Electionline Weekly January-15-2026

Ballot Measures, Legislation & Rulemaking:

Arizona: The Senate Elections Committee moved to support a handful of bills that would increase public access to voter records. The elections committee, chaired by Flagstaff Republican Wendy Rogers, voted 4-2 to pass two elections transparency bills. Senate Bill 1038 would require a county recorder to make publicly available the full, unredacted vote cast record after an election. Senate Bill 1040 would require the full, unredacted voter registration roll to be made downloadable via an internet portal. In July, a state judge ruled that full vote cast records are not public records according to current law. “This just adds to the opportunity for transparency,” bill sponsor Mark Finchem of Phoenix said while voting in favor of SB1038. “It offers the opportunity for people to check their own ballot.” The bill requires the recorder to make the vote cast records public within one hour of the polls closing and transmit the file to the secretary of state within 48 hours of the final canvass. The bill also mandates that full names, voter identification numbers and political party registrations be included with each cast vote. Democratic state Senator Lauren Kuby of Scottsdale said she worries making that information public will encourage independent actors to “track down voters” and harass them before the ballots are cured and the results are certified. Arizona’s voter roll, a list of all registered voters in the state, is already available via public records request, albeit with sensitive personal information redacted. Finchem’s SB1040 would remove those redaction requirements and make publicly available personal voter information, including Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and mothers’ maiden names. Finchem amended the bill to ensure that the downloadable file is uneditable by the general public. The committee also voted to support Finchem’s Senate Bill 1057, which would require paper ballots be outfitted with watermarks to prevent fraud. Hobbs vetoed the same bill last year. Kuby said the measure would increase ballot printing costs with no guarantee that it would improve election security. Nevertheless, the Republican-dominated committee voted 4-2 to approve it. Finally, the committee voted 4-3 to support Republican state Senator John Kavanagh’s Senate Bill 1003, which would change the language of Arizona statute regarding election results to require county supervisors to “acknowledge without prejudice” final results, rather than “canvass.”

Florida: Bills from Jacksonville Republicans that would relax rules for students who volunteer at polling places cleared their first committee hurdles by unanimous votes. The legislation (SB 564, HB 461), sponsored by Sen. Clay Yarborough and Rep. Kiyan Michael, says the ban on privately-funded election-related expenses would not bar high school students who are registered or preregistered to vote from voluntarily helping poll workers in exchange for community service hours that apply to Bright Futures scholarships. Students can preregister to vote beginning when they turn 16. The bill would take effect July 1, meaning that eligible students could begin participating in the process during the August Primaries this year if it becomes law. Yarborough told the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee that this bill, if passed, “will be one of the greatest firsthand civics lessons, which they can experience as they go along, of one of our greatest rights and what it takes to conduct elections.” Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland spoke on behalf of the bill in both committees. He said his grandson was looking for community service opportunities, and said volunteering would help students understand the process and get “exposed” to the role and “maybe come back and be part of our team in the future.”

Indiana: Lawmakers moved to ban ranked choice voting in the state during a committee meeting this week. Advocates of ranked choice voting argue it gives voters more choices, but opponents say the process can be complicated and undermines election confidence. Bill sponsor Blake Doriot (R-Syracuse) said ranked choice is too complicated – and seemed to imply it could favor Democrats. “I find this somewhat distressing because in the United States we have always been one vote, one person,” he said. Other opponents worried that the complicated process could ultimately undermine voter confidence. The bill passed out of committee on a 7-2 vote.

Nebraska: Getting their first full week back at the Capitol underway, Nebraska state senators filed nearly 40 pieces of legislation. Among the bills introduced this week was an amendment proposal that would alter how laws put in place via ballot initiatives can be modified or repealed. Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh filed LR297CA, which would require any changes to laws implemented by a statewide vote to also be approved by Nebraska voters.

New York: Senate Democrats advanced a package of election bills aimed at strengthening voter protections, safeguarding election workers and tightening rules against voter intimidation and foreign-influenced political spending, state Senator Kristen Gonzalez wrote in a press release. The legislation, spearheaded by state Senator Kristen Gonzalez, chair of the Senate Elections Committee, if passed, would increase penalties for voter suppression, prohibit harassment or doxxing of election officials, require standardized training for election commissioners and allow portable early-voting polling sites. Another bill would move New York’s presidential primary to Super Tuesday.

North Carolina Rulemaking: In a heated meeting punctuated by a student protest, the North Carolina State Board of Elections this week rejected Sunday voting hours and on-campus polling sites for a handful of counties, including Brunswick, Guilford,and Pitt in the March primary election. In mostly party-line votes, the board’s new Republican majority voted to approve early voting plans from 12 counties where election boards were unable to reach a unanimous agreement. This included voting against a proposal to include early voting sites at UNC Greensboro and North Carolina A&T State University, prompting a confrontation with students who had come in support of the sites. The State Board of Elections also voted against including Sunday voting in six counties that had disagreed on the issue and cut a longtime early voting site at Western Carolina University.

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania: Luzerne County Council introduced a proposed election protection ordinance in a 6-5 vote, but it may not have enough support to pass based on subsequent council discussion. A public hearing and majority council approval would be necessary at a future meeting for the ordinance to take effect. Four items are listed under prohibited conduct in the ordinance: obstructing, hindering, or interfering with an election worker; harassing, threatening, or intimidating an election worker through any means; retaliating against an election worker; and disseminating or publishing an election worker’s personal information with the intent to harass or intimidate, known as “doxxing.” The new version, introduced this week, would subject ordinance violators to a $1,000 fine per offense, but it eliminates the past inclusion of up to 90 days of incarceration in the county prison for nonpayment of the fine. Eight residents weighed in on the ordinance during public comment, with six expressing opposition. The arguments for and against mirrored those made when a similar ordinance failed to pass in 2024. Supporters maintained the measure is warranted to provide law enforcement with an additional option to charge those accused of harassing, intimidating, and retaliating against election workers. Critics asserted that laws already are on the books for such crimes and that the wording of the new ordinance could subject those expressing concerns to retaliation and stifle their right to free speech.

Virginia: Virginia House Democrats pushed through four proposed constitutional amendments this week aimed at reshaping some of the state’s most consequential political and civil rights debates — including one that would allow lawmakers to redraw Virginia’s congressional map mid-decade. House Joint Resolution 4, a proposed constitutional amendment that would create a narrow, temporary exception allowing the General Assembly to redraw one or more congressional districts outside the standard decennial cycle under specific circumstances. Under the proposal, lawmakers could act if another state redraws its congressional map mid-decade for reasons other than complying with a state or federal court order. The authority would apply only to congressional districts — not state legislative lines — and would expire in 2030. If the amendment ultimately passes the Senate this session, it would be placed on the ballot during a special statewide election in April, rather than waiting until November. Another amendment would automatically restore voting rights to people with felony convictions who have completed their sentences. Virginia is one of the few states where former felons permanently lose voting rights unless restored by the governor, a process critics say lacks transparency.

Legal Updates

U.S. Supreme Court: Candidates for office are entitled to challenge the rules governing how votes are counted in their elections, the Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 decision Wednesday, making it easier for candidates to bring such lawsuits. “Candidates have a concrete and particularized interest in the rules that govern the counting of votes in their elections, regardless whether those rules harm their electoral prospects or increase the cost of their campaigns,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. According to Votebeat, Roberts wrote that requiring candidates to show “a substantial risk” that an election rule would cause them to lose an election could force them to wait until closer to an election to bring a lawsuit, which causes other problems. The Supreme Court, he wrote, has repeatedly said lower courts should not alter rules close to an election. “Such late-breaking, court-ordered rule changes can result in voter confusion and undermine confidence in the integrity of electoral processes. The democratic consequences can be worse if courts intervene only after votes have been counted.” Multiple legal experts told Votebeat the ruling is likely to increase the already skyrocketing number of election law cases. But they stressed that, more importantly, it should prompt candidates to bring any legal challenges well before the election, as opposed to close to Election Day or afterward. “Candidates shouldn’t sit on complaints about an election and see how it goes,” said Rick Hasen, a professor at UCLA Law School and an expert on election law. “They should sue as early as they can if they see a problem.”

Federal Litigation: U.S. District Judge John H. Chun in Seattle blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing most of his executive order on elections against the vote-by-mail states Washington and Oregon, in the latest blow to Trump’s efforts to require documentary proof of citizenship to vote and to require that all ballots be received by Election Day. Chun found that those requirements exceeded the president’s authority, following similar rulings in a Massachusetts case brought by 19 states and in a Washington, D.C., case by Democratic and civil rights groups. “Today’s ruling is a huge victory for voters in Washington and Oregon, and for the rule of law,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said. “The court enforced the long-standing constitutional rule that only States and Congress can regulate elections, not the Election Denier-in-Chief.” The executive order, issued in March, included new requirements that people provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote and a demand that all mail ballots be received by Election Day. It also put states’ federal funding at risk if election officials didn’t comply. Officials in Oregon and Washington, which accept ballots as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, said that could disenfranchise thousands of voters. During the 2024 general election, officials in Washington counted nearly 120,000 ballots that were received after election day but postmarked by it. Oregon officials received nearly 14,000 such ballots. The judge found that Trump’s efforts violated the separation of powers. The Constitution grants Congress and the states the authority to regulate federal elections, he noted. Oregon and Washington said they sued separately from other states because, as exclusively vote-by-mail states, they faced particular harms from the executive order.

Arkansas: Bryan Norris, a Republican candidate for Arkansas secretary of state has filed a lawsuit challenging as unconstitutional a state law that bans all nonvoters from remaining within 100 feet of a polling place during voting hours. Norris said in a news release he was filing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in Fayetteville challenging the constitutionality of Arkansas Code § 7-1-103(a)(24), which prohibits electioneering within 100 feet of the entrance to a building where voting is taking place or being there for any purpose except to enter or leave the building. The lawsuit arises from the state’s prosecution of Conrad Reynolds, according to Norris’ release. Reynolds, a retired U.S. Army colonel who lost bids for the Republican nomination in Arkansas’ 2nd congressional district in 2014 and 2022, leads a group that has been advocating for counties to switch from voting machines to hand-marked and hand-counted ballots.

Colorado: Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters asked the Colorado Court of Appeals this week to overturn a jury’s criminal convictions related to her role in leaking voting machine data from the 2021 Grand Junction municipal election. “What is a clerk supposed to do when she suspects the secretary of state may be about to destroy federal election records on county computers that federal law requires her to preserve?” asked attorney John Case, who also represented Peters through her trial. Peters has long argued the supremacy clause entitles her to immunity from her state charges since she was following a federal requirement to protect election records. A three-judge appellate panel questioned Case on where Peters obtained a federal duty to investigate the state’s handling of election records, which Case argued came baked into the job. Following a 10-day trial in August 2024, a jury found Peters guilty of three felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one felony count of conspiracy to commit impersonation, plus misdemeanor counts of official misconduct, violating her duties and failing to comply with the secretary of state’s requirements. Twentieth Judicial Judge Matthew Barrett sentenced Peters to nine years in prison. Senior Assistant Attorney General Lisa Michaels asked the court to affirm both Peters’ conviction and sentence, characterizing any errors as harmless.

Connecticut: The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled this week that a South Windsor Democrat who was denied a Town Council seat despite receiving more votes than any Republican can continue his legal challenge, reopening a dispute over the town’s 2025 election. The ruling reverses a lower court decision that had thrown out the case brought by Harrison Amadasun. The Supreme Court sent the case back to Superior Court for a full hearing on whether the election was handled properly. Amadasun received 3,847 votes in the Nov. 4, 2025, Town Council election. Even so, he was not seated. Instead, the final council seat was given to Republican Rick Balboni, who received 2,937 votes.The dispute centers on how South Windsor Town Clerk Bonnie Armstrong applied recently approved changes to the town charter. Those changes limited one party’s majority on the council to five seats instead of six. A Superior Court judge had ruled that Armstrong was simply following the charter and could not be challenged under election law. The Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that Armstrong was acting as an election official and that her decision must now be reviewed in court. Justice Steven D. Ecker referred to Armstrong’s decision as a “split decision,” meaning she applied the charter changes to some results but not others. Chief Justice Raheem L. Mullins said a written decision explaining the ruling will be released later.

Illinois: The DuPage County clerk’s office is taking its ongoing legal battle with the county board to the appellate court. According to a notice of appeal filed on January 7, the clerk’s office is seeking the reversal of two rulings last year from DuPage County Judge Bryan Chapman that both sided with the county board. Chapman ruled in August that DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek and her office must follow the county’s accounting procedures. Then, in December, the judge denied the clerk’s request for summary judgment, in which Kaczmarek argued that two election-related contracts were exempt from bidding rules. The filing was the first step in bringing her case before the 3rd District Appellate Court. A briefing schedule has not yet been set. Though Kaczmarek’s attorney, Ken Florey, said he will seek an expedited schedule, he did not anticipate the case being heard before the March 17 primary, where Kaczmarek faces fellow Democrat Paula Deacon Garcia, who serves on the county board. “We’re appealing because we believe we’re correct on the law as we always have been,” Florey said. Kaczmarek has argued that state law gives her internal control over her office, and the county cannot withhold bills for payments or interfere with how services are contracted.

In motions filed in federal court January 9 lawyers representing Common Cause Illinois, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and three individual voters joined the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Voting Rights Project, ACLU of Illinois and the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in seeking to intervene in the case in hopes of blocking the administration from accessing the data. “The Trump Department of Justice — without proper authorization from Congress — is apparently seeking to create a nationwide database that can be used to harass voters and fuel false claims of voter fraud,” ACLU of Illinois’ Kevin Fee said in a statement Monday. “It is critical that states — including Illinois — resist this illegal effort and protect the privacy of our voters.” Earlier, Illinois AFL-CIO, the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans and the Illinois Federation of Teachers filed a similar motion to intervene. They argued in their motion that they each devote significant resources to registering their members to vote, and they fear the lawsuit could result in a ruling that undermines those efforts.

Michigan: Jose Gargenis Vasquez-Rosa from the Dominican Republic has pleaded guilty to illegally voting in a federal election and attempting to fraudulently obtain a U.S. passport. Vasquez-Rosa pleaded guilty on Jan. 8 to applying for a U.S. passport under a false name and identity in September 2020, according to court records. Vasquez-Rosa used a different name in his application, as well as claimed he was from Puerto Rico. No passport was issued after the Department of State recognized the fraud. Vasquez-Rosa also used the same name to submit an absentee ballot in the 2020 federal election, claiming he was a resident of Detroit. He pleaded guilty to one count each of making a false statement in a U.S. passport application, making a false statement of U.S. citizenship to obtain a federal service or benefit, and voting by alien. The hearing was held before Michigan Eastern District Court Judge Anthony Patti. Six other charges will be dismissed, according to court records.

Nebraska: Common Cause Nebraska filed a temporary restraining order in Lancaster County District Court to prevent Nebraska’s secretary of state from turning over voter data. In the latest filing, the voting rights nonprofit argues the release of the voter information could violate state law and “irreparably harm Nebraska voters’ privacy,” including voters who are victims of stalking, domestic violence and sexual assault. In September 2025, the DOJ called on Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen to provide a copy of the statewide voter registration list, which includes names, addresses, dates of births, drivers licenses numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers. Last fall, Evnen’s office said it would consult with the attorney general’s office for “review and advice.” In a statement to Nebraska Public Media News, Evnen said, “We were advised that the DOJ request is lawful, and at about the same time the lawsuit was filed. I was advised that the issue would be submitted to the judge for decision by the middle of October. That didn’t happen. It is important to get this before the court for a decision. For that reason, I informed the parties that we would provide the requested information on Feb. 12 unless the court ordered otherwise. The parties are now moving to get the issue decided, which is what needs to happen.” In the court filing, Common Cause’s attorney said that Evnen “retracted his commitment” to withholding the information as litigation played out. A hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 29, but the Common Cause team is seeking a “temporary restraining order or temporary injunction” ahead of the January hearing date “to provide the Court with appropriate time to consider and rule on the motion.”

New Jersey: Muhammad Muzammal, 37, and Muhammad Shakeel, 62, have been accused of illegally voting in the 2020 presidential election after claiming to be U.S. citizens on voter registration documents, federal prosecutors said. Muzammal and Shakeel were indicted in December for falsely claiming to be U.S. citizens on their voter registration applications, submitted before the 2020 election, officials said. Once their applications were approved, they both voted in the 2020 general election, officials said. Muzammal also voted in the 2021 election, according to court documents. Muzammal and Shakeel are also accused of lying in subsequent applications for U.S. citizenship, claiming they never registered to vote and never voted in a U.S. election. The two men have been in the U.S. since 2017 and had permanent legal status under family visas, according to court documents. Shakeel is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Jan. 21 in Trenton federal court. Muzammal did not have a court date set as of January 8.

Oregon: U.S. District Court Judge Mustafa Kasubhai agreed to drop a lawsuit from the Justice Department after it sued several states, including Oregon, when their secretaries of state refused to hand over voter registration data. Kasubhai issued a tentative ruling Wednesday, granting Oregon’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, filed last September. This pends a written decision, according to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office. The federal government had attempted to obtain voter information, including full dates of birth and driver’s license numbers, as well as partial Social Security numbers. In the lawsuit, the DOJ alleged that the secretaries of state, in refusing to give up the information, violated the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. The department initially sued Oregon and Maine, then moved on to sue 21 other states and Washington, D.C., the majority of them Democrat-led. Oregon filed to have the case dismissed, arguing that the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 do not require states to provide highly sensitive information to the federal government. “This is a big win for Oregonians’ privacy and the rule of law. The federal government tried to abuse their power to force me to break my oath of office and hand over your private data. I stood up to them and said no. Now, the court sided with us. Tonight, we proved, once again, we have the power to push back and win,” said Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read in a press release after the ruling.

Pennsylvania: U.S. District Judge Joseph Leeson Jr. has ruled that Matthew Laiss, a man accused of double voting in the 2020 election, is not covered by a pardon President Donald Trump issued to allies who attempted to overturn his 2020 election loss. “This Court finds that Laiss has not yet applied to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, or received a certificate of pardon, which the plain language of the Pardon requires him to do,” Leeson wrote. Federal prosecutors charged Laiss in September with voting twice in the November 2020 election, alleging that he moved from Pennsylvania to Florida in August of that year and voted both in person in Florida and via mail ballot in Bucks County. Both votes were allegedly for Trump. Trump issued the pardon in November to 77 people who were involved in efforts to subvert the election outcome in 2020, including members of his legal team and the so-called fake electors who attempted to submit alternative slates of electoral votes to Congress on Trump’s behalf. But the proclamation further said the president was granting “a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all United States citizens” for conduct related to the 2020 election. Laiss’ attorney sought to have the charges dismissed on the grounds that the “plain language” of Trump’s broadly worded pardon applied to his client. He argued that others specifically named in the pardon had committed far more egregious acts.

Vermont: A civil lawsuit claims Burlington is flouting state law by avoiding appointing more Republicans to a board responsible for maintaining the voter registration list and ensuring fair elections. The city has filed a motion to dismiss. Filed Nov. 25 in Vermont Superior Court by two residents, the lawsuit alleges the city “has refused to permit Republicans their statutory-required, minimum representation” on the Board for Registration of Voters. The city filed a motion to dismiss on Jan. 3, claiming that the state law governing civil authority boards does not apply to this board. The Vermont statute pertaining to elections ensures fair representation by mandating that boards of civil authority contain at least three members of each major political party. The city charter does not mandate a minimum but sets a maximum of six members of the same political party for its board of registration of voters. The 12-member board in Burlington currently comprises five Democrats, four Progressives, two Independents and one Republican. The lawsuit states that the City Council met in executive session on Nov. 3 and decided not to appoint any additional members to the board and informed the applicants accordingly. The plaintiffs said they are qualified and allege the city “has wrongfully refused” to appoint them to the Board for Registration of Voters.

Washington: Esperanza Contreras, 52, of Pasco, is facing multiple charges after allegedly casting several illegal ballots in the 2024 election. According to deputies from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO), Contreras, who worked as a manager at a Pasco apartment complex, filled out and submitted ballots for tenants without their knowledge. Franklin County Auditor Matt Beaton said at least two of these ballots were counted, while a third was rejected due to a mismatched signature. Beaton said they were initially contacted by the Secretary of State, who informed them that one of the tenants voted in both Washington and Oregon. As a result, the information was passed to the FCSO for investigation. Deputies said Contreras admitted to filling out at least four of her tenants’ ballots without their knowledge, but Beaton said ultimately, she only returned three. Contreras was facing 12 felony charges, including identity theft and forgery, but those charges have been amended to four felonies for voter fraud.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker