Legislative Updates
Alabama: The House has approved a ban on curbside voting, a voting method that civil rights organizations had sought during the COVID-19 pandemic. Legislators voted 74-25 for the bill that now moves to the Alabama Senate. The bill by Republican Rep. Wes Allen of Troy would explicitly forbid election workers from setting up curbside areas for people to cast ballots as well as forbid setting up of voting machines outside a polling place. Supporters of the bill said it is needed to protect election integrity. Opponents argued the state is cutting off an avenue that might make it easier for elderly and disabled people to vote.
Arizona: The House Committee on Government and Elections approved a measure to require early voters to fill out an affidavit that includes their date of birth and either their driver’s license number or the number of their county-issued voter ID card. Then county election officials would be required to be sure these match what they have on file. This would be in addition to the current signature-matching mandates in state law. Local elections officials testified against the bill citing the added time and costs. Gabriella Cazares-Kelly, the Pima County recorder, said that last year her office verified 459,791 early ballots. That required two shifts, each 12 to 14 hours a day, with employees paid about $14 an hour. Working with the language of SB 1713, Cazares-Kelly said it would take an additional 2,500 hours of staff time, meaning more than $35,000 additional cost. “And that’s only if everyone is using a driver’s license number on their affidavit and shows consistent information,” she said. “The additional verifications are unnecessary and don’t add any meaningful security measures to a process that’s already proven secure.”
The House Committee on Government and Elections also approved SB1010 under party-line vote. Under the bill anyone with enough money to buy a recount of any — and all — elections, and at any level they wanted, right up through the entire state. Under SB 1010 they could demand not just a regular recount, which is done by running the ballots again through tabulation equipment, but even a hand count as long as they could afford the cost — no one had any figures — and the request was made within five days after the formal certification of the results and could afford the cost.
Arkansas: Senate Bill 485, introduced by Sen. Kim Hammer (R-Benton) would reduce voting hours on Saturdays and close voting centers and polling places in Arkansas on Mondays before Election Day. Hammer says his measure will allow county election commissions to better prepare for Election Day, as well as check for any voting irregularities. Arkansas voting rights advocates claim such a law will make it harder to early vote.
Florida: Some lawmakers have abandoned one of the most criticized elements of their proposed changes in voting laws, which make it harder for people to vote by mail in future elections. They have backed off the move to throw out all requests for mail ballots made for the 2020 presidential election, which, under previous law, meant that mail-in ballots would automatically be provided through the 2022 mid-terms. Throwing out all the ballot requests — retroactively — would disproportionately hurt Democrats next year, when both Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will be seeking re-election. The Florida House elections committee approved legislation Monday to change many vote-by-mail rules. The proposal would shorten the length of time voters’ requests to receive mail ballots remain in effect. But first it was amended so that it wouldn’t apply retroactively and cancel previous requests. The legislation would require elections officials to use the last signature they have on file for a voter to match a mail ballot instead of comparing several signatures. People who return their mail ballots to drop boxes at supervisors of elections offices or at early voting sites would have to show identification proving they live at the address of the voter whose ballot they’re returning. If it’s not the same address, they’d have to sign a declaration at the drop box that they’re a relative of the voter whose ballot they’re returning. Only relatives could return someone else’s vote-by-mail ballot. More access would be granted to people representing candidates and political parties wishing to scrutinize signature matching and duplication of ballots that need to be corrected if they are damaged or not filled out according to the instructions.
Georgia: The Senate Ethics Committee voted along party lines to advance House Bill 531, which could soon receive a vote in the full Senate. The bill would also limit ballot drop boxes, an innovation in the 2020 election cycle that allowed voters to deliver their absentee ballots rather than have to rely on the U.S. Postal Service to return them by election day. Drop boxes would only be allowed inside advance polling places during the hours that they’re opening. In addition, the bill would expand early voting by requiring polling on two Saturdays during the three-week early voting period. Legislators also voted to allow county election offices to have the option of opening for early voting on two Sundays, a decision that came after protests over reducing voting opportunities especially for Black voters who go to the polls after church. The legislation also would create a hotline to report voting allegations to the attorney general’s office, allow the State Election Board to take over county election boards it deems problematic, and require disclaimers on absentee ballot application forms mailed by nonprofit groups.
A House committee passed a different election overhaul bill on Monday, and lawmakers will have to negotiate final versions of bills before this year’s legislative session ends March 31. The House version, Senate Bill 202, also would set a deadline to request absentee ballots 11 days before election day, disqualify provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct, ban free food given to voters waiting in line, and require runoffs four weeks after election day instead of nine weeks.
Legislators have voted down a Gwinnett County bill that would have remade the county’s election board. Now, Democrats and Republicans alike appoint two members while a fifth, nonpartisan member is selected by the other members. The proposal to reconstitute the board would require the executive committees of both the Republican and Democratic parties to submit three names to the county commission within 30 days of there being an opening on the board. Commissioners would appoint two people from each list. If no lists are submitted, commissioners could appoint whoever they wanted. A fifth member of the board would be appointed by the commission without regard to party.
Decisions about Georgia elections, such as vote counting and polling place closures, could be made by appointees of Republican state officials empowered to take over local election operations, according to a bill awaiting final votes. Under the proposal, the Republican-controlled State Election Board would be able to replace struggling county election boards and install new management, with broad authority over elections and results. Critics of the proposal say it would usurp authority from county election boards, often run by volunteers appointed by each political party or county commissions. The bill calls for one person appointed by the state to oversee a county’s election operations. Supporters of the measure say some county election offices, such as Fulton’s, need help after 2020 elections stained by long lines in the primary and suspicions about ballot security. They say the state government should step in when local governments fail. The county election board takeover proposals are included within broad election overhaul measures, Senate Bill 202 and House Bill 531, which are scheduled for votes in each chamber starting Thursday. The legislation would also require voter ID for absentee ballots, expand weekend voting in general elections and limit ballot drop boxes. Both bills would allow the State Election Board to seek the removal of county election boards for poor performance. The measure that cleared the House goes further. It would remove the secretary of state as the chairperson of the State Election Board and replace him with an appointee of the General Assembly. That would give a majority of the board to the General Assembly, which already appoints two of its members.
Illinois: House Bill 1872, sponsored by Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago would repeal an existing law that prohibits prison inmates from voting is working its way through the General Assembly and was the subject of an informational hearing in the House Ethics and Elections Committee this week. Under current law, no person who has been convicted of a crime in Illinois, any other state, or in a federal court who is serving a term of confinement in any penal institution is allowed to vote. That includes inmates who are on furlough or in a work-release program, but it does not include people who’ve been released on parole or people being held in pretrial detention. Their right to vote is only restored once they have been released or paroled from prison. Simply repealing that law, however, would not, by itself, restore the right to vote for inmates because Article 3, Section 2 of the Illinois Constitution also prohibits prison inmates from voting. Per the constitution, “A person convicted of a felony, or otherwise under sentence in a correctional institution or jail, shall lose the right to vote, which right shall be restored not later than upon completion of his sentence.”
Indiana: The House Elections and Apportionment Committee was scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss an election bill that would require voters to add identification information on absentee ballot applications and prohibits shifting election dates, but the hearing was canceled Monday afternoon. A spokeswoman said the hearing was canceled because of “scheduling conflicts,” but that the bill will be heard at a future committee hearing. But, area Democratic officials say the bill is voter suppression, while area Republican officials say the bill limits the potential for fraud. The bill — authored by Sens. Erin Houchin, R-Salem; Eric Koch, R-Bedford; and Jon Ford, R-Terre Haute; requires voters to write in — instead of election workers preprinting the number — their driver’s license or last four numbers of their Social Security number on the application for an absentee ballot that is on record with their county election offices. The bill also prohibits the Indiana Election Commission from “instituting, increasing or expanding” vote-by-mail or absentee vote-by-mail and changing the time, place or manner of holding an election.
HB 1365, would prohibit voting machines in the state from being connected to the Internet – a hot topic following the Nov. 3 presidential election, when cybersecurity experts testified at hearings in several states that voting machines were connected to the Internet on Election Day even though election officials believed they were not.
HB 1485, would make it a crime for someone to refuse to leave a polling place after they’ve been asked to leave by an election officer or by police for causing a disruption, and would also allow a document issued by a Native American tribe to be considered valid ID for the purposes of voting.
Iowa: The Iowa House passed a proposed amendment to the Iowa Constitution to restore voting rights to people with felony convictions who have served their sentences, leaving the amendment to an uncertain fate in the Iowa Senate. The House voted 94-0 Wednesday night to pass House Joint Resolution 11, advancing a priority that Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds has called for since 2019. The House overwhelmingly passed the proposed amendment before, in 2019. But the Senate, which like the House is controlled by Republicans, failed to act on the measure in 2019 and 2020. It’s unclear whether the Senate will act this year. Proposals to amend the Iowa Constitution must pass two consecutive general assemblies and win majority approval in a statewide vote. If passed this year, the Legislature would have to pass the same language in 2023 or 2024 before it could be put before Iowans for a vote.
The House on Wednesday also passed a separate bill, House File 818, that would impose similar restrictions on who is eligible to have their voting rights automatically restored if the constitutional amendment were to take effect. That bill passed on a vote of 65-28. The House bill would also require all restitution be paid to any crime victims before the person’s voting rights could be restored — a provision that Democrats said amounted to a poll tax.
Kansas: A bill that would limit the powers of the governor and Secretary of State during elections is moving through the Kansas statehouse. Lawmakers in the state’s Senate Federal and State Affairs committee held a hearing on the bill Wednesday morning. The bill would prohibit the governor, the executive branch and the judicial branch from altering election laws. It would also limit the authority of the Secretary of State from entering into consent decrees with any court without approval from the state’s legislative coordinating council. Supporters of the measure said it’s a necessary step to make elections safer for Kansas. However, some opponents of the bill said while it’s important to maintain election integrity, it’s not the legislature’s place to impose restrictions on other branches of government, seeing it as another attempt to place limits on the governor.
Maryland: House Bill 1047, introduced by Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery) has been touted by Democratic lawmakers and advocates as a way to improve voter confidence in mail-in voting while also expanding access to popular ballot drop-off boxes. In addition to expanding drop-off boxes and ballot tracking, the bill would also allow voters to “cure” absentee ballots that contain errors.
House Bill 222 would expand access to the ballot to Maryland’s prison population by requiring correctional facilities to give people voter registration forms upon their release and provide ballot drop boxes inside facilities for inmates to submit their votes. Under state law, incarcerated individuals maintain the ability to vote if they are serving time for a misdemeanor or are being held pre-trial. People convicted of felony crimes regain their ability to vote once their sentence has been completed. Anyone convicted of buying or selling votes permanently loses their registration eligibility. The bill would also require the state and local boards of elections to provide voter registration forms to incarcerated individuals at least 30 days before the registration window closes, and educate inmates about their voting eligibility and absentee ballots.
Montana: The Yellowstone State was an early adopter of election day registration, but that could soon be over after a bill advanced by Senate Republicans was approved this week. House Bill 176, if signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) would end voter registration at noon on the day before Election Day. Supporters say the bill is needed because same-day registration causes undue burden for election administrators. Opponents say the bill will make it harder for some, like Native Americans and those who are disabled, to vote. The bill advanced on a party line vote. The House State Administration Committee originally tabled the bill. But Republicans revived the proposal after it was amended to move the voter registration deadline closer to Election Day. Republican Secretary of State Christie Jacobsen said the legislation is a top priority for her office.
A Montana House committee unanimously endorsed a bill aimed at making it easier for Native Americans to vote. The bill would require counties to have at least one satellite or alternative election office on reservations in the 30 days before an election and for the counties and tribes to agree, in writing, on the location and hours of operation. The bill puts into law the terms of a 2014 settlement in a voting rights lawsuit that required three counties to open satellite voting offices on reservations twice a week before Election Day. It also puts into law guidance issued by the Secretary of State’s Office directing other counties with tribal voters to comply with the settlement.
The House has voted to endorse new voter identification restrictions after amending legislation to require college students to provide a second form of identification in addition to their school ID. A week after the House State Administration Committee voted unanimously to keep Montana college IDs on the state’s the list of “primary” identification for registering and voting, House Speaker Wylie Galt, R-Martinsdale, introduced an amendment reversing the change to Senate Bill 169. The amendment passed 55-45. The bill is part of a package of legislation being pushed by Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen. As written, the bill would require an official document showing the voter’s name and current address, if they can’t provide a primary ID. Primary ID options include a Montana driver’s license or ID card, tribal photo ID, military ID, concealed carry permit, a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number.
New Hampshire: The state Senate Republican majority rejected a Democratic effort to make no-excuse absentee voting and registration permanent in the Granite State despite the successful temporary relaxation of requirements last year to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Senate Bill 47 was defeated 14-10
New Jersey: The Assembly State and Local Government Committee advanced bills allowing county election boards to decide the placement of ballot drop boxes. The bill allows county election boards to decide the placement of ballot drop boxes by a simple majority vote. In the case of a tie, the county clerk casts the deciding vote. Under the bill, each county must erect at least 10 ballot drop boxes, with at least one box in each municipality with average per capita or median family incomes at or below 250% of the federal poverty line. The bill is a bid to prevent drop box clusters seen in some towns in last year’s elections. The rules used for those races required drop boxes be placed at specific sites, including county and municipal government buildings, community colleges and state universities. The Assembly State and Local Government Committee cleared that measure in a 4-2 vote along party lines. The Senate passed the measure in a 25-13 vote in February, but will have to do so again, as Assembly lawmakers amended it
The Assembly State and Local Government Committee voted 4-2 along party lines on a measure that would ban on- and off-duty police officers from loitering within 100 ft. of a drop box. That prohibition does not prevent officers from voting, nor does it prevent officers from remaining in their homes if those fall within the 100-foot limit. It also blocks municipalities from assigning police to enforce election laws unless they’re specifically requested by an election board, superintendent of elections or county clerk. The bill would still allow local and county police authorities to assist in the transport of ballots.
The Assembly Education Committee on Wednesday advanced legislation (A-3394) to require all New Jersey students in an appropriate middle school grade to complete a civics course beginning in the 2022-2023 school year. The course would address the values and principles of the American system of constitutional democracy, the function and limitations of government, and the role of a citizen in a democratic society. The New Jersey Center for Civic Education at Rutgers University would provide curricula, professional development and technical assistance for middle and high school civics education. The bill would be known as “Laura Wooten’s Law” in recognition of Mercer County’s longest-serving poll worker, who volunteered a record 79 continuous years before she passed away in 2019. Her voting rights advocacy inspired a coalition of college and high school students to launch the Poll Hero Project, an initiative to recruit young people to serve as poll workers.
A new bill introduced by Assemblyman Gerard Scharfenberger (R-Middletown) would require New Jersey’s State Department create a database of election violations, including civil rights breaches and fraud. The measure would require state officials create an incident reporting and complaint database to track abuses, including voting-related civil rights violations and fraud. It requires the incidents include information about the location and date of the incident, as well as a description and a list of actions taken by authorities in response to the complaint. It would also command election officials to forward complaints to the state Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney. Under the bill, the State Department must submit a report detailing incidents to the governor and the legislature.
North Carolina: Republican Sens. Warren Daniel, Ralph Hise and Paul Newton filed Senate Bill 326, the Election Integrity Act. The bill would prevent the collection of any absentee ballots after 5 p.m. Election Day or the date of the primary regardless of when the voter mailed the ballot. If the Election Integrity Act becomes law, elections boards in the state’s 100 counties will have a series of new rules to follow when handling absentee ballots. “The goal of the bill is to bring clarity, simplicity and a clear set of rules to ensure everybody’s on the same footing,” Newton said in an interview, “and the overarching goal is to really restore trust, restore confidence in the election process.” The bill mandates that voters eligible to cast absentee ballots must complete a request form by 5 p.m. the Tuesday two weeks before the election. As soon as the county board receives that application staff must mail to the voter the official ballot, a return envelope for the ballot, and instructions regarding the requirement for a photocopy of the voter’s identification.
North Dakota: The Senate on this wee reconsidered and narrowly defeated a bill to guarantee physical election polling locations. Sen. Diane Larson, R-Bismarck, who was absent from the Senate when the bill passed 25-20, asked the body to reconsider House Bill 1198, brought by Rep. Steve Vetter, R-Grand Forks. “This bill did seem to me to go too far in completely restricting the ability of the governor to react so that we do have the ability to vote” in elections, said Larson, who voted against the bill. It fell 23-24 on Monday, one vote shy of staying alive. The legislation would have prohibited the governor from issuing an executive order suspending or amending provisions in laws, orders or state agency rules related to the required minimum of physical polling places. The House last month passed the bill 77-17. Gov. Doug Burgum last year signed an executive order waiving the requirement that counties provide at least one physical polling site for the June 2020 election, due to the coronavirus pandemic. His spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday on whether Burgum would have vetoed the bill.
Ohio: State Reps. Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Cleveland, and Michele Lepore-Hagan, D-Youngstown want to increase voter drop box access throughout the state of Ohio, proposing to install hundreds of boxes for future elections. House Bill 209 would significantly increase the number of drop boxes installed in Ohio. It would require that each incorporated community, township, census-designated place and college/university campus have a drop box. HB 209 separately sets a minimum number of drop boxes in a given county based on its number of registered voters: Counties with more than 250,000 registered voters would need at least one drop box per every 12,500 voters; Counties with between 37,500 and 249,999 registered voters would need at least one drop box per every 15,000 voters; and Counties with fewer than 37,500 voters would need at least two total drop boxes.
Texas: Using an obscure provision in the Texas Senate rulebook, Democratic senators blocked consideration of five Republican voting bills at a Capitol committee hearing this week. The Democrats delayed action by “tagging” the bills, saying they were not provided with written notice of Monday’s public hearing at the State Affairs Committee within 48 hours. State Affairs Chairman Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, announced the delay at the start of Monday’s hearing, vowing to return as soon as possible. According to the Austin American-Statesman, much of the ire is focused on Senate Bill 7 and a similar measure up for a House hearing on Thursday, House Bill 6, which would require voters with a disability to prove a health impairment before voting by mail, block vote-by-mail applications from being sent unsolicited to voters and require counties to provide the same number of voting machines in each polling place regardless of population density, among other changes.
Virginia: Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has recently signed three elections-related bills into law: House Bill 1968, allows localities to provide early-voting on Sundays; Senate Bill 1097, waives the requirement for witness signatures on absentee ballots in public health emergencies; and Senate Bill 1239, which allows registrars to work with third-party companies to ensure absentee ballots are printed on time. Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Assembly passed a resolution this week to authorize an investigation into the 2020 presidential election that President Joe Biden narrowly won in the state. The resolution, opposed by Democrats, is needed to give the committee authorization if it decides to issue subpoenas to compel testimony and gather documents, said Rep. Joe Sanfelippo. He is vice-chairman of the Assembly elections and campaign committee that would conduct the probe. The resolution authorizing the investigation passed on a 58-35 party line vote, with all Republicans in support and all Democrats against. It passed after Republicans last month ordered an audit of the election results. Sanfelippo said at a news conference Tuesday that he hoped the committee would not need to subpoena anyone to testify, a power that hasn’t been used by a legislative committee in at least half a century. He said it was in everyone’s best interests to be open and forthcoming.
Wyoming: The Wyoming Senate unanimously passed Senate File 142 on third reading on Monday, March 22. The legislation aims to prohibit the state or local governments from accepting private funds to help cover costs of getting voters registered or to help pay for “preparing for, conducting or overseeing an election.” The Senate amended the legislation ahead of their third reading vote to allow the secretary of state’s office to use donated private funds “for the explicit purpose of election training or education” and to allow meals and food to be donated to support election training or for poll workers or other staff on election day.
Senate File 145 failed on the third and final reading in the Senate in a narrow 14-15 vote, with one lawmaker excused. Senate File 145 sought to require a runoff election after a primary election if no single candidate captured the majority of votes. A candidate would need to receive over half of the votes to be considered the winner of a primary election. In packed primary races, if no candidate obtained enough votes, a runoff election would occur, with the two leading candidates facing off against one another.
Legal Updates
Federal Lawsuits: Sidney Powell asked a federal court in Washington this week to throw out the $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit that Dominion Voting Systems filed against her for spreading a baseless conspiracy that the voting machine company helped to “steal” the election from former President Donald Trump. Powell doesn’t argue that her statements were true. Rather, her lawyers say that the 65-year-old Trump ally made statements of political opinion, protected under the First Amendment. “No reasonable person” would believe that her comments were “statements of fact,” Powell’s lawyers wrote in their motion to throw out the case. “Reasonable people understand that the ‘language of the political arena, like the language used in labor disputes … is often vituperative, abusive and inexact,’” the motion argues. “It is likewise a ‘well recognized principle that political statements are inherently prone to exaggeration and hyperbole.’” The 54-page motion to dismiss says Powell was just informing the public of her opinions and legal theories, and those who were interested were free to “review that evidence and reach their own conclusions” or wait for courts to resolve the matter “before making up their minds.” Her lawyers also argued that the District Court in D.C. lacks jurisdiction, and if the court won’t dismiss the lawsuit, it should transfer the case to Texas, where Powell lives.
California: The First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled this week that not all state agencies must provide voter registration materials. Disability-rights advocates had sued saying the state is violating a legal duty to register voters in offices serving disabled students and the elderly, who have less access than others to motor-voter sign-ups. While the populations served by those offices are less likely than others to apply for drivers’ licenses, which would entitle them to immediate voter registration, they are not the types of public agencies required by law to have their own registration sites, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said Tuesday. Federal law requires states to establish voter-registration centers in offices that provide either “public assistance” or “state-funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities.” After advocacy groups said California was not fully complying with the law, then-Secretary of State Alex Padilla agreed in 2018 to set up registration sites in some county welfare departments, the state Office for Services to the Blind, and offices serving disabled students in community colleges. At a judge’s orders, Padilla added more welfare offices and student financial aid centers as registration sites in 2019. But he declined to install registration sites at “special education” offices serving students with disabilities, or at the 33 Area Agencies on Aging, nonprofits commissioned by the state to deliver meals and provide other services to elderly people who need them. The court said neither one was the type of office mandated by federal law to register voters. Advocates have said they will appeal.
Georgia: The Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled that a Fulton County judge has the power to decide whether to enforce subpoenas filed by the state ethics commission seeking documents from Democrat Stacey Abrams’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick said last year that she didn’t have jurisdiction to enforce subpoenas from the commission, which is looking into whether Abrams’ campaign illegally coordinated its efforts with nonprofits supporting her bid for governor. Georgia law prohibits independent groups from coordinating with candidates. Abrams ultimately lost the election to Republican Brian Kemp. A rematch between the two is expected in 2022, and her camp has noted that the ethics commission’s executive secretary, David Emadi, was a Kemp donor in 2018.
Illinois: The Illinois Supreme Court has denied an appeal by six Naperville Township Republican candidates who wanted justices to overturn a lower court’s decision to void any votes they receive in the April 6 election. As a result, only votes cast for Naperville Township Republican Organization candidates will be counted by the DuPage County Clerk’s Office. Because they face no opposition, both will be elected to the posts they seek as will unopposed Democratic candidates. The names of the six invalidated candidates will appear on ballots because they were printed before a final ruling was made. The DuPage County Clerk’s Office will discard any votes they receive as invalid. While the candidates’ case was granted expedited consideration because the election date is approaching, the high court rejected the request and allowed the Second District Appellate Court’s ruling to stand.
Michigan: Circuit Court Judge Kevin Elsenheimer ruled the plaintiffs in a case alleging election fraud in Antrim County will not have to disclose its possible dealings with former President Donald Trump or his team. “You’re looking for correspondence with any attorney associated with President Donald Trump, campaign staff, etc.,” said 13th Circuit Court Judge Kevin Elsenheimer said to state Assistant Attorney General Erik Grill. “Obviously, you’re trying to establish some coordination and my question to you is: let’s assume hypothetically there was coordination … how is that relevant?” Grill said he wanted to know if coordination is “driving some element of this case and keeping it going long after a point that it really should have stopped.” Officials in several northern Michigan clerks’ offices said they were visited by Trump operatives following the November elections. Lawyers appeared remotely via video feed Monday to discuss discovery issues arising in an unsettled election lawsuit filed in Antrim County. Both sides claim the other is withholding information that’s delaying the case from moving forward. The lawsuit focuses largely on claims that Dominion Voting Systems tabulators and software can’t be trusted.
Mississippi: Primary elections are two weeks away, but Canton voters are still not able to cast their absentee ballots. There has been at least five lawsuits filed in the Canton election battle. A judge ruled the incumbent mayor’s name will be on the ballot, but that’s not the end of the dispute. Canton residents believe the ongoing legal wrangling that’s stopped absentee ballots from being printed is all about power. Canton resident Tobias Anderson said with no absentee ballots printed, it significantly alters his voting plan. “I always do the absentee ballot and vote here, so, for that to not be an option for me it’s going to make it difficult for me to have a say so,” said Anderson. The initial dispute over ballots was resolved when a judge ruled the mayor and two sitting alderman who were disqualified for not living in the city would be allowed to run for their positions again. Now, there’s a new hold-up for the ballots.
New Hampshire: It has been 10 months since the state appealed a Superior Court judge’s order striking down as unconstitutional the 2017 law tightening voting registration requirements, known as Senate Bill 3. In the past several months, and most recently in late February, attorneys for the state on one side, and the Democratic Party, League of Women Voters and six individual current or former college students on the other side, have traded written briefs in preparation for likely oral arguments, which have not yet been scheduled. In January filings, the plaintiffs have noted that three judges have found Senate Bill 3 to be unconstitutional – including two preliminary rulings and the final Superior Court ruling being appealed in this case – finding that the law imposed severe or unreasonable restrictions on the right to vote. In briefings filed in late February, he state’s attorney’s wrote: “… a plaintiff seeking to invalidate a duly enacted law (like SB 3) on its face is required to show that the law ‘violates the Constitution in all, or virtually all, of its applications’ to succeed. “Showing that certain portions of SB 3 may adversely affect a small subset of same-day registrants during certain high volume elections at certain polling places is insufficient to meet that high bar.” The attorney general’s office acknowledges, “SB3 reduces the number of individuals who may register to vote without providing documentary proof of domicile.”
North Carolina: The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District announced an end to a sweeping, four-year-long investigation into voter fraud in North Carolina. The investigation resulted in a range of charges related to immigration, registration and election rules against about 70 people — more than 40 of whom were accused of casting ballots illegally. Dates of those charges, which involved activity during the 2016 election and prior, range from July 2018 to mid-February 2021. Many of the latest indictments were announced for the first time last week, but the totals fall far short of early suggestions by the federal government of “pervasive” or “systemic” fraud, suspicions the U.S. Attorney’s Office put before a federal judge in an effort to keep details of its inquiry secret for years. Hundreds of pages of now unsealed court files — which WRAL News, The News & Observer and other media outlets fought in court for more than than a year to obtain — shed light on the contentious relationship State Board of Elections officials had with federal investigators from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The two sides repeatedly accused each other of either sabotage or incompetence, the court records show. The filings also illustrate a shift in priorities for the then newly installed Trump Department of Justice, which grew increasingly focused on bringing criminal charges for voting irregularities among noncitizens. State officials, who relied on federal citizenship data for voter list maintenance, discovered that what once was a routine process could now spawn wide-ranging criminal investigations.
Ohio: The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office has requested a protective order to prevent Secretary Frank LaRose and Elections Director Amanda Grandjean from being deposed by lawyers for the Summit County Republican Party’s Executive Committee. The state sought a protection order in response to deposition notices sent by Attorney Stephen Funk, who is representing the Summit GOP’s Executive Committee in the suit filed Friday challenging LaRose’s rejection of Bryan Williams’ reappointment to the Summit County Board of Elections. Williams has claimed that LaRose – a Summit County native – developed a political animosity toward him after he sponsored a fundraiser in 2018 for a potential Republican opponent in LaRose’s race for secretary of state. The party is asking the court to order that Williams serve a four-year term at the election board through Feb. 28, 2025. Williams has been a member of the board since March 2014, and from 2004 to 2010, he was director or deputy director. The court announced this week that it will require LaRose and Grandjean to be deposed, but imposted a time limit on it. The court partially rejected the state’s request for a protection order to prevent the depositions and partially granted it by ordering that LaRose’s deposition last up to two hours and Grandjean’s up to one hour. Attorneys for the state may also have an additional 30 minutes and 15 minutes, respectively, for “examination if needed.”
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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