Legislative Updates
Federal Legislation: Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) has introduced a Bill to Create a New Federal Organization to Help with Elections. The Legislation would establish a “DemocracyCorps” of Individuals who would: Help Register Voters; Carry out Voter Education Campaigns; and Serve as Poll Workers. The Organization would include 35,000 People who would Serve Two-year Terms. They would be Assigned to States based on: Population; Number of Elected Officials; and Population on Native American Lands. In addition to Creating the New Organization, Booker’s Bill, would also include broader Election Reforms that includes: Expanding Early Voting to 20 days Before a Federal Election; Allowing for Online Voter Registration; and Allowing for Vote-by-Mail in addition to Voting In-Person.
Alaska: The City of Soldotna has introduced an Ordinance that, if passed, could Enact a Vote-by-Mail System for City Elections. It’s a Move that follows a similar Ordinance moving through the Kenai Peninsula Borough. According to the City’s Ordinance, “recent catastrophic events including disaster declarations related to local floods, fires and a global public health pandemic” Reinforce the need for a Vote-by-Mail System. However, the City is calling for a Hybrid System that would Allow People to Cast a Ballot at a Vote Center if they wish to do so.
Illinois: The Illinois Senate Passed a Bill Expanding Vote by Mail for the 2020 Election. The Bill will Automatically Send an Application for a Vote-by-Mail Ballot to Any Person who has Voted in the Past Two years: 2018 General Elections; the 2019 Consolidated Election; or the 2020 Primary Election; and Anyone who Registered to Vote after the 2020 Primary will also Receive an Application for a Vote-by-Mail Ballot. Inactive voters will have to Request an Application. The Bill also Declares Election Day, November 3rd, 2020, a State Holiday.
North Carolina: An Elections Bill responding to the Coronavirus Pandemic moved through Two House Committees Wednesday on its way to what appears to be likely Passage by the Full House. House Bill 1169 makes Changes, some Temporary and others Permanent, to make Voting-by-Mail Easier and more Secure at the same time. For 2020, the Requirement of Two Witnesses for an Absentee Ballot is Dropped to One Witness, who is Required to Print their Name and Address. Voters will also be able to Submit an Official Absentee Ballot Request: Online; Fax; Email, by Mail; or In Person. The Bill Requires All Absentee Ballots to have a Bar Code or other Unique Identifier so Voters and Elections Officials can Track them.
Vermont: This week, Lawmakers on the Senate Government Operations Committee Advanced a Bill that would take the Governor Out of the Election Emergency Decision-Making Process, and give the secretary of State the Sole Authority to make Changes to Election Procedures during the Pandemic.
Wisconsin: By a 5 to 1 Vote, the Oshkosh city Council Voted that as Long as the City remains under a Public Health Emergency, it will Send an Absentee Ballot Application to every Registered Voter. The effort will be in place for both the August 11th Partisan Primary and the November 3rd General Election. Mayor Lori Palmeri says a Decision has to be made now to give the City Clerk’s Office Time to Prepare. “Nobody has a crystal ball, but there are certainly scientists and epidemiologists and public health people who are warning us that we could have another potential surge in the fall,” Palmeri said.
Legal Updates
California: Former Congressman, Darrell Issa (R), Running for Congress, has Sued Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) over the Governor’s Executive Order to Send Every Registered Voter in California a Ballot for the November Election. Issa’s Suit argues that the Executive Order is an Unconstitutional Maneuver that rips Local Control from County Election Officials.
Three Republican Groups: the Republican National Committee; the National Republican Congressional Committee; and the California Republican Party, have also filed Suit against Newsom and his Executive Order to Send every Voter a Ballot in November. The Lawsuit accuses Newsom of a “brazen power grab” that would “violate eligible citizens’ right to vote.” Responding to the Lawsuit, California Secretary of State, Alex Padilla, said via Twitter: “Expanding vote-by-mail during a pandemic is not a partisan issue — it’s a moral imperative to protect voting rights and public safety. Vote-by-mail has been used safely and effectively in red, blue, and purple states for years. This lawsuit is just another part of Trump’s political smear campaign against voting by mail. We will not let this virus be exploited for voter suppression.”
Florida: A Retired Sheriff’s Deputy and Two Others Working to Help Senior Citizens have filed Suit seeking to have Every Registered Voter receive a Mail Ballot in November and that the State Pays the Postage. It asserts Requiring Voters to Request a Mail Ballot rather than just Sending One, and Requiring them to Pay the Postage is asking too much. “Many people don’t have computers,” said Attorney, Harvey Sepler, who is Representing the Three Plaintiffs. “They don’t want to leave their homes because of the virus because they don’t want to expose themselves. That means they don’t want to leave to request a mail in ballot.” The Suit has been Assigned to a Judge, but No Hearing has been set.
Kentucky: The ACLU has filed a Federal Lawsuit Challenging the State’s Voter ID Law arguing it increases Kentuckians’ Risk of Exposure to Coronavirus by requiring People to Visit ID-Issuing Offices during the Pandemic. The Lawsuit also asks the Court to Extend Kentucky’s New Expanded Vote-by-Mail Policy beyond the June Primary Elections. The ACLU filed the Lawsuit on Behalf of Several Individuals who say they have Health Issues that make it Dangerous for them to go to a Polling Place or get an ID during the Pandemic. Plaintiffs also include the Kentucky League of Women Voters, the Louisville Urban League, and the Kentucky NAACP.
Louisiana: The League of Women Voters of Louisiana (LWV), Three Louisiana Voters, and Other Organizations filed a Federal Lawsuit against Gov John Bel Edwards, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, Attorney General Jeff Landry, and Other Government Officials, over the State’s Plan for voting during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Michigan: The League of Women Voters (LWV), represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Former State Democratic Party Chairman, Mark Brewer, filed a Lawsuit in the Court of Appeals against Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, in her Official Capacity as Michigan’s Top Elections Official. It claims that a Law in place since at least 1929, in Michigan, that Requires Absentee Ballots be Received by a Local Clerk’s Office by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be Counted Runs Counter to what the Lawsuit says is an “unqualified, unconditional state constitutional right for registered voters to vote in all elections by absentee ballot.” In 2018, No-Reason Absentee Voting Passed by State Referendum, giving Voters the Right to Cast Absentee Ballots by Mail or In Person beginning 40 days Before an Election. Since Regular Mail can often take days, the Lawsuit says the Old Rule Conflicts with the Intention of the State Referendum to Expand Absentee Voting.
Montana: District Judge, Donald Harris, has Temporarily Suspended a State Law that says Absentee Ballots must be Received in a County Election Office by 8 p.m. on Election Day in order to be Counted. “All absentee ballots postmarked on or before election day shall be counted, if otherwise Valid,” District Judge, Donald Harris, wrote Friday. The Ballots must be Received by the Monday after Election Day, which is the Deadline for Receipt of Federal Write-In Ballots for Military and Overseas Voters. Attorney General, Tim Fox, Appealed the Ruling. On Wednesday, the Montana Supreme Court Overturned the Lower Court Ruling which means Voters must get their Mail-In Ballots to their Local Election Office or other Drop-Off Locations by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
New Hampshire: Citizens who Sued the State over HB 1262, a 2018 Election Law linking Voter Registration to Residency, Dropped their Federal Lawsuit last week after the New Hampshire Supreme Court Spelled Out its View to U.S. District Court Judge, Joseph Laplante, who had been Hearing the Suit. The High Court Unanimously said the Law meant Anyone who Registers to Vote has to Comply with Motor Vehicle Laws to get an In-State Driver’s License and Register a Car, if Appropriate, within a Legal Deadline.
North Carolina: Republican Members of the North Carolina General Assembly pressed a Fourth Circuit Panel Wednesday to Allow them to Intervene on behalf of the State in a Lawsuit over its Controversial Voter ID Requirements. After a Federal Judge Temporarily Blocked the ID Law, Two GOP Members of the North Carolina General Assembly sought to Intervene, Claiming that the State Elections Board and Democratic Attorney General, Josh Stein, Failed to Adequately Defend State Interests in the Case. The District Court Denied their Motion, prompting an Appeal to the Fourth Circuit. State Senator, Phil Berger, and State Representative, Tim Moore, urged the Richmond, Virginia-based Appeals Court on Wednesday to let the Lawmakers Step-in to Defend the Voter ID Statute.
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed a Federal Lawsuit demanding Changes in North Carolina’s Voting Laws due to the Ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic. The 72-page Suit declares the State’s Absentee Ballot and Voter Registration Rules Unconstitutional, saying People can’t be Forced to Choose between Voting and Protecting their Health. Among other things, it Calls for a Longer Registration Period and Contact-Less Drop Boxes for Absentee Ballots, in case there are Post Office Delays.
Ohio: U.S. District Judge, Jack Zouhary, has Dismissed Claims by an Ex-Election Official that she was Improperly Fired, finding that she could be Removed-Without-Cause. In a Ruling filed earlier this month, a U.S. District Court Judge, Dismissed Claims that Sue Schwamberger, Former Deputy Director of the Marion County Board of Elections, was Fired in Violation of Her Constitutional Rights.
Pennsylvania: Domenick J. DeMuro, a Former Philadelphia Judge of Elections has been Charged with Election Fraud for Allegedly Stuffing Ballot Boxes on behalf of certain Democratic Candidates in Three Separate Primaries, and for Accepting Bribes.
The National Federation of the Blind has filed a Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit against Pennsylvania, Claiming the State isn’t taking Steps to adequately Protect Blind Voters from the Coronavirus during the Delayed June 2nd Primary Election. A Virus-Prompted Provision that will give Sighted Voters the Option of Casting their Ballots by Mail to Avoid possible Contagion is Useless to Blind Electors, the Federation Claims in a Suit filed in U.S. Middle District Court. It is asking the Court to Order the State to Develop a System where Blind Voters can Select their Candidates Online.
South Carolina: U.S. District Court Judge, Michelle Childs, Ruled Monday that South Carolina must Allow All Voters to use Absentee Ballots Without the Signature of a Witness to keep Coronavirus from Spreading at the Polls in the June Primary Election. “Were it not for the current pandemic, then this element may have cut the other way,” Childs wrote in the Finding. “Strikingly, the witness requirement would still apply to voters who have already contracted COVID-19, therefore affirmatively mandating that an infected individual … risk exposing the witness.”
South Carolina Supreme Court Dismissed a Case that sought to Allow Any Voter to Cast an Absentee Ballot in order to Avoid Polling Places during the Coronavirus Pandemic. State Democrats and the DCCC filed a Lawsuit last month alleging the State’s Absentee Voting Requirements would Disenfranchise Voters in Upcoming Elections. On May 12th, the day the state Supreme Court heard Oral Arguments in the Case, State Lawmakers Passed a Measure to Allow Anyone to Vote Absentee in Upcoming Elections until July 1st, 2020. “As for elections after July 1, 2020, we hold that whether any change should be made to the law is a political question for the Legislature likewise to answer,” the Majority Opinion states.
Texas: The Texas Supreme Court Ruled Wednesday that a Lack of Immunity to the New Coronavirus does Not Qualify a Voter to Apply for a Mail-In Ballot. The Court Agreed with Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, that the Risk of Contracting the Virus alone does Not meet the State’s Current Qualifications for Voting-by-Mail. “We agree with the State that a voter’s lack of immunity to COVID-19, without more, is not a ‘disability’ as defined by the Election Code,” the Court wrote. The High Court also Rejected Paxton’s Request to Prevent Local Election Officials from Sending Mail-in Ballots to Voters who were citing Lack of Immunity to the Coronavirus as a Disability. Those Officials Denied they were Operating Outside the Law and Argued they Cannot Deny Ballots to Voters who cite a Disability, even if their Reasoning is tied to Susceptibility to the Coronavirus.
Federal District Judge, Nelva Gonzales Ramos, of Corpus Christi, has Ruled that the State must Pay almost $6.8 Million in Legal Fees and Costs in its years-long Voter ID Battle.
Virginia: A Group of Voters is Suing Virginia Election Officials over a Loosening of Restrictions on Absentee Ballots for Next month’s Statewide Primary, arguing that the State can’t Allow Voters to use the Coronavirus Pandemic as an Excuse to Vote-by-Mail. The Federal Lawsuit was by Conservative Attorney, Jim Bopp, on behalf of Six Northern Virginia Voters. The Virginia Lawsuit says that Expanding Absentee Balloting is Unnecessary to Combat COVID-19. “The same social distancing and good hygiene practices — which are effective for preventing the spread of the virus when going out for essential services, like grocery shopping and other essential services — are also an effective way to prevent the spread of the virus for in-person voting,” the Lawsuit states. The Lawsuit also says that a Dramatic Increase in Absentee Ballots “would be a logistical nightmare and increases the risk of disenfranchisement.”
West Virginia: Thomas Cooper, 47, of Pendleton County, has been Charged with Attempted Election Fraud. According to the Criminal Complaint, Pendleton County Clerk Received Eight “2020 Primary Election COVID-19 Mail-In Absentee Request” Forms, to the Pendleton County Courthouse, in April, that appeared to have had the Voters’ Party-Ballot Requests Altered. According to Secretary of State, Mac Warner, the Altered Forms were Investigated by the WV Election Fraud Task Force, which is a Multi-Agency Law Enforcement effort formed, in April 2020, as a way to Deter Potential Voter and Election Fraud with Upcoming Elections. Investigators responded to the Complaint quickly, and Warner said the Altered Forms were Uncovered Early and will have No Impact on the Outcomes of any Elections.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
