Legislative Updates
California: Under Senate Bill 994, County Courthouses would be Required to Share Juror Information, including Age and Citizenship Status, with Election Officials.
A Nonpartisan Group of Community Leaders is pursuing a November Ballot Measure that would ask San Diego Voters if they wanted to use Ranked-Choice Voting for Local Elections.
Georgia: Under Senate Bill 463, if Voting Lines last for more than One hour, County Election Superintendents would have to Split Up Precincts that have More than 2,000 Voters, provide Additional Voting Equipment, or Hire Extra Poll Workers. The Legislation is Supported by Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger.
Indiana: House Republican Amendment to the Budget that would Allocated an Additional $10 Million to Upgrade the State’s Voting Machines. In their Vote against the Amendment, some GOP Members argued that a lot More than $10 Million will be needed and that should be Considered at a Future Time. It’s unlikely the General Assembly will give Counties more Money in the 2020 Session for New Voting Machines.
Iowa: Gov. Kim Reynolds has signaled her Willingness to Sign a Bill that would Require Felons to Fully Pay any Court-Ordered Debts to Victims before having their Voting Rights Restored. Reynolds has been Advocating a Constitutional Amendment that would Allow for the Automatic Restoration of Voting Rights. The Proposed Legislation would come into play if that Amendment is Approved. The Senate Approved the Bill 31-11 this week.
Kansas: The Senate has Voted Not to Advance a Bill that would have Lowered the Number of Ballots that get Tossed in the Trash after Election Day. The Bill would have Allowed Provisional Ballots Cast by Voters who have Moved from One County to Another but Failed to Update their Registration to be Counted.
Kentucky: The Senate has Approved a Bill that would Restore the Voting Rights to some Returning Citizens. The Bill, which is a Constitutional Amendment that would Ultimately be up to the Voters in November if Approved by the House would allow Felons to have their Voting Rights Restored after Serving Full Sentences, as long as they were Not Convicted of Treason, Sex Crimes, Violent Crimes, or Crimes against Children.
The House has Approved an Amended Bill that would Require Voters to show a Photo ID in Order to Vote. Senate Bill 2, Approved 62-35 by the House, would Require Kentuckians to show a Government-Issued Photo ID to Vote. But those who don’t have Photo IDs would still be able to Cast a Ballot if they have a Credit Card or Social Security Card and Sign an Affidavit Swearing they are who they Claim to be. The Measure would also Create a New Process where People who Can’t afford an ID can get a Free one through their Local County Clerk’s Office.
Minnesota: By a 5-4 Vote the Senate State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee has Advanced a Bill that would require Voters to Show a Photo ID in Order to Vote. Under the Senate Bill, the State would provide Voter Identification Cards to Minnesotans at No Cost. It would also establish a New System of Provisional Ballots for People who are Unable to Prove their Identity and Residence.
Mississippi: Under Senate Bill 2670 the Secretary of State’s Office would have the Power to Check Voters’ Names against Databases from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other Agencies to Determine if the Voter is a U.S. Citizen. If the Voters Citizenship was called into question, they would have 30 days to provide Documents to Prove their Citizenship.
Missouri: BY a 109-45 Vote the House has Approved a Bill that would Tighten the State’s Voter ID Law after the Missouri Supreme Court Ruled in February that it was Unconstitutional. Under the Proposal, Voters Casting a Provisional Ballot would have to Sign a Form stating that they Understand their Vote Won’t be Counted unless they Return to the Polling Place the Same Day with a Valid ID or their Signature Matches what’s on File with Election Authorities.
New York: Under S.6925, any Towns and Cities with Populations between 50,000 and 100,000 to have At-Least One Early Voting Location within their Borders. The Bill has been Approved the Senate and now Awaits Action by the House.
Ohio: The Ohio Ballot Board has Split a Proposed Ballot Initiative into Four Separate Issues. In a Party-Line 3-2 Vote, the Ohio Ballot Board’s Republican Members ruled the Proposed Constitutional Amendment was actually Four separate Topics and that Each should be a Separate Ballot Question: Elections Administration, Voter Registration, Voting Rights for Citizens with Disabilities, and a Requirement for a Post-Election Audit.
In Yellow Springs Voters will once again be asked if they want to Extend the Voting Franchise to 16-year-olds as well as Documented Non-Citizens. The Franchise would Only Extend to Village Issues and Races. Each Issue will be considered Separately on the Ballot. In 2019 a similar Measure Failed but Officials believe that’s because the Voting Issues, along with Extending the Mayor’s Term, were all Presented as One Ballot Question.
Virginia: The Senate has Approved HB201 that would Allow for Election Day Registration in the Commonwealth.
The Virginia General Assembly has Voted to do Away with the Casting of Lots when a Tied General Assembly Race remains Tied following a Recount. Instead a Special Election will be held to Determine the Winner. The Bill does Not Apply to Elections for President, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General Races. The Legislature would have to Change the Constitution for that to happen.
Legal Updates
Georgia: U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Grimsberg has ruled that Gwinnett County does Not have to Open its Satellite Early Voting Sites a week Early. The Gwinnett County NAACP, the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, and the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda filed Suit, saying the County’s Operation of One Polling Place in the First week of Early Voting for the Democratic Presidential Primary Violates the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The Attorney General, Chris Carr, has Closed an Investigation into Allegations that the State’s Democratic Party attempted to Breach the State’s Voter Registration Database in the days Leading up to the 2018 Gubernatorial Election. Carr’s Office said an Inquiry from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found “no evidence of damage to the SOS network or computers, and no evidence of theft, damage, or loss of data.”
Illinois: Advocates have filed a Federal Lawsuit against the Secretary of State and State Elections Officials over the State’s Automatic Voter Registration System. The Suit alleges Multiple Violations of State and Federal Voter Laws in a Delayed Automatic Registration Roll-Out, including a Lack of Access for Limited English Speakers and Failing to Update Voter Rolls when People Moved. “Unfortunately, the promise of voter modernization and inclusivity has not only gone unfulfilled, it now appears that even basic voter registration services are mishandled in disregard of repeated calls for transparency and accountability by non-partisan organizations in the state,” according to the Lawsuit. The Groups seek Court Oversight.
Minnesota: U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright has ruled that City Ordinances in Minneapolis and St. Paul that Require Landlords to Provide Voter Registration Information to New Tenants is Unconstitutional. In her ruling Wright did Not Comment on the Claim that Voter Registration Information served an Ideological Objective. “There is nothing in the record that addresses the actual or purported effectiveness of Defendants’ ordinances,” Wright wrote. “Defendants provide no evidence as to the percentage of tenants who receive the voter-registration flyers, as to how many of those renters actually review the flyers or find them helpful, or that the flyers have had any actual effect on voter participation among renters. Nor is there anecdotal evidence that similar efforts elsewhere have resulted in higher voter participation among renters.”
New Jersey: Chiung-Lin Cheng Liu, a Losing Candidate for the Holmdel Township Committee has filed Suit in Freehold County Superior Court alleging that Dozens of Legitimate Vote-by-Mail Ballots were Improperly Disqualified on Technical Grounds. Liu Lost the Election by Two Votes.
North Carolina: Advance North Carolina has filed Suit in Federal Court over Senate Bill 683 which Changed Absentee Voting Rules in the wake of the Ballot-Harvesting Scandal in Bladen and Robeson Counties. Advance North Carolina argues that the Law takes “aim at lawful, constitutionally protected activities, like grassroots organizing and absentee voting application drives. By imposing barriers to requesting an absentee ballot, and invalidating requests that do not adhere to the state’s new restrictions, the organizing ban reduces access to vote-by-mail opportunities on which Advance Carolina’s members and other voters have come to rely or would otherwise utilize, thereby burdening their fundamental right to vote,” the Lawsuit states.
Ohio: A Three-Judge Panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Reversed a Lower Court’s Ruling that said Elections Officials in the State have to provide Absentee Ballots to Jail Inmates Arrested after a Deadline to Request Absentee Ballots. The 6th Circuit Panel wrote in their Opinion that Requiring Election Workers to Deliver Absentee Ballots would Serve as an undue Burden to thinly-stretched Staffs during an already-hectic time period. This is especially True in Rural Counties where there are as few as Two Employees for a Board of Election, the Opinion says.
Pennsylvania: The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, the LWV Pittsburgh Chapter, and One Pennsylvania, have Filed a Motion in Support of Allegheny County in a Lawsuit brought against the County by the Public Interest Legal Fund over the County’s Voter Rolls. The League of Women Voters argues that it Represents “the interests of organizational members who are eligible registered voters in Allegheny County, each of whom has a cognizable interest in remaining on the voter lists and depend upon the proper enforcement of the National Voter Registration Act,” according to Court Documents.
Wisconsin: The District 4 Court of Appeals has Struck a Ruling by an Ozaukee County Judge that said 209,000 Voters who may have Moved should be Immediately Removed from the Voter Rolls. The Three-Judge Panel Rejected the Argument from the Plaintiffs, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, saying that the the Panel also Reversed the Lower Court’s Call for Three Members of the Commission to be Held in Contempt of Court and Pay Fines because they didn’t Immediately Purge the Voters. State Law Violates the Voting Right Act.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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