Legal Updates
Alaska: The Alaska Division of Elections does not have to produce a report of rejected absentee voters in the midterm elections, a state court ruled Wednesday afternoon on a lawsuit filed by the campaign of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola. The lawsuit was filed by the campaign group Alaskans for Mary against the division on November 6, seeking to make public the names of voters whose absentee ballots have been rejected and the reasons for their rejection before the results are certified on Nov. 25. In court filings, the group said they sought the list of voters “to safeguard an accurate ballot count and ensure that Peltola’s supporters are not unlawfully disenfranchised.” But in court, attorneys with the Alaska Department of Law arguing on behalf of the division said ballot counting is ongoing and the requested records at this stage are preliminary, and do not qualify as public records. They argued that the division could not feasibly produce the information on short notice or maintain voter confidentiality. The state asked the court to reject the campaign’s request that the division make a new report of names of voters during ballot counting, and Anchorage Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews agreed. “Given that the DOE is currently busy processing ballots from the 2026 general election, it is understandable that the division simply lacks the capacity to generate the report,” Matthews wrote in the ruling.
Arkansas: Attorney General Tim Griffin is moving to dissolve a consent decree in place since 1991 that created Black-majority judicial sub-districts around the state and resulted in 14 Black judges being currently seated. In a motion filed November 5, the attorney general’s office said the law no longer supports such districts. “Dividing voters based on race is wrong and unconstitutional,” Griffin said in a statement. “It is premised on racial stereotypes and contrary to equal protection mandates.” Griffin cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in April that said Louisiana didn’t need to create a second Black-majority congressional district under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The court said challengers to an electoral map must prove intentional racial discrimination and that alternative maps meet a race-neutral standard. The consent decree in Hunt v. Arkansas created the sub-districts in 21 counties, mostly in the eastern part of the state. The consent decree was the result of a 1989 suit alleging that judicial lines were drawn to intentionally dilute Black voting strength. Arkansas currently has 14 Black circuit judges, and one Black judge on the Arkansas Court of Appeals, Waymond Brown. Griffin said since the consent decree’s approval, the legal landscape has shifted, and there’s been a change in the demographics around Arkansas, which altered the state’s partisan preferences. Griffin attached to the motion a breakdown of how the state has moved from voting for Democratic candidates to Republican nominees over the last three decades.
California: The U.S. Department of Justice requested to dismiss its own lawsuit that sought to stop California from counting roughly 20,000 ballots it alleged went to noncitizens until their immigration statuses could be verified. The move comes days after Republicans’ significant losses in the midterm elections and about a week before a scheduled hearing where a special master was slated to evaluate the accuracy of the list of alleged noncitizens. California officials have previously said the list is out of date and includes legitimate voters — a sentiment that the federal judge presiding over the case echoed in his blistering order denying the federal government’s request. The department also filed a motion in support of a separate lawsuit filed in May that alleges that California violates national voting laws by failing to sufficiently remove ineligible voters from its rolls. The intervention is part of a broader effort to continue to “pursue every available civil and criminal remedy to ensure that only eligible American citizens vote in American elections,” top Los Angeles prosecutor Bill Essayli said.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Daniel M. Crowley has granted the city of Santa Monica’s motion to dismiss a decade-long voting rights lawsuit, dealing a major blow to civil rights advocates who sought to dismantle the city’s at-large election system in favor of neighborhood-based City Council districts. Crowley granted the city’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. Crowley directed defense counsel representing Santa Monica to prepare a formal written order reflecting the dismissal and circulate it to plaintiffs’ counsel for review. The decision halts a sprawling dispute that has wound through every tier of California’s judicial system since 2016 when the Pico Neighborhood Association and longtime resident Maria Loya first filed the case.
The First Amendment Coalition filed a lawsuit against Shasta County for refusing to release a federal grand jury subpoena issued to Clint Curtis, the county’s Registrar of Voters. The subpoena is part of a series issued to local elections officials across California, some connected to the Trump administration’s effort to prove claims about noncitizens voting in the state. “Clint Curtis has embroiled Shasta County’s elections office in turmoil, conspiracy, and allegations of misconduct,” Annelise Pierce, executive director and managing editor at Shasta Scout said. “The people have a right to know what a federal grand jury seeks from our top election official.” Shasta County refused to disclose the subpoena, incorrectly contending it must be kept secret under federal law. In a letter sent Sept. 25 to Shasta County Counsel, FAC Legal Director David Loy explained why the county is mistaken. “Shasta Scout and CalMatters have closely reported on the ongoing controversies at the county’s elections office,” FAC Legal Director David Loy said. “The county must disclose the subpoena so the people can see for themselves whether the grand jury investigation has any valid basis or is improperly contributing to unwarranted distrust in the integrity of elections.”
Shasta County Superior Court Judge Benjamin Hanna permanently barred Shasta County from implementing a voter-approved initiative that sought to dramatically reshape voting in the conservative stronghold. Measure B, which was passed by 56% of voters in the June primary, sought to require hand-counted ballots, eliminate most mail-in voting and require residents to present government-issued photo identification to cast a ballot on election day. California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber, the state’s top elections official, sued Shasta County days after the primary, arguing that Measure B violates state election laws. Hanna temporarily blocked the measure in August. In his final ruling, Hanna wrote that the provisions of Measure B “are wholly contrary to existing state law.” “The regulation and administration of the electoral process is a matter of statewide concern, and Shasta County’s status as a charter county does not entitle it to enact invalid legislation simply because some in this community do not agree with the existing law,” the ruling continued.
Delaware: U.S. District Court Judge Richard Andrews has dismissed a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice that sought Delaware’s unredacted voter registration data. The Justice Department had filed suit in December seeking a court order to compel state Elections Commissioner Anthony Albence to produce those records after the state refused the federal government’s July 2025 request to voluntarily hand over the data. Andrews said the federal government failed to make its case that it needed all of Delaware’s voter information to ensure compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1960. The data included Social Security numbers, dates of birth and addresses. The DOJ said the information from all states was needed to ensure election integrity. But Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings told WHYY News in a statement that the DOJ’s request was “illegal” and an example of “federal overreach.” “The states — not the president — run elections,” she said. “It’s our job to keep voters’ data safe and we’re not backing down.”
Florida: South Florida Democratic congressional candidate Eliott Rodriguez filed a federal lawsuit against the Miami-Dade supervisor of elections Alina García, citing bias after she declined to recuse herself from the recount process. Incumbent Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar is named in the lawsuit as well. The lawsuit seeks to bar García, from acting as a deciding member of the county canvassing board for the 27th Congressional District, where the results are razor-thin. Rodriguez’s campaign demanded Thursday that García recuse herself from oversight of the recount. The Rodriguez campaign alleged the attorney representing Salazar in the recount, Robert Fernández, is García’s son-in-law and requested immediate confirmation, saying the relationship would raise additional serious concerns, according to the complaint. The campaign also cited in the lawsuit an interview García gave to The Miami Herald on election night stating, “Maria Elvira is the winner, with or without a recount” and that it was “possible but not probable” there were enough remaining ballots to flip the results. She added that recounts almost never end up going the other way. “Usually the trend we see is what continues,” García was quoted as saying. In other words, if Salazar is ahead, it will likely remain that way. The motion was denied.
Montana: Three Native American residents of Blaine County y filed a federal lawsuit against Blaine County, its commissioners, clerk and recorder and elections manager, alleging that the county commission election map “is unconstitutionally malapportioned” and dilutes the power of the Native vote. Blaine County overlaps with the Fort Belknap Reservation. The county is home to more than 7,000 people, more than half of whom are Native American, according to U.S. Census Data. While tribes are sovereign political entities, municipal elections in overlapping jurisdictions can significantly affect Indian Country. County commissioners can approve or disapprove infrastructure projects, determine access to services like garbage disposal, water and health care, and influence public safety issues, among other things. The three plaintiffs, who are citizens of the Fort Belknap Aaniiih and Nakoda Tribes, allege that the way Blaine County Commission districts are drawn violates their right to equal protection. The plaintiffs, represented by the UCLA Voting Rights Project and Helena-based Upper Seven Law, are asking United States District Court in the District of Montana to declare the map unconstitutional, prohibit its use in future elections and require the county to equalize the districts.
Pennsylvania: Michelle Ziolkowski, 54, a Mt. Lebanon resident and Truist Financial Corporation executive, faces misdemeanor charges of forgery and tampering with public records. WPXI reported that the case concerns a voter-registration application submitted in her late mother’s name. The reported allegation is about an application; the reporting cited here does not say that it led to a cast ballot. According to WPXI’s report, investigators said the application was mailed to the Allegheny County Elections Division in late September in the name of Fern Winans, Ziolkowski’s mother. A police report said Winans died in September 2021 and that her voter registration was canceled the next month after election workers were notified of her death. Investigators said the application sought to register Winans as a Democrat at Ziolkowski’s address; Winans and Ziolkowski were both registered Republicans, according to state voting records cited by WPXI. WPXI reported that Ziolkowski initially told investigators she had received and discarded unsolicited registration forms addressed to Winans, but later acknowledged filling out and submitting them. According to the station’s account of the police report, she said she sent the application to find out whether voter fraud was possible. Investigators reportedly said the signature on the application resembled Ziolkowski’s handwriting. WPXI also reported that her professional biographies identify her as Truist’s senior vice president and head of payables; the company did not respond to the station’s request for comment.
Utah: The Voter Reference Foundation filed a lawsuit in federal court in Utah on November 6, demanding that Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson turn over the name and birth year of every registered voter in the state — in compliance, the group says, with the National Voter Registration Act. In its lawsuit, VRF says it first requested Utah’s voter rolls in February, but that Henderson’s office has so far refused to provide them. The office, which oversees elections in Utah, has argued that Utah law prohibits releasing voters’ birth years — and mandates that those requesting the records not post them online. VRF has argued with Henderson’s office since February that federal law supersedes state law, and that the lieutenant governor cannot place such restrictions. Henderson’s office confirmed that it was served with the complaint Monday and said in a statement that officials “are looking it over.” Attorneys for VRF did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Washington: U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead ruled that federal prosecutors can ask Washington state to set aside voters’ ballots, but they can’t demand it. Whitehead temporarily barred the Justice Department from pressing the state over a list of about 400 voters. The Joe Biden appointee partially granted a request from OneAmerica Votes, the Latino Community Fund of Washington State and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, whose members include naturalized citizens. On Oct. 26, eight days before Election Day, Acting U.S. Attorney Pete Serrano of the Eastern District of Washington and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd of the Western District sent Secretary of State Steve Hobbs the list. Mail ballots were already coming back to county offices. They gave Hobbs 24 hours to review it and told him to have county election officials hold off on checking the signatures on those voters’ ballots, or counting them, until their “citizenship can be determined.” At a press conference that day, Floyd warned that anyone who helps someone vote illegally “would be also guilty of that crime under the aiding abetting theory.” Hobbs refused two days later. Washington’s review found the list unreliable. At least 62 people on it hadn’t been sent a ballot because their registrations were canceled, inactive or couldn’t be found. Whitehead said the distinction was between asking and compelling. The government, he said, “may ask a state to set ballots aside, but it may not compel one to do so.” “On this record, defendants did not ask,” he said.
Michael H. Drucker
