2022 Daily Docket — Wednesday, Oct. 26

As of today, Democracy Docket tracked 155 lawsuits filed in 2022 across 34 states. 95 of these lawsuits are currently active and ongoing. Of the active lawsuits, 38 seek to restrict access to voting.

Here are some updates from today.

• Cochise County, Arizona walked back plans for a full hand count audit of 2022 ballots after receiving a letter from the Arizona secretary of state informing the county that a full hand count would violate state law.

• A federal court in Arizona held a hearing in a lawsuit challenging recent instances of voter intimidation by right-wing vigilantes. The judge indicated he hopes to issue a ruling by Friday. Find out what happened here.

• Meanwhile, yesterday, the League of Women Voters of Arizona filed a lawsuit over the recent voter intimidation activities — the second lawsuit filed against these vigilantes.

• The U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona released a statement today indicating there are “several election threat-related cases pending federal felony charges” that stem from alleged criminal activity in the state.

• In a win for voters, a North Carolina judge largely rejected a Republican request to temporarily block North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) guidance extending the state’s absentee ballot receipt deadline to Nov. 14 and regulating partisan poll observers.

• Reuters released a new poll showing that more than 40% of voters are worried about threats of violence or voter intimidation at polling places in the upcoming midterm elections.

• Nearly 70 amicus “friend of the court” briefs were submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in Moore v. Harper. The case over North Carolina’s congressional redistricting gives the Court the opportunity to consider the fringe independent state legislature theory. Read our initial breakdown of the briefs (and look out for more in-depth analysis next week).

• The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld strict residency requirements for voter registration in Texas’ Senate Bill 1111, reversing a lower court’s decision and reinstating the law in full.

Plus, read Marc’s latest piece, “The GOP: Breaking Our Democracy One Piece at a Time,” and our candidate Q&A with Arizona governor candidate Katie Hobbs. 

Can’t get enough news? You can always find more details about these updates on our News Alerts page.

This is a Daily Docket email where we provide the day’s voting rights news and courtroom updates that you need to know. Inboxes can get crowded as Election Day approaches, so we try to keep these short and to the point. 

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