Daily Docket — Tuesday, Feb. 28

Virginia Legislative Session Ends, Revealing Party Election Priorities [link removed]

Here are some updates from the last few days.

Today, the Republican supervisors of Cochise County, Arizona voted to transfer election oversight from the county elections department to County Recorder David Stevens (R), despite warnings from state officials about the legality of the move. “I think we are acting in an inappropriate and ill advised manner today,” Supervisor Ann English (D) concluded before casting the sole vote against the motion to adopt the agreement. [link removed]

Yesterday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) sent a letter to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) urging him to adopt national election reforms that impose a photo ID to vote, ban third-party ballot collection and more. Raffensperger opens his letter with a set of contradictory statements: He asks McCarthy to “remain steadfast in [his] opposition to a federal takeover of elections,” referencing a pro-voting bill introduced last session, and them immediately asks for “support for a set of reforms to current national election law.” [link removed]

​​Washington, D.C. enacted the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act, which allows noncitizens to vote in local elections like those for mayor and city council, but not in federal elections. The U.S. House passed a Republican-led resolution to overturn the law, but failed to advance in the Democratic-controlled Senate before the 30-day congressional review period ended. Why can Congress overturn Washington, D.C. laws in the first place? We answer here. [link removed]

U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) introduced the Early Voting Act, a bill that would require every state to offer at least 14 consecutive days of early voting, allow early processing of mail-in ballots and more. [link removed]

Here’s what to expect coming up.

Today at 6 p.m. EST., the Georgia Senate Ethics Committee is scheduled to consider several possible versions of Senate Bill 221, which appears to be this session’s omnibus anti-voting bill. One proposed S.B. 221 would encourage mass voter challenges, insulate prosecutors from accountability, add new restrictions on election officials and more. [link removed]

Tomorrow on Democracy Docket, we publish our March Litigation Look Ahead, previewing what to expect in courtrooms this month.

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

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