Democracy Docket is the leading progressive news platform for information, analysis and opinion about voting rights and elections in the courts.
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Apr 1 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
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…
Feb 20 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
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.
Stream here:
Follow along for live updates.🧵
democracydocket.com/news-alerts/3r…
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.
Here's what you need to know.🧵 democracydocket.com/news-alerts/3r…
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.
Feb 8 • 47 tweets • 8 min read
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.
Oct 26, 2023 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
TODAY: Trial begins in a lawsuit challenging True the Vote’s alleged voter intimidation tactics in Georgia. Plaintiffs argue that the right-wing organization's actions violate the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Here's what you should know. 🧵 democracydocket.com/analysis/true-…
True the Vote (TTV) is a Texas-based right-wing group whose mission is “to train citizens to protect election integrity at the polls.” In 2020, TTV launched the largest mass voter challenge in Georgia history by contesting the eligibility of over 364,000 voters.
Oct 11, 2023 • 68 tweets • 11 min read
STARTING AT 10 AM: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a case — Alexander v. South Carolina NAACP — arguing that South Carolina's congressional map is racially gerrymandered and harms Black voters.
TOMORROW: The 5th Circuit is holding oral argument in a case that will determine Louisiana's congressional map for the 2024 elections.
Here's what you need to know. democracydocket.com/cases/louisian…
After the release of 2020 census data, Louisiana's Republican-controlled Legislature enacted a new congressional map in the state.
Sep 26, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin its long conference to assess remaining petitions from last term.
The Court only hears 70-80 of the 7,000+ cases it's asked to review each year, making every election case that makes it to SCOTUS important. democracydocket.com/analysis/how-e…
In this week's long conference, justices will review all the petitions that have accumulated since the end of June and petitions remaining from last term, including one submitted from a lawsuit challenging Texas voter suppression law #SB1111. democracydocket.com/cases/texas-re…
Aug 24, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
TODAY: The debunked election propaganda movie 2000 Mules heads to federal court. A Georgia voter sued the movie's creator Dinesh D’Souza and others, arguing that he was defamed and illegally intimidated by being falsely portrayed as a "ballot mule." democracydocket.com/cases/georgia-…
The lawsuit notes that despite being publicly exonerated back in May 2022, the voter continues to be portrayed by D’Souza and other right-wing groups as a “criminal mule,” resulting in him and his family receiving threats and "living in fear."
Aug 24, 2023 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
The GOP presidential debate and the Donald Trump/Tucker Carlson interview are about to begin. We're sure the candidates will have a lot to say about the indictments, the 2020 election and more.
Follow for updates on the democracy- and voting rights-related statements made.🧵
“8 candidates have qualified and chosen to be here on our debate stage tonight.” Starting strong. #GOPDebate
Aug 17, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
BREAKING: Federal court strikes down a portion of Texas voter suppression law #SB1 that enacted new ID requirements for mail-in ballots for violating the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act. More to come. democracydocket.com/cases/texas-vo…
The provision required voters to list their driver's license number or social security number on their mail-in ballot application — but it had to match the ID number their county had on their voter record, usually from the original voter registration form.
Aug 7, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Ohio voters, you may be wondering why early voting is not allowed today when Election Day is tomorrow.🤔
That’s because in January, Republicans enacted omnibus voter suppression law #HB458, which eliminated early voting on the Monday before Election Day.
A lawsuit was filed challenging several of the law's restrictive provisions, including the elimination of early voting the day before Election Day. Litigation in this case is ongoing. democracydocket.com/cases/ohio-h-b…
Jul 21, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
🚨BREAKING: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signs new congressional map that does NOT contain the second majority-Black district that the U.S. Supreme Court required.
Background:
So what happens now?🧵⤵️democracydocket.com/news-alerts/al…
Below is the map that Alabama has enacted. Black Alabamians make up the voting majority in only the 7th Congressional District. Lawmakers increased the number of Black residents of voting age in District 2 from 30.1% to 39.9%, compared to the map used in 2022.
Jun 30, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court declines to review Mississippi's Jim Crow-era law that strips the right to vote for life from individuals with certain felony convictions. The 1890 law will remain in place, disenfranchising tens of thousands of Mississippians. democracydocket.com/news-alerts/u-…
This provision was added to the Mississippi Constitution in 1890 with the express purpose of denying Black men voting rights. Crimes that were thought at the time to be most likely committed by Black men were added to disqualify voters, while the “crimes of the whites” were not.
Jun 27, 2023 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
NEW: The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Moore v. Harper allows nearly 30 state court cases challenging congressional maps and voting laws to continue unimpeded by the radical independent state legislature theory, Democracy Docket analysis reveals.
Democracy Docket pulls from its litigation database — which contains over 600 voting and election-related lawsuits — and highlights the 28 pending state court cases that challenge either congressional maps or state voting laws under their state laws or state constitutions.
May 24, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
BREAKING: Voting rights groups sue over Florida's restrictive voting law #SB7050 less than an hour after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed it. The lawsuit argues that certain provisions of the law violate the U.S. Constitution and Voting Rights Act. democracydocket.com/news-alerts/de…
The lawsuit challenges the law's restrictions on third-party voter registration organizations — organizations that engage in community-based voter registration — and limitations on options for voter assistance when requesting a mail-in ballot.
May 20, 2023 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
🚨Bill Watch: The Texas House is considering three anti-democratic bills today that allow the state to leave a voter data organization, target Harris County and permit the state to take over local election administration.
Here's why the bills are dangerous.⤵️🧵
#SB1070 allows Texas to leave ERIC, a cross-state data organization that helps states keep updated voter rolls. 7 states have left the group this year due to right-wing conspiracy theories, and the more states that leave, the less effective the group is. democracydocket.com/analysis/what-…
May 18, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
NEW: Today, SCOTUS considered in conference whether to take up a challenge to a Mississippi law that strips the right to vote for life for individuals convicted of certain felonies. democracydocket.com/cases/mississi…
Following conference, the Court could announce as soon as Monday whether it will hear oral argument in the case.
May 17, 2023 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
HAPPENING NOW: A new trial begins on the final remaining claim in Kari Lake's lawsuit contesting her loss in the Arizona governor's race. Follow along for live updates.
The U.S. Supreme Court is releasing decisions in argued cases starting at 10 am ET. We'll be closely watching to see if the Court issues an opinion in Allen v. Milligan, a case that could drastically weaken the Voting Rights Act. democracydocket.com/cases/alabama-…
We don't expect a decision in Moore v. Harper today because parties are submitting briefs this afternoon to the U.S. Supreme Court about whether the Court has jurisdiction to review Moore in light of recent actions by the North Carolina Supreme Court.
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