DEMOCRACY DOCKET: Victories for swing state voters ahead of Election Day

 

Monday, November 4 You asked and we listened — we’re extending our membership sale for another 24 hours! The 2024 election is already the most litigated in American history, and after Trump filed 65 cases following Election Day in 2020, now is the time to pay attention to what is happening in courts across the country. Save $20 and sign up today to receive all the breaking updates you need to know during the post-election.  Victories for swing state voters ahead of Election Day  On Saturday, a Georgia judge denied a Republican lawsuit seeking to block Fulton County from accepting hand-delivered absentee ballots at its election offices this weekend. A Georgia judge rejected a third attempt from a Republican Fulton County election official to interfere with the certification process. Chester County election officials in Pennsylvania unanimously rejected more than 200 right-wing challenges to mail-in ballot applications. Voting advocates said there was no concrete evidence for the challenges. A federal judge rejected a right-wing organization’s request to remove over 277,000 voters from Pennsylvania's rolls before tomorrow's election. In Arizona, a federal judge rejected a right-wing group's request to remove 1.2 million allegedly ineligible voters from the state’s rolls ahead of the 2024 election. The judge said the group's claim was “wholly speculative.” But there have been losses for voters — in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Iowa The Georgia Supreme Court granted the RNC's request to block a decision that extended the mail-in ballot return deadline for over 3,000 Cobb County voters who received late ballots. Voters must return their ballots to officials by 7 p.m. on Election Day. A Pennsylvania judge allowed former President Donald Trump-supporting tech billionaire Elon Musk and his political action committee to continue running their $1 million sweepstakes for swing-state voters. The Philadelphia district attorney sued over the giveaway last week. A federal judge in Iowa allowed state election officials to continue challenging the voter eligibility of over 2,000 individuals that Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate has alleged to be noncitizens. GOP lawsuits filed at the 11th hour Today, GOP officials in Missouri sued to block the U.S. Department of Justice from monitoring polling places in St. Louis on Election Day to ensure compliance with federal voting rights laws. Also today, the RNC filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin claiming that Milwaukee has limited the number of poll watchers who can observe certain polling places during in-person voting on Election Day tomorrow. The GOP alleged that this violates state law. Yesterday, the RNC filed a federal lawsuit to block seven Georgia counties from allowing voters to hand-deliver absentee ballots to election offices over the weekend and today. A similar GOP lawsuit was rejected Saturday in state court. THE SCOREBOARD Since Jan. 1, 2023 The 2024 election is already the most litigated on record The 2024 election is already the most litigated in history, according to Democracy Docket's voting litigation database. Republicans have filed more lawsuits than ever to restrict voting and challenge which ballots should count, but they keep losing. Read here to learn more. SCOTUS will weigh in on Louisiana's congressional map The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear cases over Louisiana's congressional map — which has two majority-Black districts as ordered by a federal court. A lower court said the map was a racial gerrymander.  Sheriffs are ready to challenge election results Right-wing sheriffs across the country are opening sham voting fraud investigations, attracting an array of supporters who are pushing even more aggressive — and sometimes violent — tactics, Jessica Pishko argued in a new piece. Gloria Johnson says she’ll fight for Tennesseans in the U.S. Senate Tennessee state Rep. Gloria Johnson (D) is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate. In a new candidate Q&A interview, we spoke with her about why she's running, the Tennessee Three, the state's low voter turnout and more. Read and watch the interview now. Former judge speaks on Trump’s threat to democracy Former federal Judge Michael Luttig said he is proud to be a conservative, but he can’t see how true conservatives could support Donald Trump.  The day before the election, Luttig sits down with Marc to discuss the threats Trump poses to democracy, the Supreme Court’s immunity decision and efforts to hold election-denying lawyers accountable. Watch it here.