Legislative Updates
Federal Legislation: The Protect American Voters Act (PAVA) would require the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to establish the Emerging Election Technology Committee (EETC), which would help create Voluntary Guidelines for Election Equipment, such as Voter Registration Databases, Not covered under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The EETC would be Empowered to Bypass the Existing Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines process, which is a Voluntary Set of Voting Requirements that Voting systems can be Tested against to Ensure their Security and Accessibility. The New Bill would also Establish an Election Cyber Assistance Unit within the EAC, which would Help Connect State and Local Election Officials across the Country with Cybersecurity Experts who could provide Technical Support.
Kansas: Sen. David Haley (D-Kansas City) Proposed Legislation that would Require the Secretary of State’s Office to Pay for Municipal Election Recounts in General Elections if the Vote Difference between Candidates was Less than half of 1% of Votes Cast. Under the Current system, Cost of Recounts in Local Races is Absorbed by the Party seeking the Recount if the Election Outcome Doesn’t Change. If the Party Triggering the Recount Prevails, the County must Absorb the Cost.
Kentucky: An Amended Bill that would Require an ID to Vote in the Commonwealth has Passed the Senate on a 29-9 Vote. The Amendments allow Voter who Lack a Photo ID to provide Items such as a Credit or Debit Card or Social Security Card in order to Vote.
A proposed Constitutional Amendment would Automatically Restore the Voting Rights to Returning Citizens as soon as they are Released from Prison.
Maryland: A Bill under consideration by the General Assembly would Require the State Board of Elections to Provide Access to Voting to those who are Incarcerated but Eligible to Vote. There are around 6,400 People Detained Awaiting Trial each Month in Maryland, according to the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention.
Massachusetts: With a February 5th Deadline for Legislation to Move Out of Committee or Die, Advocates are Pushing H636, H685, and S396, which would Allow for same-Day Registration in the Commonwealth. The Advocates have the Support of the Secretary of State and the Attorney General.
Michigan: Rep. Steven Johnson (R-72nd District, Wayland) is Sponsoring a Bill that would Allow Voters to Take and Post Ballot Selfies on Social Media. Current Law allows a Voter to Photograph their Ballot and Post it Online, but the Voter Themselves cannot be in the photo. This Legislation would change that.
Legislators are considering a Bill that would Ease the Burden of Counting Absentee Ballots. Under the Legislations, Clerks would be Allowed to Remove Ballots from the Mail Envelope Prior to Election Night.
Minnesota: Republicans in the Minnesota Senate said they will Renew their Push for a Voter ID Law during the Election-year Legislative Session that begins Next month, saying the Requirement would Help Prevent Voter Fraud. But since most Voter Fraud happens with Absentee Ballots, don't know how this will help stop the so called Voter Fraud.
New Jersey: Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker (D-16th District) has introduced Bills creating a Ranked-Choice Voting system and allowing 17-year-olds who would be of Voting Age by the General Election to Vote in Primaries.
South Carolina: A Bill is on its way to the Senate Floor that would Allow Absentee Ballots Cast in the 30 days before the Election get Marked and Sealed in Envelopes, set aside until 9 a.m. on Election Day, when Counting can Legally Begin.
South Dakota: By 10-1 Vote, the House Local Government Committee, has Advanced HB1054 to the Full House. Under the Bill, in addition to Providing either a Driver’s License Number or the Last Four Digits of a Social Security Number, Residents would now be able to also Provide a Non-Driver ID Number in Order to Register.
Utah: Sen. Jake Anderegg (R-13th District) and Rep. Craig Hall (R-33rd District) have pitched yet-to-be-filed-Bill to House Democrats in their Caucus Meeting, seeking Support for Legislation they know may face a Steep Hill to Climb. The Lawmakers are Championing an Effort to Loosen Election Privacy Laws to Allow Candidates and Political Parties Access to voter Information, even if People Opted to Keep their Information Private.
Vermont: The Burlington City Council has Reversed Course and decided that it will Not put a Question on the Upcoming Ballot asking Voters whether or Not Documented Noncitizens should be allowed to Vote in Local Elections. The Council Voted 10-2 to refer the Item to a Council Subcommittee for further Discussion.
Virginia: House Bill 1103, Introduced by Del. Sally Hudson (D-57th District, Charlottesville), would Open a Pilot Program for Ranked-Choice Voting in Local Elections, such as City Council or School Board Contests. Glenn Davis (R-84th District, Virginia Beach), is a Co-Patron. He said he Supports the Legislation because it gives Localities more Freedom to Govern. HB 1103 Reported Out of Subcommittee, 4-3. The Bill will now Move to the House Committee on Privileges and Elections.
Washington: Senate Bill 6228 would make Felons Automatically Eligible to Vote once they are Released from State Prison. Under Current Law, they are Eligible once they have Completed Community Custody. If Approved, the Bill would Affect about 9,000 Eligible Returning Citizens.
West Virginia: A Bill that would Allow Voters with Disabilities use the Same Online Voting Technology that Military and Overseas Voter from West Virginia now use has been Approved by House of Delegates. Senate Bill 94 is the First Bill this year that has Passed Both Chambers. According to Donald Kersey, Tusk-Montgomery Philanthropies, a Mobile Voting Advocacy Group, has Offered to Pay for the Associated Equipment, Implementing the Bill won’t Cost Anything to the State or the Counties Responsible for Offering and Collecting the Ballots.
Legal Updates
Alabama: Convicted Felons who Lost their Right to Vote under Alabama Law can’t Pursue their Challenge to that Law in a Class Action, a Federal District Court in the State said. The Plaintiffs, who said they Can’t have their Voting Rights Restored until they Pay Off All the Financial Obligations Associated with their Cases, didn’t show Class Certification was Necessary, Judge Emily C. Marks of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama said.
Arizona: In a 239-page Ruling, the Full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Overturned Arizona’s Ballot-Harvesting Ban and its Policy Rejecting Ballots Accidentally Cast in the Wrong Precinct. In the Ruling, the Deciding Judges wrote that Both Laws were a Reflection the State’s “long and unhappy history of official discrimination” in Elections. However, Four Judges on the Court said the Majority’s Ruling was Unsupported by Facts and that Plaintiffs in the Case “simply failed to show that either policy” Presented a Discriminatory Burden on Minority Voters. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) said Monday he will Appeal the Ruling to the Supreme Court.
California: The City of Beverly Hills has filed a Lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court over Concerns regarding Los Angeles County’s New VSAP (Voting Solutions for All People) Touchscreen Electronic Voting system. The Lawsuit implies that the New system may Lead to Inaccurate Voting at Vote Centers Countywide due to only the Four Candidates appearing on the Screen at a Time and Voters potentially Casting their Vote without selecting MORE to see the Other Candidates. You have to Select NEXT to Verify your Choice.
In Los Angeles County, Superior Court Judge, Teresa Beaudet, had Denied a Defense Motion to Dismiss a Lawsuit brought by Two Registered Sex Offenders who were Prohibiting from Serving as Poll Workers in the County. According to the Los Angeles Superior Court Complaint filed last May 7th, the Registrar-Recorder Policy Preventing Registrants from Working as Poll Workers is Superseded by State Law, which Supplants Local Legislation and has No Provision Banning Sex Offenders from Working as Poll Workers. Beadet also Denied a Request from the Plaintiffs for a Judgement in their Favor without a Trial.
Florida: Oral Arguments were Held before a Panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week over Florida’s Amendment 4. Lawyers for the State asked the Appellate Court to Overturn an Injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in October that Prevented the Implementation of a Florida Law Requiring Convicted Felons to Pay Restitution before having their Voting Rights Reinstated.
Michigan: Super PAC Priorities USA has Amended a Lawsuit filed against the State’s Same-Day Registration Law. In the Amendment, the PAC cited a Jan. 13th Memo in which the State Elections Bureau told Local Clerks that Satellite Offices can also be Used for Voter Registration Up To and Including on Election Day. Priorities USA Abandoned its Argument that Forcing Voters to Travel to a Clerk’s Office to Register is an Undue Burden, Satisfied that Clerks can use Satellite Locations for those with Limited Access to Transportation. The Suit Continues to Contest a Documentation Requirement and Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s Policy Excluding Teens from being Automatically Registered to Vote when they turn 17½ years old.
Minnesota: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced they are Challenging the Constitutionality of a Minnesota Law that Mandates that a Person may Help No More than Three Voters Complete their In-Person or Absentee Ballots. The Committees contend that the Law has the Ability to Effect “non-English speakers and people with disabilities” Disproportionately. “There’s no place in our society for laws that make it harder for older Americans, non-English speakers and people with disabilities to cast their ballots. We should be working to increase access to the ballot, not restrict it,” DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos (D-IL, 17th District), said in a Statement.
Mississippi: Hinds County Judge Jeff Weill has Ruled that Yalobusha County must Hold a Special Election in Two Precincts to Decide who will be the County’s Next Sheriff. The Judge Ruled a Special Election was necessary because Four Absentee Ballots, Two from Each Precinct, were Processed Illegally, and he could Not Determine the Preference of those Four Voters. Results from those Two Precincts will be Added to the General Election Totals from the Other Precincts to determine a Winner.
New Jersey: Judge Stuart Minkowitz Ordered Morris County Elections Officials to Count 42 Provisional Ballots and 10 Vote-by-Mail Ballots in a Race for Morris Township Committeeman. A Complaint filed by the New Jersey Democratic State Committee and the Morris County Democratic Committee included Affidavits from Poll Workers and Eighteen Voters stating that the Envelope Glue would Not Stick. Incumbent Peter Mancuso Won the Election after the Ballots were Counted.
North Carolina: Lawyers from the Attorney General Filed the Paperwork before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Behalf of the State Board of Elections, which was Sued over the 2018 Voter ID Law by the State NAACP and Local NAACP Chapters.
Tennessee: In a Unanimous Decision, a Panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Upheld a Lower Court Ruling that Found a Voters’ Rights Group Lacks Standing to Challenge the Security of the voting Machines used in Tennessee. Shelby Advocates for Valid Elections, or SAVE, filed Suit in 2018 against the Tennessee Election Commission and Secretary of State Tre Hargett, among others, Claiming Outdated Software and Antiquated Machines left Elections Vulnerable to Hackers and Manipulation. In an Eight-page, Unsigned Opinion, the Court noted that All of SAVE’s Claims focused on Human Error, and Not the Machines Used by the State and Shelby County. “Fear that individual mistakes will recur, generally speaking, does not create a cognizable imminent risk of harm,” the Ruling states.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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