreme Court struck down the current map for violating the state constitution. The GOP-controlled Legislature was given the first opportunity to pass a constitutional map (which it didn’t attempt), after which the responsibility fell to the ORC, a body composed of partisan statewide and legislative leaders. While this behavior is consistent with how the ORC has flouted earlier court orders, we can’t normalize this type of conduct that undermines the rule of law and power of the courts.
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Montana Supreme Court Affirms PI, Awaiting Final Decision |
This week, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed the preliminary injunction against voter suppression laws House Bill 176 (eliminating Election Day registration) and Senate Bill 169 (adding strict ID requirements to vote). This was a ruling upholding a lower court’s preliminary injunction, which is a temporary decision while litigation continues. However, we expect a resolution to the lawsuit any day now. These two laws, along with one other (limiting ballot collection), went to trial a few weeks ago. We are awaiting a final decision from a Montana trial court on whether these laws violate the state constitution and will be permanently blocked.
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RNC Sets Sights on Poll Workers and Poll Watchers |
Where in the world is the Republican National Committee (RNC)? Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, to name a few states. On Tuesday, the RNC filed its latest lawsuit in Clark County, Nevada (a Democratic-leaning area that includes Las Vegas), challenging election officials’ refusal to disclose names and partisan affiliations of its poll workers. The RNC asserts that it needs this information to ensure that Clark County is complying with Nevada election law, under which poll workers “must not all be of the same political party.”
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The RNC has recently criticized Maricopa County, Arizona for hiring more Democratic than Republican poll workers (857 Democrats and 712 Republicans) for the Aug. 2 primary. “Our recruiters do their best to backfill these positions with someone from the same party, but there are some instances when it is not possible,” said Maricopa County Elections Department spokeswoman Megan Gilbertson.
A few weeks ago, the RNC filed a lawsuit in North Carolina challenging guidance from the state’s elections board. In addition to trying to prevent a three-day extension of the absentee ballot receipt deadline due to Veterans Day, the Republicans challenged the time-limit restrictions on partisan election observers. The North Carolina State Board of Elections had previously adopted several other restraints on partisan election observers after complaints of harassment, intimidation and disruption from these observers during the May primary election.
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As a reminder, poll workers are the individuals who run the logistics of Election Day voting. Poll watchers, sometimes called election observers, are either from nonpartisan groups or designated by political parties to observe and monitor the activity at polling places on Election Day.
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Both positions are crucial to the functioning of our democracy. However, we have seen a massive push by the RNC, partnering with conspiracy-led “Big Lie” groups, to recruit and train individuals, weaponizing these positions to sow doubt in our election process and create chaos come November. Lawsuits appear to be the next step in that push to make it easier for bad-faith actors to step in on Election Day.
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In honor of National Voter Registration Day, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced two pieces of legislation: one requiring states to offer same-day registration by the 2026 general election and the other mitigating the effects of improper voter purges. The latter would specifically amend the National Voter Registration Act to prohibit states from removing voters from the voter rolls unless there is “objective and reliable evidence that a person is ineligible to vote,” adding that failing to vote in an election or respond to mail is not included in that definition.
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On Tuesday, oral arguments took place before a three-judge panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals. The plaintiffs, including the League of Women Voters of Kansas and Loud Light, argued against a district court’s decision to dismiss their claims against two provisions of a Kansas voter suppression law: a restriction on ballot collection and signature verification requirement. Find a summary of what went down in the courtroom here. (Speaking of courtroom events, a summary of the oral arguments that took place last week over Florida’s voter suppression law can be found here.)
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We are a week and a half away from the U.S. Supreme Court opening its doors for its 2022 term. One of the first cases that will appear before the justices, on Oct. 4, is Merrill v. Milligan — the Alabama congressional map case with serious implications for the future of the Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Learn about Section 2 and dive into the amicus briefs submitted in this case.
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SPOTLIGHT: The Small Races With Huge Implications for the Future of Our Democracy |
By Gaby Goldstein and Bela Tringali, co-founder and program manager, respectively, at Sister District, an organization focused on building progressive power in state legislatures. Read more➡️ |
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Apparently, all the young folks are on TikTok — and now, so are we. With the potential to reach millions of people across the globe, Democracy Docket is hoping to use this new platform to explain what’s at stake for our democracy, but we need your help — follow, share or engage with our new TikTok content!
Tuesday was National Voter Registration Day! Registration deadlines are fast approaching in many states — make sure you and your friends are ready to make your voice heard come November by checking your registration status at https://iwillvote.com/.
Here are some recently released books we’re reading for this fall:
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We have a very special (and packed!) episode of Defending Democracy with Marc and Paige happening later today featuring Stephanie Young, executive director of When We All Vote; Kelly Burton, president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. You don’t want to miss this conversation and Q&A on the impacts of gerrymandering, especially for communities of color — join live today at 2:00 p.m. EDT on Twitter Spaces or find the recording here.
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