GOP Eyes Disenfranchising Voters as Courts Block Efforts
All News Updates on Voting Rights, and more
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No analysis today. Just a bunch of news developments and court updates regarding voting rights.
Resignations tendered
Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) will resign on August 20 after being found guilty on all 16 counts of corruption. The Senator sent his resignation letter to both New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, which maintained his innocence and a pledge to appeal his conviction “all the way” up to the Supreme Court. Gov. Murphy will soon appoint an individual to serve the remainder of Menendez’s term, which expires on January 3. New Jersey Congressman Andy Kim is running for Menendez’s Senate seat to serve a full term.
One day after a contentious hearing before Congress, U.S. Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigned. It was clear that her staying on as the agency’s leader was untenable as bipartisan calls for Cheatle to step down mounted. Congressional leaders also announced a new bipartisan investigative task force that will include 7 Republicans and 6 Democrats. To coincide with ongoing investigations into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, the panel will make recommendations for federal agencies to boost security measures and operations, as well as legislative action to enforce them. The House will vote on a resolution to establish the task force in the coming days.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gets tepid welcome in U.S.
It turns out that the shift in the U.S. political landscape made for bad timing for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pay a visit. Vice President Kamala Harris officially declined to preside over the genocidal maniac’s address to Congress on Wednesday and will instead be on the campaign trail. Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray (D-WA) also declined, leaving it to Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Ben Cardin (D-MD). Moreover, Murray, along with several other Democratic lawmakers will not attend the address—a strong message of opposition to Netanyahu’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians.
An aide to the VP told the press that the two will meet later this week and that Harris will make it clear that “it is time for the war to end in a way where Israel is secure, all hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can enjoy their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination.” As Netanyahu threatens his closest ally to remain compliant, the pressure is mounting on him to stand down. In a landmark opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday, the court ruled that Israel has violated international law with its occupation of Palestinian territories, including Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
The Vice President, on the verge of securing the Democratic nomination, is now scheduled for a moderated conversation at Zeta Phi Beta sorority’s Grand Boule in Indianapolis, Indiana to engage Black women voters. This follows a meeting on Sunday with #WinWithBlackWomen that far exceeded the Zoom participant maximum of 1K people. More than 40K Black women joined and an additional 50K streamed it across other platforms, raising more than $1.5M for the Harris for President campaign. On Monday, another event co-hosted by #WinWithBlackMen drew 53K participants who pledged their support.
GOP sues to close voter registration sites, disenfranchise veterans in Michigan
On opening day of the Republican National Convention, the RNC and the Trump campaign sued Michigan for allowing state and federal agencies to be used as voter registration agencies. In its ongoing effort to disenfranchise millions of voters by making it harder to vote, and now to register to vote, the GOP claims that only state legislatures have the authority to designate state agencies, such as Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals and Small Business Administration (SBA) offices as VRA’s. Trump’s party, which has lawsuits filed across the country challenging voting rights, is asking the court for an immediate injunction to close voter registration sites. It also requests the court to prohibit Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson from designating future VRA sites. If successful, military members and minorities in Michigan will have fewer resources to access for exercising their right to vote.
Alaska judge puts GOP-led effort to repeal state’s ranked-choice voting in limbo
On Friday, Superior Court Judge Christina Rankin disqualified 27 signature booklets for a GOP-led effort to repeal Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system. The decision comes from a lawsuit filed in April by three Alaska voters who alleged that the group leading the petition effort mismanaged the signature gathering by leaving booklets unattended, erroneously certifying signatures, and making mistakes throughout the approval process. The plaintiffs asked the court to disqualify the ballot initiative. In her 95-page ruling, Judge Rankin ordered the Alaska Division of Elections to remove the booklets, which each contained 3K signatures, and to recount signature totals by Wednesday. This leaves the ballot measure in limbo for now.
Utah judge rejects far-right primary candidate’s lawsuit to delay certification
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge David Nuffer denied a request from far-right GOP candidate for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District, Colby Jenkins, to delay the state election certification of the GOP primary and reprocess certain ballots. Jenkins, who lost to incumbent Rep. Celeste Maloy by 214 votes, sued, alleging that the GOP-controlled state’s election officials violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by “unfairly” rejecting some ballots that received a late postmark from the U.S. Postal Service even though they were mailed before the deadline. The Judge ruled that Jenkins did not provide evidence of his allegations and stated that Utah’s reliance on USPS postmarks may be problematic since some counties ship their mail to Las Vegas, Nevada for processing.
Jenkins filed a separate lawsuit before the vote tally was finalized, requesting a state court to order Washington County to turn over its list of uncured ballots so Jenkins’ campaign could contact voters about errors. The judge rejected that request, ruling that state law gives that authority to county clerks to decide whether or not to release information.
Judge struck down Ohio election law for violating the Voting Rights Act
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Bridget Meehan Brennan struck down part of Ohio’s sweeping 2023 election law, ruling that it violates the Voting Rights Act. The law in question, which went into effect in April 2023, only allowed authorized family members to assist voters with disabilities in delivering or mailing their absentee ballots. It also made it a felony for individuals who are not an election official or mail carriers to possess or return absentee ballots that were handled by anyone other than authorized family members. The League of Women Voters of Ohio and a disabled Ohio voter, Jennifer Kucera, sued in December, alleging the law went too far in restricting professional caregivers, roommates, in-laws, and others from assisting voters with disabilities.
In her ruling, the judge cited Section 208 of the VRA, stating that it allows voters with disabilities to “select a person of their choice to assist them with voting,” including returning a ballot. She added that federal election law supersedes Ohio’s law and ordered that HB458 no longer be enforced. The Ohio GOP plans to appeal the decision.
Federalist Society-owned Nebraska Attorney General usurped power over legislature
On Friday, Nebraska’s GOP Secretary of State Bob Evnen rejected a new voting rights restoration law that would have restored the right to vote for felons upon completing their sentence. And he did so on the day the law went into effect, disenfranchising roughly 7K-10K formerly incarcerated felons who would have been eligible to vote in the November election.
For a party that claims that only the legislature has authority to determine voting laws, it sure does move the goalposts when it doesn’t like the laws the legislature passes. In April, the GOP-controlled Nebraska legislature passed the voting rights restoration law. (It’s important to note that the Republican Party has a supermajority in the state legislature and has had a party trifecta over the state government for 26 years.)
Conveniently, 2 days before the law was to go into effect, the Federalist Society-owned Attorney General Mike Hilgers wrote an opinion that alleged the law violates the state Constitution’s separation of powers clause. He added that the legislature overstepped its authority because only the state Board of Pardons can restore voting rights via a pardon. It’s not surprising a FedSoc hack would argue this. Nebraska law requires convicted felons to wait until 10 years after their sentencing to apply for a pardon. This means pardons are rare.
This isn’t the first time Hilgers, under FedSoc orders, has invalidated the authority of the state legislature. Last year, he issued an opinion questioning the legality of the inspector general offices that check the power of 2 agencies under the purview of the Governor—the state’s prison system and the child services division of the Department of Health and Human Services. He accused the GOP-controlled legislature of wrongly encroaching on the executive branch, which resulted in the agencies blocking the IG offices from investigating them. This is called authoritarianism.
Secretary of State Evnen agreed with the AG’s opinion and directed county officials to stop registering felons to vote. When asked why he should defer to an unenforceable opinion, Evnen’s spokesperson didn’t provide a valid reason, stating that Evnen “believes the opinion is extensively researched.”