Voting rights bills and lawsuits megathread (Updated: April 27th 2020)

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1030594569115783170

[GeorgiaModerate]

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[GeorgiaModerate]

Judge orders Florida to provide Spanish-language ballots

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[GeorgiaModerate]

On that Florida ruling, this is terrific (the 2nd part below):

https://twitter.com/srl/status/1038109978182209539

[GeorgiaModerate]

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[GeorgiaModerate]

Here's a radical idea.  Why not open the polling places for two (or even more) days?  Obviously no votes would be counted until polls were closed on the final day.  We already have extensive mail voting in some states that spreads out the time period when ballots are received.  Yes, it would be additional expense for the states conducting the elections.  But this could be mitigated to some degree by not necessarily having them open for the same hours each day.  For example, in Georgia the polls are open from 7am-7pm.  Why not have them something like 7am-5pm one day and 10am-8pm the next day.

[GeorgiaModerate]

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[GeorgiaModerate]

New Mexico passes bill allowing same-day registration.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1120088600505397250

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1121492696864976896

[GeorgiaModerate]

It's always a pleasant surprise to see a Republican back automatic voter registration or make registration easier rather than harder.  I remember when Brian Kemp wanted to introduce online voter registration for Georgia, but I'm not sure where that went.  Then he became one of the bad guys.

You can register online, or update your registration, in Georgia.  I believe this was indeed implemented during Kemp's tenure, as was AVR when getting a driver's license.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/KeithWillWynne/status/1144760154342248448

[GeorgiaModerate]

A controversial Florida law stops some former felons from voting. A judge just blocked part of it.

A federal judge has issued a limited ruling that Florida cannot use a person’s inability to pay fines as a reason to deny the vote.

In what way is it a "limited" ruling? Wasn't this the whole point of the law?

Its application is limited to just the specific plaintiffs in this case:

The ruling on Friday specifically applies to the 17 plaintiffs listed in the consolidated suit and means that the state cannot use the fact that those 17 plaintiffs cannot repay fines and fees as a reason to deny them the vote. The groups representing the plaintiffs argue that the ruling also deals a heavy blow to the entire law and indicates that the measure is likely to be struck down in federal court after a trial next year.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1234117609274200065

[GeorgiaModerate]

Georgia voters must be quickly notified when election officials reject their absentee ballots, allowing them time to correct problems and have their ballots counted, according to a settlement with the Democratic Party announced Saturday.

Under the settlement in federal court, Georgia election officials agreed to contact voters whose ballots were rejected by email, phone and mail within three business days. Voters must be contacted the next business day if absentee ballots are invalidated during the 11 days before election day.

https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/lawsuit-settled-giving-georgia-voters-time-fix-rejected-ballots/oJcZ4eCXf8J197AEdGfsSM/

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1257648740778868736