The Independent View: Electionline Weekly September-5-2019

Legislative Updates

Alaska: The Alaska Division of Elections has Denied an Initiative that would have, among other things, Instituted Ranked-Choice Voting and Opened up the State’s Primary Elections to All Registered Voters. The Single-Subject Rule serves an Important Constitutional purpose in the Initiative Context by Protecting Voters’ Ability to have their Voices Heard. 19AKBE, if Certified, would Force Voters into an All or Nothing Approach on Multiple Important Policy Choices, All of which Implicate their Fundamental Constitutional Rights in Different Ways.

Massachusetts: The State’s Attorney General has Certified Initiative Petitions that would put Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) on the November 2020 Ballot. The Initiative Petition would Implement RCV, starting in 2022, for Primary and General Elections for All Massachusetts Statewide Offices, State Legislative Offices, Federal Congressional Offices, and certain Other Offices.

Ohio: Senate Bill 191 would Establish a New Online System for Voters to Submit an Absentee Ballot Request. The System Prioritizes Security by Requiring the Requestor to Verify the Last Four Digits of their Social Security Number, Driver’s License or State ID Number, and Birth Date. Upon Receipt of the Request, the Signature of the Voter will be Compared to that on File with the Statewide Voter Registration Database.

Legal Updates

Florida: The State’s Supreme Court announced late last week that it will Hear Oral Arguments the First Week of November whether the State can continue to Restrict Voting Privileges to Felons who have Unpaid Fines and Fees.

New York: Jefferson County Republican Elections Commissioner Jude Seymore has sent the County a Bill for $8,900 for Legal Fees incurred during the Fight over Watertown’s Mayoral Race. Seymore said that if the County says No to the Bill, he may consider Filling an Article 78 Proceeding, which would take the County to Court and Challenge the Determination that he is Not Entitled to a Lawyer.

North Carolina: In a Unanimous Decision, a Three-Judge Superior Court Panel, Wake County, has Ruled that the State’s Legislative Districts are Unconstitutional. The Judicial Panel set a Sept. 17th Deadline for the General Assembly to Submit New Redrawn State House and Senate District Maps.

Ohio: The Secretary of State’s Office has reached a Settlement with the ACLU of Ohio that will allow Voters who have been Purged from the State’s Voter Rolls to Cast a Provisional Ballot through the 2022 Election. The Agreement applies to any Local, State, Special or Federal Election through 2022. Voters who Cast a Provisional Ballot in any of these Elections will also be Restored to the Voter Rolls. “As long as they still live in the same county where they were originally registered to vote and otherwise remain eligible, they can vote provisionally and have their provisional votes counted,” Freda Levenson, Legal Director for the ACLU of Ohio said.

Ohio Democrats have filed a Lawsuit against Secretary of State Frank LaRose in an effort to Stop his Office from Removing more than 200,000 Voters from the State’s Voter Registration Rolls. The 17-page Complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus seeks a Restraining Order Blocking the Sept. 6th Purge and asks that LaRose be Ordered to Conduct “a manual review of the voting history of each voter at risk of being purged.” Democrats also are Demanding an Independent Audit to Review Ohio’s Process for Updating Voter Rolls Removing Infrequent Voters from the Lists. On Tuesday U.S. District Judge James L. Graham Ruled that the Party Failed to Show Irreparable Harm would be Suffered Absent his Issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order.

Under the System, if a Voter doesn’t Participate in Six Years of Elections, so even just Two Midterms and One Presidential, and if that Voter has Failed to Respond to a Mailed Notice Confirming their Registration, they are Removed from the Rolls.

Ohio Violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). The VRA says: A Voter who Misses the next Two Federal Elections, Fails to Return the Mailed Notice, and then Fails to Vote in the Next Two Federal Elections, Can be Deleted from the Voting Rolls. Some States Mark the Voter as, In-Active, after Not receiving the Mailed Notice.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose was Dismissed from a Lawsuit filed by Members of Environmental Activist Groups who Accused Elections Officials of using Unconstitutional Tactics that kept Certain Initiatives from going before Voters.

Tennessee: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a Federal Lawsuit against the Secretary of State’s Office seeking a Preliminary Injunction against a Legislation Set to Become Law on Oct. 1st that would impose both Criminal and Civil Penalties on Organizations that host Voter Registration Drives if they Return Incomplete Applications or Fail to Comply with Certain Requirements.