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It was a busy day for election and voting news in the courts. Here's a recap of what happened that you might have missed today.
🧵
The pro-Trump members of the Georgia State Election Board passed a rule requiring election workers to hand count ballots cast on Election Day despite warnings from GOP state officials that it violates state law. The move could significantly delay results. democracydocket.com/news-alerts/ge…
Arizona's 2022 voter suppression law was reinstated due to a ruling from the 9th Circuit. Among its provisions, the law requires county recorders to cancel certain voter registrations and makes it a felony to help some mail voters cast their ballots. democracydocket.com/news-alerts/9t…
Democracy is on the docket in courtrooms across the country today. Here’s what’s going on in Florida and Minnesota.🧵
A district court in Florida will begin trial in a federal challenge voter suppression law SB 7050 which limits mail-in voting assistance and imposes penalties on voter registration organizations. Trial is expected to last 10 days. democracydocket.com/news-alerts/fl…
In July 2023, a federal judge blocked certain provisions of the law for violating the U.S. Constitution. democracydocket.com/news-alerts/fe…
STARTING NOW: A federal appeals court is hearing arguments in a critical lawsuit that could potentially impact thousands of mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania ahead of the 2024 election.
Today's arguments will revolve around whether Pennsylvania's rule of not counting mail-in ballots for simply missing a handwritten date, or containing an “incorrect” date, on the outer envelope violates federal law. More background can be found here.👇
TODAY: The 3rd Circuit is holding oral argument in a case challenging Pennsylvania's rule of not counting mail-in ballots for simply missing a handwritten date, or containing an “incorrect” date, on the outer envelope.
Pennsylvania voters must handwrite the date they completed their mail-in ballot on the outer return envelope in order for their ballot to be counted. This handwritten date serves no administrative purpose as mail-in ballots are time-stamped by election offices when received.
Since the time stamp determines if a ballot was received on time, a federal district court ruled that rejecting otherwise valid ballots simply due to a missing or incorrect date violates the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act.
STARTING AT 10 AM: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument about former President Donald Trump's ballot eligibility under the 14th Amendment due to his involvement in Jan. 6.
BREAKING: 8th Circuit severely weakens Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in certain states by ruling that there is no private right of action under Section 2. This means that only the DOJ — not individuals and organizations — can sue under Section 2. democracydocket.com/cases/arkansas…
This is a catastrophic decision that will impact organizations' ability to use Section 2 to protect voters from racial discrimination in voting in all the states under the 8th Circuit's jurisdiction: Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.
This decision stems from a lawsuit filed by @NAACP Arkansas and @ARpanel1963 arguing that Arkansas' legislative maps violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting power of Black Arkansans.