Daily Docket — Wednesday, Feb. 8

Last year, Democrats had a better-than-expected year, retaining control of the U.S. Senate and winning newfound power in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota. Today, Marc wrote about the five voting laws Democrats should enact in states where they hold all the levers of lawmaking. Read it now.

Here are some updates from today.

• Yesterday, Democratic candidates in Pennsylvania won three special elections for state House in Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh. With these victories, Democrats will now have a razor thin, one-vote majority in the Pennsylvania state House for the first time in 12 years. Victory in the state House means that Republican attempts to restrict access to abortion or make voting more difficult are likely doomed.

• The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its opinion explaining its prior ruling that blocked certain mail-in ballots from being counted during the 2022 midterm elections. Four justices agreed that “failure to comply with the date requirement would render a ballot invalid in any election after 2020” given state law. However, the six justices were evenly divided as to whether not counting undated or wrongly dated mail-in ballots would violate the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act, leaving the issue open for federal courts to decide in two ongoing cases.

• The South Dakota House of Representatives passed House Bill 1165, a bill that would ban drop boxes from being used in all elections. The bill now goes to the state Senate for approval, where it is also likely to pass due to Republicans’ overwhelming majority.

• The Georgia State Board of Elections dismissed a complaint against Black voters who gave food and water to voters waiting in line during early voting in 2020.

Here’s what to expect coming up tomorrow.

• Join Marc and When We All Vote for a briefing at 8 p.m. ET to celebrate the work done last year to reach 45 million voters and to discuss the work ahead to strengthen our democracy. Register here.

• The U.S. House is expected to vote on GOP-led resolutions to overturn two bills passed by the Washington, D.C. city council. Learn why Congress can do this here.

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

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