Why Your Secretary of State Matters
In most states across the country, voters elect the chief election officer in their state — their secretary of state. These officials hold the keys to vital parts of the election administration process — and who holds these offices has significant ramifications for elections,
Indiana
Indiana Voter Purge
League of Women Voters of Indiana v. Sullivan
Consolidated case filed by voting rights groups challenging two iterations of an Indiana law that purged voters’ registrations without providing adequate written confirmation and notice procedures in violation of the NVRA. The district court enjoined, and the Seventh Circuit upheld, the state from implementing the first purge law, Senate Enrolled Act 442. Indiana then enacted a similar law, SEA 334, which was fundamentally the same as the prohibited law. The district court struck down the new law and the Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that “Just like Act 442, Act 334 …
Texas
Texas Online Registration
Vote.org v. Callanen
Lawsuit filed on behalf of Vote.org against multiple Texas counties challenging the state’s “wet signature” law that requires individuals who submit their registration applications electronically or through fax to also provide a copy of their application with his or her original signature — meaning signed with pen on paper. The complaint argues that this law unduly burdens the right to vote and targets voting advocacy groups such as Vote.org in violation of the First and 14th Amendments and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and asks the court to prohibit …
Ohio Budget Provision Limits Voter Education Efforts
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new provision added to the state budget by Republican lawmakers bans Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) from conducting a series of voter education efforts that successfully recruited new voters last year
Voting Rights Groups Win in Indiana Voter Purge Lawsuit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana barring a state law that purges Indiana voters from registration rolls without following adequate procedures in violation of federal law. The win for voting rights comes after five years of litigation challenging two separate attempts by the state to cancel voters’ registration without following federal law.
Confronting the Most Significant Test to Our Democracy
We are experiencing an unprecedented attack on voting, election administration and democracy — and we must all prepare now. It is, as the President warned, “the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War.”
OnThe Docket
Five Texas Voter Suppression Laws You Might Have Missed
As you watch the current Texas special session, remember that suppressive provisions have already been successfully enacted in the state this year, and that the legal challenges against them that are currently being litigated will have a significant effect on the state’s next elections.
