Pennsylvania judge denies GOP request to reject ballots

 

Tuesday, November 19 At Democracy Docket, keeping our readers informed is always our top priority — share this newsletter with a friend and help amplify a pro-democracy news outlet like ours. The latest on Pennsylvania post-election cases Today, a Pennsylvania judge denied a request from GOP Senate candidate David McCormick and the Republican National Committee (RNC) to toss out nearly 1,000 provisional ballots in Philadelphia. These votes will be counted. This case is one of many lawsuits brought by McCormick, the RNC and the state GOP against Pennsylvania counties over the last few days to block them from counting provisional ballots with minor mistakes. On the other hand, Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee recently filed 10 lawsuits in 10 Pennsylvania counties challenging the rejection of 3,200 provisional ballots. Why the North Carolina Supreme Court race is still undecided The North Carolina Supreme Court race is officially going to a recount. Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin requested a recount today after final vote totals showed Democratic incumbent Justice Allison Riggs winning by just over 600 votes. Read here to learn more about this crucial race. Court delays proceedings in GOP challenge to Biden executive order A federal court paused a lawsuit filed by Montana and eight other GOP-led states challenging Biden's executive order expanding voting access. The states requested the pause, arguing that President-elect Donald Trump will likely rescind the order and render the case moot. DOJ defends voting rights in Colorado case The U.S. Department of Justice filed a brief defending the right of voters to sue groups for voter intimidation under the Voting Rights Act and the KKK Act. The brief was filed in a lawsuit alleging an "election integrity" group harassed voters in Colorado. How to combat the dangers of Project 2025 Since Trump won the election, it's become clearer than ever that Project 2025 is the GOP’s agenda. Now, pro-democracy leaders and organizations are coming together to strategize how to protect the people and communities most threatened by it. Read here to learn more about the brewing legal fight.

Flurry of Pennsylvania election lawsuits continues

 

Monday, November 18 At Democracy Docket, we prioritize our readers in everything we do. Please take a moment to fill out our quick survey about our newsletters and coverage — your input will help us improve as we plan for the year ahead. The latest on Pennsylvania election lawsuits In a 4-3 decision today, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a request from the Republican National Committee (RNC) and affirmed that counties should not count mail-in ballots where voters wrote the wrong date, or left off the date, on the outer return envelope. GOP Senate candidate David McCormick and the RNC filed several lawsuits over the past few days to block the counting of ballots in Pennsylvania. The Republicans claimed that the counties were counting provisional ballots that should be rejected due to small errors. Today, Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a lawsuit challenging the rejection of more than 2,000 provisional ballots in Philadelphia County with signature or envelope issues. More litigation is expected. Last week, the Pennsylvania Department of State announced that it would conduct a recount of the Senate race since the margin was less than 0.5% — meeting the state’s criteria for an automatic recount. The results will not be released until Nov. 27. California judge dismisses lawsuit challenging local voter ID law A California judge dismissed a lawsuit from the state challenging local voter ID requirements in Huntington Beach, saying the issue is not yet ripe for litigation. The state has 20 days to refile its complaint and restart the lawsuit. What happens to Trump’s indictments once he takes office? In 2023, Donald Trump faced four indictments in state and federal courts for a range of alleged misdeeds. Now that he has won the 2024 presidential election, what's next? Read here to learn how the cases will likely play out moving forward. Marc and Brian Tyler Cohen on the media, politics and what’s next In a new YouTube video, Brian Tyler Cohen joins Marc to discuss the 2024 election, the current political landscape, the tensions between legacy and independent media and more. Court hearing coming up tomorrow A hearing will be held in a lawsuit challenging four congressional districts and seven state House districts in South Florida. Pro-voting groups argued that the map is racially gerrymandered against Latinos and violates the 14th Amendment.

Republicans target undated ballots in Pennsylvania

 

Thursday, November 14 Republicans are trying to block counting of undated mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania As Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race heads toward a recount, the RNC and GOP candidate David McCormick filed two legal actions to block the counting of timely received mail-in ballots missing a correct handwritten date on the envelope. The Pennsylvania Department of State announced Wednesday that a recount will be conducted in the race. Under state law, any race within a 0.5% margin can qualify for an automatic recount, so long as the losing candidate doesn’t waive it. According to the latest vote count, incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D) is trailing behind McCormick by just 0.4%. Conservative group seeks to put voter ID requirement on Maine’s ballot  A conservative group in Maine said they gathered enough signatures to move forward with a proposed ballot measure to require voter ID in the state. The petition signatures now head to the secretary of state to be verified. The PAC — Voter ID for ME — said in a Facebook post that the group collected over 165,000 signatures. The petition only needed 67,682 signatures, which was the number of votes cast for governor in the 2022 election.

5 takeaways from this year’s state Supreme Court races

 

Friday, November 8 New York judge strikes down state’s Voting Rights Act A New York court struck down the New York Voting Rights Act. The judge held that the state-level voting rights act unconstitutionally “provides enhanced rights” to minority groups, citing the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 affirmative action ruling. Walz pledges to continue protecting democracy  “As long as I’m governor of Minnesota, we’ll be a state that respects democracy, a place where we’re proud of our civic debate and where we don’t demonize people who disagree with us,” Gov. Tim Walz (D) said in Minnesota on Friday during his first speech since the election. Since Walz’s term as governor wasn’t up in 2024, he can return to the position. He added that “we across this state have fought for everyone’s right to participate fully in our democracy.” Back in May, before he joined Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, he signed the Minnesota Voting Rights Act into law. Five takeaways from this year’s state Supreme Court races Tuesday's election saw dozens of candidates win seats on state high courts, with Democrats and Republicans securing respective majorities in Michigan and Ohio. Read here to learn about five takeaways from this year's state Supreme Court races. GOP Senate candidate fails in attempts to target provisional ballots  Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate David McCormick's legal attempts to throw out provisional ballots in Philadelphia have failed. A state judge rejected his first lawsuit and McCormick withdrew his second lawsuit. Arizona Supreme Court rejects Kari Lake’s seventh bid to overturn 2022 election The Arizona Supreme Court rejected Kari Lake's (R) request for a do-over of the 2022 gubernatorial election — marking the seventh, and final, time that her attempt to overturn her loss has been denied. Lake is currently running for U.S. Senate in Arizona and the race against her Democratic challenger Ruben Gallego remains too early to call. RNC appeals dismissal of Michigan voter purge lawsuit The Republican National Committee appealed the dismissal of its Michigan voter purge lawsuit to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A couple of weeks ago, a federal judge tossed out the case seeking to purge allegedly “ineligible” voters from Michigan's rolls.