Ballot Measures, Legislation & Rulemaking
Federal Legislation: U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., introduced legislation Wednesday she says would prevent federal agents from intimidating voters or interfering with elections. The Safe Access to the Polls Act would prohibit the use of federal funds to deploy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers or National Guard members within a quarter-mile of a polling location. It also would prohibit federally funded checkpoints along routes to polling places and other interference with eligible voters trying to reach their assigned polling sites. “Your vote is your voice in our democracy — and to have your voice heard, you need to be able to safely cast your ballot without anyone getting in the way,” Baldwin said. “There is no reason for masked, armed agents to be at polling places like churches, schools and libraries other than to intimidate eligible voters from making their voices heard.” Baldwin’s office said the legislation follows threats by President Donald Trump to send federal agents to polling places and the refusal of several administration officials to rule out deploying troops or law enforcement during elections. The Department of Homeland Security says there are no plans in the works.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) has introduced the Youth Voting Rights Act. The Youth Voting Rights Act is comprehensive legislation to enforce the Twenty-Sixth Amendment and expand youth access to voting. Specifically, the bill would: Empower individuals and the government to enforce the Twenty-Sixth Amendment. The bill creates a private right of action to enforce the Twenty-Sixth Amendment and establishes a national standard of review for such lawsuits; Expand voter registration services at public colleges and universities. The bill designates offices at all public institutions of higher education as “voter registration agencies” under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, imposing voter registration obligations on these institutions; Allow young people in every state to pre-register to vote before turning 18. To ensure that young people can vote as soon as they turn 18, the bill requires states to establish pre-registration processes for 16- and 17-year-olds and allows states to expand their processes to youth younger than 16; Require institutions of higher education to have on-campus polling places. The bill ensures the availability of polling places on campuses of institutions of higher education, removing one of the most significant barriers to youth voting access; Prohibit durational residency requirements for all federal elections. The bill extends the Voting Rights Act’s protections against durational residency requirements and absentee voting limitations to all federal elections, not only elections for President and Vice President, and codifies the right to vote from a college domicile; Guarantee that states accept student IDs to meet voter-identification requirements. The bill mandates the acceptance of student IDs to meet state voter-identification requirements in federal elections; Create a grant program dedicated to youth involvement in elections. The bill creates a grant program for states to encourage youth involvement in elections, including through pre-registration, updated civics curricula, and a paid fellowship for young persons to work with state and local officials to support youth civic and political engagement; and Gather data on youth voter registration and election participation. The bill requires the federal government to study voter registration, absentee voting, and provisional voting trends by age and race to inform efforts to improve youth involvement in elections.
California: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation to increase security for the state’s voting systems and protect Californians’ ability to cast ballots in an effort to guard against potential interference in the Nov. 3 election, including by the Trump administration. The law, Senate Bill 884, which takes effect immediately, requires counties to open ballot drop-off locations 30 days before an election — two days earlier than usual — and allows counties to ban electioneering, or trying to influence voters’ decisions, within up to 200 feet of polling sites. It also bans police from making arrests near voting locations except for crimes against people, property, or disrupting the voting process. Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who oversees state elections, praised the bill signings and said they stood ready to defend Californians’ right to vote. “No one should doubt the degree of our resolve in protecting our democracy,” Weber said. “This legislative package ensures that California voters will not be silenced or intimidated.” Earlier this year, Newsom signed a bill preventing local and federal law enforcement agencies from taking ballots without a warrant. This week the governor signed a bill making it a felony to seize or order the seizure of ballots, election records or voting machines. Future seizures could be punishable by up to four years in prison.
Peoria, Illinois: Full-time Peoria city workers can now get paid time off to help run local elections. The Peoria City Council approved a resolution September 22 adopting a new election judge service policy. District 2 Council member Alex Carmona and at-large representative John Kelly voted no. Under the measure, full-time city employees appointed as election judges will receive eight hours of their regular wages for working at the polls. The incentive, according to city officials, aims to strengthen civic engagement and support local elections. The policy takes effect immediately for all qualifying city staff. Supporters pointed to nationwide poll worker shortages, saying election judges currently make about $11 an hour for long shifts while sacrificing vacation time. While most council members embraced the policy as a civic duty, some voiced taxpayer concerns over adding another paid day off. City officials confirmed workers appointed as election judges must pass required training tests.
Michigan: House Republicans have introduced a bill that would require Michigan’s secretary of state to recuse themselves from election-related duties if they are also on the ballot in a given election year. The legislation, House Bill 5968, aims to protect the state’s elections from what Republican members of the House Election Integrity Committee have called potential biases from an incumbent secretary of state with a vested interest in winning or retaining their seat. Sponsored by state Rep. Jennifer Wortz (R-Quincy), the bill wouldn’t just affect a secretary of state who is seeking their respective office again, but also if that current secretary of state was seeking another high office, such as the governor, attorney general, the state Legislature or either chamber of Congress. The bill states that recusal would be required, not voluntary, and that the deputy secretary of state would be appointed to oversee the state’s election if the secretary was on the ballot in any capacity. Members of the committee adopted substitute language for the bill but did not vote to report the bill to the House floor.
Warrensville Heights, Ohio: Warrensville Heights City Council has approved city spending to drive residents to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections on the first day of early in-person voting. The legislation, introduced by Warrensville Heights Mayor Bradley D. Sellers would spend $2,865 on bus transportation for the city’s residents who want to cast ballots on Oct. 6, the first day of Ohio’s early in-person voting period. The city is partnering with The Word Church and Baron Bus Company on the effort, which council approved as an emergency measure so the transportation plans can move forward immediately. The transportation plan calls for three motorcoaches carrying up to 168 passengers. A city official said details of the transportation schedule, including whether multiple trips will be offered, are still being worked out and are expected to be discussed at a meeting later this week.
Legal Updates
Federal Litigation: The NAACP filed a lawsuit September 18 alongside other civil rights groups to block the Trump administration from sending armed agents to U.S. polling places ahead of November’s midterm elections. The lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the FBI and several Trump officials, seeking to prevent them “from deploying agents in a manner that unlawfully intimidates voters or anyone urging or aiding voters.” “Defendants’ statements and actions have made voters… afraid of appearing at polling places, helping others vote, serving as election volunteers, and advocating for their political beliefs and preferred candidates,” the NAACP’s lawyers wrote. The plaintiffs — also including the National Urban League and the American Federation of Teachers, among other groups — said they fear the presence of armed federal law enforcement officers at polling cites may “expose [voters] to physical violence, surveillance, and harassment if they participate in the electoral process.” The civil rights organizations also allege the presence of federal agents would violate a section of the Voting Rights Act, which “broadly prohibits intimidation, threats, and coercion—or attempts to do so—throughout every stage of the voting process, including registering to vote, casting a ballot, and counting votes.”
Alaska: The State of Alaska is requesting that a judge throw out a lawsuit alleging the Division of Elections violated Alaskans’ right to privacy when it shared voter information with the federal government last December. The state turned over the voter list, including drivers licences numbers and addresses, after a series of requests from the Department of Justice. The League of Women Voters and the Alaska Black Caucus filed suit in April against Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher and Lt. Governor Nancy Dahlstrom. Dahlstrom oversees the state’s elections as lieutenant governor. During oral arguments in state Superior Court last week, state attorney Margaret Paton-Walsh, representing the defendants, said the plaintiffs allege the Justice Department intends to use the voter information unlawfully. But she said it’s impossible to know for certain what the federal government will do with it. “Without that critical factual development, this court can only guess whether the division’s conduct will present any legal problems, much less meet the specific elements of the claims alleged by the plaintiffs here,” Paton-Walsh said. “To decide these claims now, you will have to engage in the writing of fiction.” Under the state’s agreement with the Department of Justice, the state is obligated to purge voters from its rolls who the federal government identifies as ineligible within 45 days.
California: Shasta County Judge Benjamin Hanna has denied a request to temporarily prevent county elections officials from destroying materials from the November 2024 election. Hanna denied an ex parte application from Arne List during a court hearing last week. List had asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order preventing Shasta County from destroying certain election materials while his lawsuit moves forward. The underlying lawsuit remains pending. List filed the case against Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis, seeking to preserve the election materials and arguing they should not be destroyed if other legal or preservation obligations apply. During last week’s hearing, List argued that different categories of election records can have different retention requirements and that some materials could potentially remain subject to preservation obligations because of ongoing litigation. The county argued that the materials covered by List’s original petition are subject to state election law governing their retention and destruction. County Counsel Joseph Larmour argued that the law does not provide for continued preservation simply because a separate lawsuit is pending. Hanna ultimately declined to issue the temporary restraining order. The judge said he was not persuaded that List had standing to bring the request. Hanna also said that even assuming List did have standing, List had not met the legal standard required for a temporary restraining order.
Colorado: The Colorado Supreme Court denied Tina Peters’ challenge to her original sentence on charges related to election tampering. Peters had her sentence commuted by Gov. Jared Polis earlier this year, but maintained that she had been unfairly prosecuted. Peters was originally sentenced to nearly nine years in prison for her role in permitting unauthorized access to the Mesa County voting equipment she oversaw. Peters was attempting to demonstrate unproven corruption in voting systems. Her sentence was reviewed by the Colorado Court of Appeals, which ordered a resentencing because comments made by the trial judge could have been interpreted as violating Peters’ First Amendment right to free speech. In court filings, Peters made several arguments as to why her initial prosecution was incorrect, including that she was immune from prosecution because of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution as well as claims of juror misconduct. These claims were rejected by the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court declined to take them up.
Delaware: Delaware’s highest court upholds permanent absentee voting in the First State, rejecting claims that the state’s policy is unconstitutional. The Delaware Supreme Court’s decision this week affirms the Court of Chancery’s earlier this month. Republican State Sen. Gerald Hocker and Independent Party of Delaware candidate Steven Washington argued to the courts that allowing Delaware’s Department of Elections to send absentee ballots automatically to those with permanent absentee status is unconstitutional. In legal filings, they said the current law could give those voters automatic absentee privileges in future elections even if their original reason no longer applies. Groups eligible for permanent status include Delawareans in the military and residents with disabilities. But Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr., writing for the court agreed with the Court of Chancery’s decision that the state’s absentee voting rules are not an unconstitutional expansion of voting. He said Delaware doesn’t re-certify in-person voters for every general election. But Hocker and Washington’s interpretation of Delaware law would require Delaware to do this for absentee voters. He added the law requires absentee voters to notify the state of any changes that would affect their eligibility. And it asks absentee voters to assert their status under oath on the mail-in ballot. Seitz’s decision on the appeal was expedited, as it will apply to November’s midterms.
Florida: Valery Zidor, 23, pleaded guilty in federal court to falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen to register to vote and then casting a ballot in the 2024 general election, the Department of Justice announced. Zidor pleaded guilty to two counts of making a false claim of U.S. citizenship in order to vote and one count of voting by an alien, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Federal prosecutors said court records show Zidor falsely stated she was a U.S. citizen on two voter registration forms that were later submitted to the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections. Despite not being a U.S. citizen, prosecutors said Zidor went on to cast a ballot in the 2024 general election. “Valery Zidor falsely claimed to be an American citizen, not once, but on two voter registration forms, and then illegally cast a ballot in the 2024 General Election,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in a statement.
Hawai’i: There will not be a special election for a state Senate seat on Oʻahu that ended in a tie following the Aug. 8 Republican primary. The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Fevella v. Nago, in which Sen. Kurt Fevella sought to invalidate the result of a controversial Aug. 15 tiebreaker that he lost to Bob McDermott. Fevella argued in his Sept. 9 petition that because the high court had ordered a Nov. 3 rematch in another GOP race — House District 43 — that also resulted in a tie, voters in Senate District 20 deserved the same opportunity. Nov. 3 is the same day as the general election. The House District 43 race (Kapolei, Makakilo) between Rep. Kanani Souza and challenger Sheila Medeiros involved similar circumstances, including the fact that two voters in both districts were mistakenly issued the wrong ballots. Part of House District 43 is in Senate District 20. Both races were determined by a tie-breaking process in which elections officials used plastic spheres resembling Easter eggs and lauhala baskets. Associate Justice Sabrina McKenna, who authored the opinion, said that, unlike Souza, Fevella knew about the invalidated ballots when he filed his petition. Fevella also missed the Aug. 24 deadline to file a contested complaint after the primary, unlike Souza. And, unlike Fevella, Souza also requested the overage/underage voting report provided by the City and County of Honolulu’s Office of the City Clerk to the state Office of Elections, headed by Scott Nago. That report tracks discrepancies between the number of ballots cast and the number of voters in the voter rolls. McKenna emphasized in the opinion that state law regarding overage and underage reports “is confusing and ambiguous” and needs to be clarified “in order to avoid similar situation in future elections.”
Massachusetts: Gladys Adaeze Okafor, 56, of Lynn, who is a Nigerian citizen has been charged with unlawfully voting in the 2022 midterm election a
nd is also accused of casting a ballot in the 2024 presidential primary, federal prosecutors said. was arrested and charged with unlawful voting by an alien, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Okafor was born in Aba, Nigeria, and became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in December 2022, prosecutors said. She is not a U.S. citizen and has not applied for citizenship, according to charging documents. Federal prosecutors allege Okafor submitted a voter registration card in July 2022 and signed a certification declaring under penalty of perjury that she was a U.S. citizen. Lynn election officials subsequently registered her to vote, and she allegedly cast a ballot in that fall’s midterm election. Okafor submitted another voter registration form in October 2023, checking a box indicating that she was a U.S. citizen and signing the citizenship certification, prosecutors allege. She later voted in the 2024 presidential primary, according to the charging documents. The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $100,000 fine. Okafor could also face deportation after completing any sentence imposed if she is convicted, prosecutors said.
Michigan: Anthony Dekinderen, 61, of Lake Orion has been accused of making terrorist threats against public officials including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and members of the Michigan Supreme Court.Dekinderen is alleged to have sent two threatening emails to Michigan Advance, part of the States Newsroom network. The emails allegedly contained threats to kill members of the Michigan Supreme Court, Whitmer and Benson, Nessel’s office said. Dekinderen was charged with nine counts of sending a false report or a threat of terrorism, the attorney general’s office said, each carrying a 20-year prison sentence. He was arraigned before an Oakland County 52-3 District Court judge in Rochester Hills on Sept. 19 and was granted a $5 million bond with a requirement to wear a GPS tether. Oakland County jail records indicate that Dekinderen was still incarcerated as of September 21. He is scheduled to next appear in court on Sept. 28. “Thousands of Michigan residents answer the call to serve through elected office, be it as the local mayor or in statewide office. Unfortunately, hate crimes and threats of terrorism against officials at all levels of government are becoming increasingly common,” Nessel said in a statement. “Let these charges serve as a warning that Michigan takes threats of violence very seriously and will prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law.”
Missouri: The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled September 21 that Missouri must use the congressional map passed by Republicans in 2025 for the Nov. 3 election, but the decision was put on hold for a week — leaving election officials to proceed for now under the map they were already using. The Appeals Court issued its order just before 5 p.m. September 21, ruling the election in November must use the same district lines that were used in the Aug. 4 primary election. But the judges stayed the order until Sept. 28 to give opponents time to seek relief from the U.S. Supreme Court. That means the September 21 ruling does not immediately change how the election will proceed. The first ballots went out September 18 for overseas voters, and absentee voting begins Tuesday for people who are unable to make it to the polls on Election Day because of travel or mobility issues. The ruling is contrary to a decision of the Missouri Supreme Court that a referendum petition to force a vote on the 2025 map also negated the legal effect of the legislation enacting the plan. The U.S. Supreme Court has intervened twice already in the dispute, most recently on Sept. 10, when it blocked a federal judge’s order requiring use of the 2025 map while the case moved through the 8th Circuit. On September 22, attorneys for People Not Politicians asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene for a third time in three weeks in the fight over which congressional map must be used for the Nov. 3 elections. The motion filed about 10:30 p.m. asks the court to again direct the state to use the 2022 map for the November election. In response, Justice Brett Kavanaugh directed that responses from Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and the two congressional candidates who filed the case be filed by 1 p.m. September 23.
Secretary of State Denny Hoskins was sued again over his handling of the state’s congressional redistricting referendum. The proposed class action is the second filed against Hoskins in less than a week and the third lawsuit against him overall during that span. It seeks damages for voters who cast August primary ballots in congressional districts different from the ones they will vote in for the November general election. Plaintiffs Kate Dennis of Jackson County and Curry Spray of Clay County argue Hoskins deliberately delayed ruling on the referendum challenging Missouri’s 2025 congressional map until it was too late to prevent the disputed districts from being used in the Aug. 4 primary. They are asking a Cole County judge to certify a class consisting of voters who cast primary ballots in one congressional district under the 2025 map but will vote in another under the 2022 map in the Nov. 3 general election. The lawsuit estimates the group could include tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of voters. The lawsuit seeks $500 for each member of the class, along with compensatory damages. A spokeswoman for Hoskins could not comment on pending litigation.
New Jersey: The Republican National Committee went to court this week to force the state of New Jersey to turn over voting records. The lawsuit — filed in U.S. District Court against Lt. Gov Dale Caldwell, the secretary of state and chief elections officer, and elections officials in five countries — followed Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s announcement that around 6,600 noncitizens were registered to vote due to a software glitch, with fewer of 400 casting ballots in 2024. The RNC had asked the state to provide information by September on how the noncitizens wound up on the voter rolls, who has been removed and why, and what is being done to remove others ineligible to cast ballots. Sherrill in July rejected a demand from the U.S. Department of Justice to turn over the names, birth dates, addresses, nationalities, and other information on those erroneously registered. A spokesman for the governor, Stephen Sigmund, said the Republicans have tried 23 times to get states to prove personal data about their voters and have lost in court every time.
North Carolina: North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans, North Carolina Asian Americans Together, Down Home North Carolina and two voters filed suit September 22 to challenge the state’s changes to mail-in ballots. The organizations sued the state board of elections and two county election boards, claiming last-minute changes to the absentee ballot process disenfranchise voters. The state — which was the first in the nation to begin mailing ballots for the November midterm elections — adopted the changes hours before it began mailing out ballots in early September. It now requires local election officials to disqualify otherwise valid ballots that are not sealed in an inner envelope. Election officials are also now tasked with executing a new signature-verification process. “While in theory voters may be able to vote a replacement ballot or vote in person if this occurs, in practice, invalidation of their absentee ballots will almost certainly mean disenfranchisement for large swaths of voters caught up in the state board’s new rules,” the groups say in their complaint. “This state-sanctioned free-for-all will inevitably subject ballots to varying scrutiny between and within counties — resulting in unequal treatment of voters and arbitrary disenfranchisement.”
South Carolina: The South Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the state Election Commission in a Richland County court, accusing its members of illegally conducting public business behind closed doors. In court filings, the organization accused the former chairman of the five-member board, appointed by the governor, of calling other members to lobby for the removal of former state elections chief Howard Knapp. The group also alleges the board polled its members on Knapp’s removal in a closed-door meeting before taking the official vote in public. “Last year, the State Election Commission removed South Carolina’s top election official after a secret trial, secret deliberations and a secret vote. We’re going to court because the Freedom of Information Act guarantees more transparency than that,” the ACLU’s legal director Allen Chaney said in a statement. State public records law states “no chance meeting, social meeting or electronic communication” may be used to circumvent a public meeting. And “a public body may not commit the public body to a course of action by a polling of members in executive session.” The State Election Commission fired Knapp on Sept. 17 in a 3-2 vote. At the time, former Chairman Dennis Shedd said in a statement the commission fired Knapp out of a desire for new leadership. State Election Commission spokeswoman Sydni Bain said the agency is aware of the complaint, but as a matter of policy, it does not comment on ongoing litigation.
Texas: U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk paused a bid by Republicans to restrict participation in the GOP’s primary elections to voters registered with the party. Kacsmaryk stopped the effort, he wrote in his order that he expects the state’s Republican Party to succeed in closing its primaries during the upcoming Legislative Session. “Prominent Texas politicians support similar legislative action,” Kacsmaryk wrote, later adding that his decision to put the lawsuit on hold is “because the Texas Legislature may soon amend the law challenged here.” The Republican Party in its lawsuit argued that the state’s open primaries violate their First Amendment right to choose party leaders. Republicans have been trying to close primaries for years, but urgency to do so intensified in 2024 when two incumbent state representatives viewed as moderates — former House Speaker Dade Phelan and Gary VanDeaver — held off challengers in their primary races by fewer than 800 votes.
Utah: Damon Matai Seei, a U.S. Postal Service employee told the U.S. Department of Justice he threw 300 mail-in ballots into a parking lot dumpster shortly before the state’s June 23 primary election. The mail carrier told investigators that he did not have a political agenda and that he tossed other mail when he ditched the ballots, Melissa Holyoak, U.S. attorney for the District of Utah, said. She said roughly 95% of voters do so by mail in the state, and it wasn’t clear yet whether they were able to eventually cast ballots. According to a government memo, Matai Seei told investigators that he wanted to toss out advertisements to “lighten his workload” after feeling overwhelmed. “He claims he simply made a ‘poor decision’ out of ‘frustration’ and ‘laziness,’” the memo said. He didn’t intend to toss any ballots, they said. Seei is no longer with the U.S. Postal Service. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of destruction and delay of mail. The U.S. Postal Service said in a statement that it works “tirelessly to ensure public trust in the mail and monitors to prevent any issues that may arise,” and that it closely monitors political and election mail.
Vermont: U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Lanthier has ruled that Vermont does not have to provide sensitive voter registration data to the Trump administration, tossing a lawsuit filed over the issue by the U.S. Department of Justice against Sarah Copeland Hanzas, Vermont’s secretary of state. The decision came a year after federal officials demanded Hanzas turn over the state’s voter rolls. Hanzas refused, expressing confidence in the legal basis for her decision, and saying that Vermont has a robust network of local officials who help keep voter registration up-to-date. In December, federal attorneys sued in an attempt to force her hand. In her decision rejecting federal officials’ claims, Lanthier said that her findings were “consistent with several other courts.” The court made clear: The Trump Administration had no authority to demand access to the sensitive personal information of voters — including home addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security and driver’s license numbers,” said Hanzas and state Attorney General Charity Clark in a joint statement Thursday.
Washington: U.S. District Court Judge Kymberly Evanson tossed the Trump administration’s lawsuit against Washington seeking the state’s voter rolls, in line with many rulings across the country. This marks the 25th case that the U.S. Department of Justice has lost in its push to access sensitive voter information. The Justice Department has sued many states for voter rolls, and has yet to have a judge rule in its favor. An appeals court has also ruled against it in a lawsuit against Michigan. The federal government has appealed many of its other losses, as well. Both sides had been waiting for weeks for a decision from U.S. District Court Judge Kymberly Evanson after an early August hearing in federal court in Seattle. In her order, Evanson, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, said the Trump administration’s argument is “not persuasive as a matter of statutory interpretation, nor is it consistent with the purpose” of federal law. Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said the decision “reaffirms that my office has every right to protect voter’s private data.” “These baseless demands for state voter rolls are part of a broader pattern of federal overreach in states’ elections,” he added. “The DOJ does not have the authority or any reason to interfere with state election administration.”
Michael H. Drucker
