Daily Docket — Tuesday, March 14

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Here are some court updates from today.

The newly elected Republican majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court reheard Harper v. Hall, a previously decided redistricting lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s congressional and legislative maps drawn with 2020 census data. “The legislative defendants play a cynical game, hoping that this newly constituted court will reverse course and abdicate its fundamental duty of judicial review,” the pro-voting groups argued today. Find the full courtroom summary here.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) and Maricopa County submitted briefs arguing that the Arizona Supreme Court should not take on failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake's (R) election contest. Hobbs, who was sworn into office in January, wrote: "For the past five months, Kari Lake has attempted unsuccessfully to use Arizona’s judiciary to undermine the results of that election. Enough is enough." Hobbs and Fontes also seek sanctions against Lake.

Here are some legislative updates from the past few days.

After agreeing on amendments yesterday evening, the New Mexico Legislature sent the New Mexico Voting Rights Act to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) for signing. The bill would establish automatic voter registration, restore voting rights to more than 11,000 individuals on parole and probation, enact the Native American Voting Rights Act and more.

Also yesterday, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) announced the creation of an Election Integrity Unit to investigate election law violations. Similar election crime forces have been established in Florida and Georgia and proposed in several other states.

Last Friday, the Texas Department of State announced plans to "develop and manage an interstate voter registration crosscheck program." The development of a new program could allow the state to stop participating in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a bipartisan nonprofit that has become the target of right-wing election conspiracy theories. Several Republican states have recently withdrawn from ERIC.

Here’s what to expect coming up.

Tomorrow, a second recently decided voting case is before the North Carolina Supreme Court for rehearing. In Holmes v. Moore, the court struck down a restrictive photo ID to vote law just a few months ago, but partisan actors could soon reverse that ruling. We’ll cover the oral argument live and bring you a courtroom summary.

Also tomorrow on Democracy Docket, Marc writes about how ERIC is in the middle of a mass panic by Republican officials akin to a run on a bank. He argues that the government should not wait to act in a crisis of democracy.

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

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