DEMOCRACY DOCKET: GOP targets military, overseas votes

 

Friday, October 25 Get ready for our exciting free, live events next week! Join us Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. ET for a conversation with actress Eva Longoria and voting rights leader Stacey Abrams, along with Voto Latino president María Teresa Kumar and Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias. Then, don’t miss our live panel discussion the following day on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. ET with Congressman Jamie Raskin, political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen and Marc Elias, where they’ll dive into the post-election period and certification. ON THE DOCKET THIS WEEK Republicans target votes from U.S. citizens living overseas Young people face barriers to voting in 2024 Virginia voters sue to ensure city election board certifies November results ELECTION ADMIN Republicans target votes from U.S. citizens living overseas Republicans escalated their attacks on the voting eligibility of overseas and military voters this past month, filing lawsuits in three battleground states in an attempt to segregate or reject those ballots. So far, they’ve had little to no success. This week, a Michigan judge rejected the Republican National Committee (RNC)’s attempt to challenge votes from U.S. citizens living overseas who don’t currently reside in Michigan. Judge Sima Patel concluded the RNC filed suit too close to the upcoming election, and had raised concerns about potentially “disenfranchise[ing] an entire group of citizens.” Read more about the Michigan decision here. In North Carolina, a state court denied the RNC’s bid for a preliminary injunction to block county election clerks from processing certain overseas ballots. The decision means individuals born overseas to parents or guardians who were last North Carolina residents will be allowed to vote in the November election. Read more about that decision here. Advocates for voters living abroad denounced the lawsuits as anti-democratic and blatantly political. “Partisan operatives behind this slate of lawsuits have manufactured a problem that does not exist,” Sarah Streyder, an overseas voter and the executive director of the Secure Families Initiative, told reporters at a media briefing. Read more about the GOP’s lawsuits targeting overseas voters. A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR If pro-democracy policymakers control Congress and the White House in 2025 we must be prepared to meet the moment. Democracy SENTRY is helping lead that work by coordinating efforts among Capitol Hill, the Administration and leading advocacy groups to ensure passage of the Freedom to Vote and John Lewis Voting Rights Acts. Click here for our digital ad highlighting the importance of the bills. VOTING Young people face barriers to voting in 2024 Young voters have a crucial stake in this election. Gen-Z and millennial voters (under 45 years of age) are expected to account for roughly half of the electorate in November. And polling shows young voters are more enthusiastic about supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, than former President Donald Trump. But restrictions have made it harder for young people, particularly students, to vote on college campuses or via absentee. Fewer than half of U.S. states allow students to use their ID to vote, according to the Campus Vote Project. While states like Minnesota have expanded access to the ballot box by allowing college students to use their student ID, others like Ohio have passed restrictive voter laws requiring certain identification documents, like a driver’s license, to vote. Such restrictions have spurred litigation over the past year. Students at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill will not be able to use digital IDs to vote in November after the Republican National Committee (RNC) sued the North Carolina State Board of Election (NCSBE) over its decision to allow the form of identification. Read more about the case here. Teenagers seeking to lawfully register to vote are also facing issues. In South Carolina, the ACLU is suing after thousands of 17-year-olds who tried to register this year because they’ll be 18 by Election Day were denied by the state’s DMV. Read more about the case here. Beyond the courts, bad actors are attempting to intimidate young voters, who are often voting for the first time. Earlier this month, two political advocacy groups asked Wisconsin’s attorney general and the Department of Justice to investigate what they described as “threatening” text messages sent to thousands of young voters, including a Democracy Docket staff member. In response, Voters of Tomorrow, a Gen-Z-led voter advocacy group, said it would send more than 350,000 texts to young Wisconsin voters with accurate information about their voting rights. Read more about the text messages here. As Election Day nears, it's important to stay current on voting rights in the courts. Share this newsletter with a friend, family member or colleague to help everyone stay engaged. If you received this email from someone else, you can subscribe here. 2024 CERTIFICATION Virginia voters sue to ensure city election board certifies November results A group of voters in Waynesboro, Virginia, sued two top officials on the city’s Board of Elections in order to compel them to certify the 2024 results if they refuse. The lawsuit followed an earlier complaint from board Chairman Curtis Lilly and Vice Chairman Scott Mares, stating they will not certify the general election unless Virginia changes its policy prohibiting them from hand-counting ballots. The state uses voting machines to tabulate votes. In the new lawsuit, five voters are arguing that Lilly and Mares’ declaration to refuse to certify violates the Virginia Constitution. They’re asking a court to order the board to certify the results once they’ve been tabulated. Read more about the case here. The potential for election officials to refuse or delay certification has loomed over 2024, after the 2020 race was beset with lies and misinformation, stirring widespread mistrust and confusion about the electoral process. Over the past year, some election officials and board members have sought to deputize themselves as the ones who will safeguard the integrity of elections, going well beyond the obligations of their position. This week, for example, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mays (D) announced that a county election official pleaded guilty for refusing to certify the 2022 general election. Read more about the case and the plea agreement here. Learn more about what happens when an election official refuses to certify here. Docket Watch Over 200 lawsuits have been filed so far this cycle and there are tons of key decisions we’re waiting on that will impact the election. Need help knowing what to expect? Docket Watch spotlights fast-moving cases and decisions that could come down any day now. 1. A lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice challenging Virginia’s new voter purge program is awaiting a decision on whether the state must stop the removal of voters from the state’s rolls just two weeks ahead of the election. 2. A lawsuit targeting thousands of voter registrations in Georgia is pending in federal court. A hearing on whether the lawsuit should be dismissed is next Thursday. 3. A federal judge has yet to issue a ruling in Pennsylvania Republicans’ lawsuit trying to make it harder for military and overseas voters to have their ballots counted. 4. An RNC and Trump campaign lawsuit asking the Nevada Supreme Court to throw out late mail-in ballots missing a postmark could be decided next week. 5. One of the biggest mail-in voting cases of the year is an RNC lawsuit in Mississippi where a decision could upend whether timely cast ballots received after Election Day will be counted. The case could have nationwide implications if appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. FROM OUR DESK Poll Watching is a Crucial Part of Elections — How Did It Become Controversial? Since the summer, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has recruited over 200,000 volunteers to “Protect the Vote” in November, according to the organization. Seems innocent enough. But Democracy Docket’s Matt Cohen explains the ways in which poll-watching, previously a routine and unexciting process, has become a hyper-partisan exercise. Read more here. A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR Democracy SENTRY is helping lead the work to pass the Freedom to Vote and John Lewis Voting Rights Acts. See our digital ad highlighting the importance of the bills. NEW EPISODE Will Democrats Win the Senate? With Sen. Brian Schatz Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz (D) joins the podcast to discuss his thoughts on Democrats’ chances of winning the U.S. Senate and White House, the urgent need to pass the Native American Voting Rights Act and what voters should do between now and Election Day. Watch on YouTube here. What We’re Doing News Editor Sally Holtgrieve is looking forward to taking her kindergartener along to the polls to see democracy in action. He will be wearing this shirt for the occasion. Get one for your own little civics superstar today! SHOP NOW