Legislative Updates
Arizona: Under Senate Bill 1571, offered by Sen. Kelly Townsend (R-Apache Junction), ballot drop boxes would have to take pictures or video of depositors and generate receipts for up to seven early ballots per person. And they would have to be able to link every ballot inserted with the person who made the deposit. Townsend’s bill has been approved by two Senate committees, most recently the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 22. en Marson, executive director for the Arizona Association of Counties, estimates that there are 160 outside drop boxes statewide, and replacing them all with high-tech versions would have a hefty price tag. A Phoenix company that provides some election equipment and ballots for Arizona elections estimated the “smart” boxes that Townsend is proposing would cost $15,000 each. “Their initial cost estimate is $15,000 per, so that puts you just under $2.4 million,” she said.
The House gave preliminary approval to put a measure on the November ballot to require the 80% of Arizonans who use early ballots to provide additional identification if they want their votes counted. Now, voters need only provide a signature on the envelope which county election officials match with documents already on file. And the proposed constitutional amendment, approved with only Republican votes, also would narrow the types of identification that the state considers acceptable. Hours later the Senate, also along party lines, gave final approval to an identical proposal. That paves the way for a final House vote this coming week paving the way to be referred to voters. The views of Gov. Doug Ducey are irrelevant as the Arizona Constitution gives him no role on what goes on the ballot.
The House has approved a bill that would require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. House Bill 2492 would require all potential voters in Arizona to present an ID at registration or within 30 days of registering to vote. Previous bill versions had shorter periods of time for individuals to provide proof of citizenship, drawing criticism from some Arizona Democrats. The amended bill aimed to address some of those concerns. With HB 2492, undocumented individuals who vote in the election could face severe penalties. The bill requires the state attorney general to “prosecute individuals who are found to not be United States citizens.”
The House also passed amendments to House Bills 2780 and 2710. Amendments to HB 2780 would prevent election officials from being on hand-count teams and establish an electronic voter registration profile that could not be used commercially. The amendments to HB 2710 would require ballots to be tagged with computerized digital numbers to ensure they are accurately numbered instead of manually numbered. Additionally, it would ensure ballots aren’t separated by precinct if they are part of early provisional voting. However, all votes will be digitally sorted by precinct.
Colorado: The House has given preliminary approval to House Bill 1086 that ould make it a class 2 misdemeanor for carrying a firearm within 100 feet of a polling center or ballot drop box, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The bill, also called the Vote Without Fear Act, exempts law enforcement or any hired private security, and it doesn’t apply to voters who have concealed-carry licenses. Sponsors of the bill said the law is needed because of the current charged political climate over elections and the need to ensure Coloradans that they are safe and secure while voting, adding that the measure doesn’t create gun-free zones or infringe on any constitutional right. Rep. Tom Sullivan, D-Centennial, one of the bill’s sponsors, said the issue is no different for First Amendment rights that limited political speech around polling areas, where voters are not allowed to express their views within 100 feet of a voting place to show their support for or against individual candidates or ballot measures.
Florida: The House Appropriations Committee will approved legislation to establish an election crimes investigations unit, ban ranked-choice voting, change vote-by-mail forms and more. The bill (HB 7061), which emerged from the House Public Integrity and Elections Committee in February, contains several of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “election integrity” priorities. Despite bipartisan agreement the 2020 election was possibly the smoothest in Florida’s recent history, the bill is Republicans’ second follow-up measure to strengthen Florida’s voting laws. The Appropriations Committee is expected to take up an amendment, filed by bill sponsor and Miami Republican Rep. Daniel Perez. The amendment largely conforms the bill to the Senate version (SB 524), which could soon appear on the Senate floor. Among other changes, the amendment would ask supervisors of elections to annually maintain voter roll lists instead of every two years, one of DeSantis’ requests. It would also remove a section requiring the last four digits of a voter’s social security number, driver’s license or photo ID on vote-by-mail ballots.
Georgia: State Representative Beth Moore (D-Peachtree Corners) recently introduced House Bill 1096, legislation that would allow county governments to oversee the use of ballot drop boxes in certain elections. If passed and signed into law, HB 1096 would override the ballot drop box requirements implemented by Senate Bill 202. With this legislation, Rep. Moore seeks to mirror the state’s election protocols that were introduced during the governor’s COVID-19 public health emergency in 2020. HB 1096 would require each county to establish one or more drop box locations within the county as a means for absentee-by-mail electors to deliver their ballots. These drop boxes would only be allowed on government property. Ballot drop boxes would also be required to have adequate lighting, video surveillance and be made of durable material to withstand vandalism and inclement weather. The ballot drop boxes must also be immovable and clearly labeled. Additionally, ballot drop boxes would be required to be available 49 days prior to any primary or general election with the exception of municipal elections. They would close at 7 p.m. on the day of the election. For a state-wide or federal special election or runoff election, drop box locations would be allowed to be opened on the first day of advanced voting.
Idaho: Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, is sponsoring a new bill, which she said is designed to protect election integrity by prohibiting the use of absentee ballot drop boxes. “This legislation would prohibit the use of drop boxes or similar drop off locations to collect absentee ballots,” Giddings told the House State Affairs Committee on Friday. “We have seen across the country where these situations could allow ballot harvesting, but also there are concerns that these locations may be an opportunity for somebody to disrupt your ballots, whether it were to catch fire or flood or maybe food is stuffed in there and it could contaminate ballots as well and so just several considerations here where these are probably not the best way to collect ballots.”
Over the opposition of county clerks, election workers, high school students looking ahead to their first chance to vote, and more, the House State Affairs Committee has voted 9-2 along party lines to advance a sweeping 20-page emergency overhaul of Idaho’s voting laws proposed by Rep. Dorothy Moon, R-Stanley. Moon’s bill, HB 692, was introduced Monday. The bill also makes numerous other changes to voting and registration procedures, requires new and different documents including proof of residency and citizenship such as birth certificates to be presented at the polls to vote, imposes new requirements on military and overseas voters, creates a new free, four-year state ID card that Moon estimated would cost the state just $200,000 next year, and more. It also does away with Idaho’s voter ID law that allows those without proof of identification to sign an affidavit. All the public testimony on Moon’s bill was against it. Asa Gray, elections manager for Kootenai County, said, “While I believe this legislation has the positive intention of continuing to keep Idaho elections safe and secure, it contains some flaws which lend themselves more to the disruption of the election process than to the security of it.”
Kansas: A Kansas bill would require all voting systems in the state to use a paper ballot with a distinctive watermark and a hand audit of those ballots after the election. Sen. Richard Hilderbrand introduced Senate Bill 389, touting it as a simple addition to ensure elections in Kansas remain safe and secure. Currently, Kansas statute requires a stamp by the election clerk to be physically put on the ballot. Hilderbrand did not want to leave this process up to chance. While the state would not incur any costs if the measure is passed, both the Secretary of State’s Office and the Kansas Association of Counties estimated equipment costs and ballot printing, in addition to additional wages to be paid to election board workers, would set counties back. Others raised concerns about a signature provision’s implications for Kansans with disabilities. The Kansas Association of Counties testified neutrally on the bill but asked that the statute look out for local government budgets and not require significant capital purchases for their offices. Sen. Alicia Straub, an Ellinwood Republican, was also uneasy about the potential costs.
Michigan: In a letter to lawmakers this week, Michigan clerks called on them set aside their partisanship and approve legislation that would create an early voting option, boost funding for election officials and ensure election results are reported in a timely manner. According to the Detroit Free Press, the letter said, in part: “As we face another major election year with insufficient funding, continued high volume of absentee voting, and increased scrutiny due to the 2020 cycle, we need our leadership to focus on problem-solving rather than political wins and losses,” reads the letter from leaders of Michigan’s county and municipal clerks associations. “Now is the time for state leaders in the executive and legislative branches to set aside their agendas and come together to consider reasonable improvements that will benefit our voters.” The letter lays out several changes election officials say are needed to achieve that goal: Funding to help election officials handle the surge in absentee voting, including funding for security systems to monitor absentee ballot drop boxes and cover postage costs associated with absentee voting; Allowing election officials to pre-process absentee ballots before Election Day to provide election results in a timely manner; Creating an early voting option for Michigan voters. Michigan does not currently have an option for voters to cast their ballots in-person before Election Day; Requiring election challengers to undergo training while ensuring access for challengers to observe the election process; Requiring audits performed after an election to be carried out in public; Moving the August primary election to June, allowing more time for clerks to audit and certify the results and prepare for the general election; Enabling clerks to remove voters who have died from the voter rolls more quickly and process other necessary voter registration cancellations to ensure the accuracy of the rolls.
Minnesota: A Minnesota Senate elections committee began considering a bill to block local governments from using outside money for election expenses. The legislation mirrors efforts by Republican legislatures across the country after a foundation funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the Center for Tech and Civic Life, awarded $400 million in donations to help local governments facilitate the 2020 election amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Minnesota proposal, authored by Republican Sen. Mark Koran, of North Branch, would prohibit counties, municipalities and school districts from using funds from nonprofits and for-profit businesses to conduct elections.
State Sen. Carrie Rudd (R-Breezy Point), introduced a bill to “ensure fair and safe elections in Minnesota,” according to a news release. The bill would require a photo ID to vote, establish a provisional ballot, and restrict certain methods of compensation related to absentee voting. The bill requires proof of identity to vote for the language and to register on the same day. Forms of ID allowed include proof of receipt for a driver’s license, US military ID card, passport, tribal-issued ID card, a free voter’s ID card, or a new valid driver’s license. Individuals unable to provide valid proof of identity or residence will be able to cast a provisional ballot, giving the voter the period in which they can obtain valid identification. Voter registration will continue on the same day. Not a single legal voter shall be deprived of the requirements of voter ID, the release said. The bill was referred to the Senate State Government Committee.
Missouri: The House advanced its third plan within a week to diminish voters’ ability to change the state’s constitution through initiative petitions. A proposal sponsored by Rep. J. Eggleston, R-Maysville, would raise the bar for passage of constitutional amendments from a simple majority to a two-thirds majority. However, voters could still repeal previously approved constitutional amendments by a simple majority, Eggleston said. Lawmakers gave the measure first-round approval on a voice vote. Unlike some of the other proposals, the increased requirements would apply to both amendments proposed by lawmakers and by voters through the petition process. Signatures to place a question on the ballot would have to come from all eight Missouri congressional districts, as opposed to the six currently required. The amendment also institutes a process for the General Assembly to vet proposed amendments by conducting hearings and potentially recommending changes.
A provision to allow in-person absentee voting without a stated reason was left out of a key piece of elections legislation in the House. HB 2140, sponsored by Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, was voted out of committee without the absentee provision initially included in the bill, though McGaugh personally hopes to see the measure added later in the process. House Elections Committee Chairman Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, said the absentee provision was left off the bill in order to send the Senate a noncontroversial bill that could be passed quickly. It was left out of the House’s proposed elections package that includes photo identification, Secretary of State audit powers and a move to paper ballots. The Missouri Association of County Clerks and Elections Authorities supports broader absentee options. Shane Schoeller, the association’s president, said at hearings on elections legislation that there are benefits to no-excuse absentee voting for election administration.
Nebraska: According to the Omaha News-World, Both critics and supporters of Nebraska’s election system panned a proposal that would require voters to send identification documents with mail-in ballots. Even those who testified in support of Legislative Bill 1181 called it just a start in dealing with concerns about the security and integrity of those ballots. The bill and other election-related measures have been introduced despite repeated assurances from the state’s top election official that his office has found no evidence supporting allegations of fraud in the 2020 election. LB 1181 was originally introduced by State Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte. Sen. John Lowe of Kearney picked up the measure after Groene resigned. Lowe said he took on the bill to keep discussion about election issues alive. “We need to find a way to work together to ease the fears of the citizens,” he said. Lowe said LB 1181 proposes an idea that could make voters feel more comfortable with mail-in ballots without creating significant barriers to using that option. Under the bill, the envelopes used for mail-in ballots would be required to have a separate, sealable pouch on the outside. Voters would have to use the pouch to provide a copy of some identification document. Identification options could include a driver’s license or state identification card or a bank statement, paycheck, utility bill or other government document dated within 60 days that includes the same name and address listed on the voter registration rolls. The options would be similar to the documentation required when a person first registers to vote. Nebraska does not require identification for in-person voting.
Nevada: Lawmakers on the Legislative Commission approved most, but not all, of more than two dozen largely technical election regulations this that had drawn staunch opposition from state Republicans. A majority of the election regulations — 18 of 30 — were approved without further discussion, and another four were approved unanimously after concerns raised by commission members were addressed by Deputy Secretary of State for Elections Mark Wlaschin. According to the Nevada Independent, two proposed regulations were held up after the commission deadlocked on them. One of the held up regulations would have repealed old provisions requiring voters to request an absentee ballot to conform with a AB321. The other failed regulation would have set certain requirements for training on signature verification for clerks and staff members who administer elections.
New Hampshire: The state’s top election official and town clerks have endorsed a bipartisan bill to reprogram automated voting machines to detect ballots that have votes for too many candidates for a single office. Currently, if the machine detects an “overvote” it doesn’t count the votes for anyone for that race, though it does process the rest of the ballot. The amended bill presented would require that these machines kick out any ballot that appears to have votes for too many candidates for a single office. This ballot would then be placed in an “auxiliary bin” to be hand-counted by local election officials after the polls have closed. Rep. Marjorie Porter, D-Hillsborough, the chief architect of the reform measure believes if this process had been in place in 2020 it would have found the issues that forced an audit of Windham’s 2020 election results.
Oklahoma: Oklahoma lawmakers took the first steps towards passing laws that would tighten voter registration laws, give poll watchers more protections and make it more difficult for state questions to get on the ballot or pass. Among the proposals that passed out of committee was House Bill 3677 from Rep. Sean Roberts, R-Hominy. The bill originally would have required about 2.2 million Oklahoma voters to register and show proof of U.S. citizenship to vote after 2023. After hearing concerns from Election Secretary Paul Ziriax over cost, constitutionality and burdens it could place on many Oklahomans — particularly the elderly — the committee removed that provision. Lawmakers did advance a stripped-down version that would set aside at least $1.1 million for a system to verify driver license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers on voter registration applications. It would also create a felony charge for those who remove, obstruct the view or restrict the movement of poll watchers. The amended bill ended up advancing on a 6-2 party-line vote.
Oregon: The Oregon Senate gave final legislative approval to House Bill 4133 on a vote of 18-7, allowing Oregonians to register to vote online with the last four digits of their Social Security number and an image of their signature. Oregonians without a state-issued ID do not have an official signature on record with the Secretary of State, meaning they must currently register to vote using a paper registration card. The measure also allows approved third-party organizations to securely submit registration cards electronically on behalf of individuals, enabling Oregon’s existing voter registration system to work seamlessly with national voter registration tools, they said. “This gap in our law creates an additional barrier to voter registration for Oregonians without a state-issued ID,” said Senator Akasha Lawrence Spence (D-Portland), Co-Chief Sponsor of House Bill 4133, who carried the bill on the Senate floor. “These are folks who are often from the same groups of Oregonians who are historically underrepresented in our elections — our service members, seniors, low-income people, people of color and young people.”
South Carolina: House Republicans rejected a push from within their own party to close the state’s primary elections, and instead unanimously advanced a bipartisan proposal that would add two weeks of excuse-free early voting and allow local election offices to count ballots early. Lawmakers passed the bill, sponsored by House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, in the wake of a record breaking number of absentee ballots cast in 2020. South Carolina offered no-excuse absentee voting because of the ongoing pandemic. As a result, more than a million residents took advantage. Under current law, South Carolina voters can only cast absentee ballots if they meet certain criteria, such as a disability or older than 65 years old. The House bill would set a permanent, no-excuse necessary in-person voting period Monday through Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., in the two weeks ahead of general elections, primaries, primary runoffs, special and municipal elections. Voters who look to vote absentee by mail, however, would still be required to have an excuse. The bill also contains provisions that would allow election workers to begin tallying absentee ballots one day earlier than is currently allowed. Specifically, election workers would be allowed to look at outer envelopes of returned absentee ballots the Sunday before Election Day, and they would be allowed to begin counting ballots the Monday morning before. Lawmakers voted Wednesday to add a provision to the bill that would let poll watchers be present during that vote counting process.
South Dakota: An attempt to hold the presidential primary in March separate from South Dakota’s standard June primary election has been rejected. The Senate State Affairs Committee voted 9-0 Friday to kill a proposal from Representative Drew Dennert, R-Aberdeen, who wanted to move the presidential-nominating contests to Super Tuesday for 2024. Dennert was the only witness to testify for HB 1116, which the House had passed 41-26. His lack of a Senate sponsor might have been a signal of the reception that awaited. A number of county auditors from across the state spoke against the proposal.
Virginia: A House subcommittee voted along party lines to kill a proposal that would have let voters decide whether to allow people convicted of felonies to have their voting rights automatically restored once they are free. In Virginia, those who are convicted of a felony automatically lose their right to vote. Under the current system, the governor is the only way someone with a felony on their record could regain their voting rights. The subcommittee voted 6-4 to kill the resolution. The Virginia General Assembly approved the constitutional amendment last year, but a second vote was needed to put referendums on the ballot in November. While Republicans used their majority in the House to block both measures, Virginia Democrats had full control of the state government since 2020.
Washington: Carrying guns and other weapons could soon become prohibited in Washington at schools, local government meetings and election-related facilities. The state Senate passed a bill 28-20 on Tuesday that bans open carry and concealed carry in a number of different settings. It will head back to the House of Representatives, who will have to OK the changes made in the Senate. Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, said on the floor this bill is needed now because people who want to do good in their community, such as elections workers or school board members, don’t feel safe. “It is unfortunate that we need a bill like this,” Dhingra said. “We have reached a stage in our lives, in our state and in our country that we feel like this is needed.” The bill follows similar legislation passed last session that bans open carry on the Capitol campus and permitted demonstrations.
Wisconsin: A number of bills are now headed to Gov. Tony Evers (D) desk for approval. They include:
- One bill would allow nursing home workers to assist with voting during a pandemic if special voting deputies could not visit the facilities. The nursing care workers would be required to get training on voting. They could assist registered voters to fill out ballots but would be barred from helping residents register to vote.
- Under another measure, voters could be marked as ineligible to vote if their names or other information did not match what’s on their driver’s license.
- Another bill also requires voters to provide a copy of their photo identification each time they request an absentee ballot. Current law requires voters to present an ID the first time only. That legislation would also bar election officials from sending voters unsolicited absentee ballot applications. In 2020, the Elections Commission sent applications to all registered voters.
- Election Clerks would no longer be allowed to fill in missing information, such as addresses, on absentee ballot envelopes under another measure.
- One bill that allows election clerks to begin counting absentee ballots on the Monday before an election could have earned bipartisan support Thursday. But after hours of negotiations, the two parties ultimately disagreed because of new language Republicans added that requires clerks to send out absentee ballots for federal races no later than 21 days before an election instead of 47 days under current law.
Lawmakers also advanced three proposed constitutional amendments that must be approved during a second legislative session and by voters, and cannot be vetoed by Evers. One amendment would bar election officials from using private grant funding to administer elections. A second amendment would enshrine into the state constitution the state’s photo identification requirement for voting. And a third amendment would bar non-U.S. citizens from voting, which is already banned under federal law.
Wyoming: Senate File 97, sponsored by Ranchester Republican Sen. Bo Biteman, would end same-day party affiliation change in Wyoming. If enacted, changes in voter affiliation would not be allowed in roughly the three months prior to a primary. Normally, voting bills are handled by the Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee. But the crossover bill was moved to the Senate’s agriculture committee, which some speculated made it more likely to succeed. Critics, however, said the bill would prevent some voters from participating in the political process.
The House of Representatives passed House Bill 52, “Timeline to prepare and process absentee ballots,” on third reading by a 46-13 vote. The bill would allow county clerks leeway to begin processing absentee ballots before the polls close on Election Day. Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, proposed an amendment, which passed, that no person observing or preparation and the processing of absentee ballots would be allowed to have any personal electronic device, except for those for medical necessity, within 10 feet of where the process is occurring. A previous amendment that would impose a felony penalty for interfering with the election process was adopted earlier this week.
Legal Updates
Arizona: The state Republican Party is asking the state Supreme Court to end early voting in Arizona, a practice that has grown in popularity since vote by mail started three decades ago. In a lawsuit filed Friday, the party argues that the only constitutional form of voting is in person at the polls on Election Day — a mantra repeated by many who falsely believe the 2020 election was fraudulent and a position echoed in several bills introduced at the Legislature this year. Late Monday, the court accepted the suit, outlined mid-March deadlines for filing briefs and indicated it would determine the matter without holding oral arguments. The suit names Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and the state in general as defendants. In its filing, the GOP asks the court to strike down both absentee and no-excuse mail-in voting. If the court won’t go that far, the lawsuit asks the court to declare six provisions of the existing system unconstitutional, including the 1991 creation of vote-by-mail for any voter who chooses that option. In 2020, state elections officials say that 89% of voters cast early ballots, either by mail, depositing them in a drop box or dropping them off at the polls on Election Day. The suit also faults Hobbs for what it says are unconstitutional moves authorizing the use of ballot drop boxes in 2020 and for failing to put uniform procedures for verifying voters’ signatures on early ballots in the state’s Elections Procedures Manual.
Maricopa County Judge Joan Sinclair rejected a motion that would have blocked state Attorney General Mark Brnovich from pursuing criminal action against Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs over her plans to take a candidate signature-gathering system offline for maintenance. Sinclair denied the motion for a preliminary injunction on narrow grounds after a day of consideration following oral arguments earlier in the week. Sinclair found that while the secretary clearly viewed Brnovich’s letter as a threat, it “did not promise or guarantee prosecution and thus does not create a controversy properly before the court.” The findings also confirmed the attorney general is the chief enforcement officer in any election for state office. “It is simply unknown if action taken in the future by the AG would be lawful or not,” Sinclair said. “Any ruling by the court would be mere speculation. “
California: Superior Court Judge Angela Bradrick is considering whether to make a temporary restraining order permanent in a case involving accusations three supporters of the supervisor recall should be barred from the elections office. Assistant Clerk-Recorder Natalie Adona and administrative assistant Suzanne Hardin were granted temporary workplace restraining orders following the Jan. 20 incident involving Teine Rebane Kenney, and Jacquelyn and Chip Mattoon. The temporary order was granted to protect Hardin and Adona after the interaction between Hardin and Kenney and the Mattoons became physical. “Nobody may argue or discuss if mask mandates in place were bold and unlawful, exceeded authority — nothing like that,” Bradrick said. “The only thing that can be stated is, ‘A mask mandate was in place.’” According to Hardin’s testimony, the administrative assistant opened the office door a crack — seven inches, when asked to specify — and was attempting to reiterate her office’s mask policies when Kenney yelled, “I’m coming in.” “The door slammed into my arm and my body, and I pushed back,” Hardin said. “(Kenney) shoved her arm and foot into the door — that’s why I was so intimidated — then I realized I was pushing a door on a human being and so I took a step back.” Hardin said the entire situation — the yelling in the hallway and the interaction itself — inspired fear. She returned to her coworker’s car after the interaction and wept, she said. Adona said she’s had several panic attacks since the interaction, and that she has felt isolated and depressed.
Colorado: District Judge Richard Gurley granted a motion filed by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to transfer the case to determine if Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters should be permanently removed as the county’s designated election official to District Judge Valerie Robison. The case, filed by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office and Mesa County resident Heidi Hess, is similar to a lawsuit the two filed against Peters in August to remove Peters as the county’s chief election official, but only for the 2021 Coordinated Elections. Robison presided over that case, and ultimately ruled in their favor that Peters was unfit to act as the county’s designated election office, at least temporarily. The new lawsuit was filed in January after the embattled clerk rejected an agreement offer from Secretary of State Jena Griswold that would have allowed Peters to retake control of the county’s Election Division, but only under strict circumstances. In the original case, the state’s attorney general filed a brief this week Chief Deputy Attorney General Natalie Leh wrote that Peters continues to show no remorse for alleged breaches of election security, and has made it clear she won’t change her stance on election integrity. As a result, Leh is asking Robison to repeat her order from last fall that temporarily removed Peters and Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley from overseeing the 2021 election, and extend it to include the upcoming June primary election and 2022 general election in November. “Mesa County now faces a similarly unanticipated situation,” Leh wrote, referring to Peters’ actions last year that led to her being removed as an election official, and the numerous criminal investigations into her actions, including a local grand jury probe.
In other Mesa County/Tina Peters court news, a Mesa County District Court judge a contempt citation for allegedly recording a court proceeding with an iPad against a judge’s orders. The judge cited Peters with “indirect contempt,” meaning contempt that happens in direct sight or hearing of the court (judge), but not contempt that the court (judge) hears or sees. The citation is for “indirect contempt” because the judge did not have firsthand knowledge of the alleged recording.
A group of Colorado Republicans filed a federal lawsuit Feb. 24 asking a judge to block Secretary of State Jena Griswold from enforcing Proposition 108, which allows unaffiliated voters to participate in primary elections. The five state lawmakers and candidates said Prop 108, which was passed by state voters in 2016, violates their First and 14th Amendment rights by allowing voters not affiliated with the party to vote in the GOP primary. The lawsuit claims that the plaintiff’s rights of free speech include the right to choose their political party’s nominees “without interference by those who are not members of the party and have chosen not to affiliate with the party.” “Unaffiliated voters have been encouraged to vote in Republican primaries to defeat candidates preferred by Republican Party voters,” the lawsuit claims. The lawsuit also claims that Prop 108 violates their right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment by “diluting the votes” of affiliated Republican voters. The plaintiffs asked the court for an injunction to stop Griswold and others from enforcing Proposition 108 and to declare the measure unconstitutional. Proposition 108 allows unaffiliated voters to vote in the primary election of a major political party. Voters are mailed the primary ballots for Republicans and Democrats, then can choose to fill out and return one of them.
Delaware: Delaware Republican Party chair Jane Brady has filed suit claiming early voting and permanent absentee provisions passed by state lawmakers are unconstitutional. The lawsuit claims the way state lawmakers expanded access to elections hasn’t always been constitutional. Specifically, the plaintiffs claim early voting and permanent absentee voting provisions conflict with the text in the state constitution. Brady is filing the lawsuit on behalf of Michael Mennella, who’s served as an inspector of elections for the state for the last five to six years. “Really what Mr. Mannella is seeking is an order of the court clarifying what his duties are so that he’s in compliance,” she says. Brady says she only became aware of the potential legal ramifications eight months ago, and began investigating them. Brady insists this isn’t meant to be political, but to provide clarity on existing laws. The lawsuit also only applies to the general election, not primary elections or special elections, including the special election scheduled for March 5th.
Georgia: Judge Steve Jones issued a 238-page order that denied a request to block new boundary lines that give Republicans an additional U.S. House seat and shrink their margins in the General Assembly because making changes while preparations for the May 24 primary election are underway could result in “significant upheaval and voter confusion.” “Changes to the redistricting map at this point in the 2022 election schedule are likely to substantially disrupt the election process,” Jones wrote. The ruling comes in a case that combines three lawsuits that allege the redistricting process violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by failing to include enough majority-minority districts that would give Black voters the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. “With candidate qualifying for the State of Georgia set to begin in six days, any change now would be considered late in the process,” Jones wrote. “Applying the Purcell principle, the United States Supreme Court ‘has also repeatedly emphasized that lower federal courts should ordinarily not alter the election rules on the eve of an election.'”
Kansas: Out-of-state groups can continue to distribute advanced ballot applications in Kansas, under a deal approved Friday between a coalition of national voting rights advocates and state officials. The provision was one of several components of a controversial election law, House Bill 2332, challenged last year in federal court. In November, the out-of-state ban was temporarily blocked, as was a provision barring applications from being sent if information is already filled out on them. Under the permanent injunction approved Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Kathryn Vratil, the state will no longer seek to enforce the out-of-state mailing ban, effectively ending that portion of the lawsuit. Parts of the lawsuit targeting other sections of the bill will proceed.
Nevada: Recently filed legal challenges by Democrat-aligned activists could halt the progress of two Republican-led ballot initiatives to implement voter identification laws and repeal portions of a broad mail-in voting measure passed in 2021. The lawsuits filed in district court in Carson City last month both allege that the descriptions of the ballot measures proposed by “Repair the Vote” PAC are argumentative, confusing and misleading, and therefore, violate Nevada law. “Descriptions of effect” are 200-word summaries included on signature-gathering forms for ballot questions, and are often challenged by political opponents. The attorneys filing on behalf of Eric Jeng and Emily Persaud-Zamora, two progressive community activists in Nevada, are asking the court to prohibit the secretary of state “from placing the petition[s] on the 2022 general election ballot, or from taking any further action on it.” The lawsuit challenging the initiative argues that though petitioners characterize it as a “voter integrity” measure, the description contains no information on the measure’s effect on voters’ ability to cast a ballot. Attorneys added that the law’s implementation would likely be costly, violating the Nevada Constitution’s ban on ballot initiatives requiring the state to spend significant money without a dedicated funding source. The other petition, also filed by Repair the Vote PAC, aims to repeal portions of AB321, a bill passed during the 2021 legislative session that makes permanent a system of expanded mail balloting used during the 2020 election cycle. The referendum focuses only on the portions that direct clerks to send mail ballots to all active registered voters unless they opt out, and that allow other people to turn in a ballot on behalf of a voter if the voter allows — a practice known as “ballot collection” or “ballot harvesting.”
New York: A lawsuit filed in January seeking to block newly enacted legislation that would expand voting rights in local elections to more than 800,000 noncitizens hit a snag after the New York City Board of Elections (BOE), which is usually represented by the city’s Corporation Counsel, requested its own lawyer. “To protect its interests in this matter, BOE wants to consult with other counsel to ensure that no potential conflict exists with the other municipal defendants,” wrote the city’s Assistant Corporation Counsel Aimee Lulich in court papers filed Friday seeking additional time to respond to the complaint. The BOE wants until March 28th to respond to the plaintiffs’ claim citing the ongoing redistricting process, their limited meeting schedule and a desire to pick their own representation. The suit was filed in Richmond County State Supreme Court by plaintiffs led by Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, and argued the law violates the state constitution and state election laws. The defendants include Mayor Eric Adams, the City Council and the city BOE. In court papers, the city Law Department noted it was only appearing on behalf of the BOE “for the limited purpose of requesting additional time” so that the agency could retain and consult with an outside attorney before filing a response to the complaint.
Pennsylvania: The Wolf administration asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to keep the state’s mail-in voting law in place while the justices consider a lower-court ruling throwing it out. If the Commonwealth Court’s ruling stands, the 2-year-old voting law would no longer be in effect as of March 15 — a week after the Supreme Court is expected to hear oral argument in the case. Lawyers for the Department of State and Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman argued in a filing that eliminating mail-in voting ahead of the spring primary season “would, if anything, only exacerbate voter confusion and the danger of disenfranchisement.” Three Republican judges on a Commonwealth Court panel of five sided with Republican challengers and ruled in January that no-excuse mail-in voting is prohibited under the Pennsylvania Constitution. The two Democratic judges on the panel dissented, writing that the constitution permits no-excuse under a provision that says elections “shall be by ballot or by such other method as may be prescribed by law.” The justices issued a one-paragraph order that overturned a Feb. 16 decision by Commonwealth Court Senior Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt that would have pulled the plug on the state’s 2-year-old voting law. The Supreme Court plans to hold oral argument Tuesday regarding the legal challenge the law. The justices’ decision to invalidate Leavitt’s order gives themselves more time to rule without facing a one-week deadline. They said the law will remain in place, pending further action by the high court.
A group suing over Pennsylvania’s new map of congressional districts asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to reconsider whether they are entitled to an emergency order to halt the plan. The petition came three days after U.S. District Judge Jennifer P. Wilson in Harrisburg denied their request for a temporary restraining order against the 17-district map, saying she first would sort out “jurisdictional issues.” The six plaintiffs said those issues concern whether they have standing to challenge the map. The U.S. Supreme Court asked for a response by late Thursday.
Tennessee: Judge W. Mark Ward has granted a motion for a new trial for Pamela Moses, who was sentenced to six years after being convicted of illegally registering to vote. Moses was convicted in November 2021 of filing documents in 2019 to have her voting rights restored while still serving probation on a 2015 conviction. During sentencing in January 2022, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office said 44-year-old Moses had 16 prior felony convictions and committed the voting offense in 2019 while on probation. At the time, the judge said that if she completes programs in prison and maintains good behavior, he’d consider placing her on probation after nine months. Ward said evidence presented during the trial that Moses had been convicted of a felony in 2000 and had her right to vote restored in 2014 should not have been allowed. He reasoned that the evidence was initially allowed and proper when Moses faced 12 counts of illegal voting, but it should have been disallowed when the prosecution dropped those 12 charges before the trial got underway. Ward also cited a Brady violation regarding an email that should have been turned over to the defense. The judge did not say the violation was intentional, but did say information in the email could have been relevant at trial. He said he was treating it as “an inadvertent failure to provide discovery under Rule 16.”
According to the Commercial Appeal, the chairs of the Shelby County Election Commission and Shelby County Commission have come up with a compromise on voting machines that they hope will lead to the end of litigation between their two bodies, Election Chairman Brent Taylor announced. The compromise is simple: Voters at the polls will be offered the choice between using a ballot marking device or filling out a hand-marked paper ballot. “What both the County Commission and Election Commission want to make sure of is the election workers do not couch this in a way where we’re exhibiting a preference to where they cast their ballot,” Taylor said. The Election Commission sued the County Commission in September 2021 after the commission twice rejected resolutions to purchase voting machines for the county, sending resounding messages that its members favored hand-marked paper ballots over ballot marking devices. If the proposed compromise is approved, it would require the commission to purchase the same machines it earlier rejected, machines from vendor Election Systems & Software, LLC, known as ES&S, one of the four election equipment companies certified to sell in Tennessee.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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