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

[Gass3268]

Promote the Vote campaign in Michigan, a broad coalition that includes the League of Women Voters, the ACLU of Michigan and the state and Detroit branches of the NAACP, just got approval to start collecting approximately 316,000 signatures to get a massive voter rights measure on the November ballot. The initiative to amend the State Constitution would:

- Protect the right to vote a secret ballot
- Ensure military service members and overseas voters get their ballots in time for their votes to count
- Provide voters with the option to vote straight party
- Automatically register citizens to vote at the Secretary of State’s office unless the citizen declines
- Allow a citizen to register to vote until 15 days before an election by mail or in person. After that, citizens may register to vote in person with proof of residency up to and on Election Day.
- Provide all registered voters access to an absentee ballot for any reason
- Ensure the accuracy and integrity of elections by auditing election results

Source

Michigan also has an initiative to amend the Constitution to create an independent redistricting committee.

[Gass3268]

http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/02/28/poll-floridians-strongly-support-voting-rights-for-felons/

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Florida QU poll has pretty favorable numbers for ending felon disenfranchisement. This confirms that the amendment is still on track for passage. We'll just have to see how big the No campaign is, but I'm wondering if they will be able to change at least 8-9% of peoples minds. This is a pretty basic and well-known issue, and I'm not sure that many people are truly on the fence about it. It helps that the amendment excludes people convicted of murder and sex crimes, which are easy marks to sully such an initiative.

The attack on this initative are going to be heinous and supporters need to be ready for it.

[Gass3268]

Didn't Democrats completely pass on a conservative-held WI Supreme Court race in 2017?

Correct

Granted that the backlash was still building at that point, but in hindsight, that must be incredibly frustrating to a lot of party officials. I don't know exactly why that went unopposed, but the rule of thumb should always be that if the president's party is the same party holding that seat, and said president is relatively (or more) unpopular in that state, then every office worth a damn should be contested. Anything less is passing up on an opportunity to rebuild the party. It should have been contested no matter what, but especially that time around!

I mean, looking at it now, that could have meant a state Supreme Court majority before 2020, and maybe even the difference between fair and rigged maps, which is a big deal in WI.

Would have been on the ballot with Tony Evers' landslide. That being said, historically in Wisconsin it's much harder to knock off a sitting Supreme Court Justice, which this would have been. Since 1848, it's only been done twice. Still, it's so stupid they didn't even try.

[Gass3268]

There was good news out of Iowa yesterday.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

There will be an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court, but that court tends to lean left.

Source

[Gass3268]

https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00/status/1024483470406557699

https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00/status/1024484332780568576

[Gass3268]

Colorado, Michigan, Utah and possibly Missouri will have ballot measures for redistricting commissions this November. 

[Gass3268]

Good news!

https://twitter.com/davidshepardson/status/1024678204106330112

[Gass3268]

Colorado, Michigan, Utah and possibly Missouri will have ballot measures for redistricting commissions this November. 

Missouri will have a redistricting reform measure on the ballot.

https://twitter.com/CleanMissouri/status/1025048463359266816

[Gass3268]

Good news!

https://twitter.com/davidshepardson/status/1024678204106330112

Every time I see news about a federal judge making a good ruling like this all I can think is "who cares, this is gonna be overturned by Justice Kavanaugh soon enough".

Michigan reinstated it via the ballot box, but then the state legislature overturned and added a monetary portion to it so they couldn't reinstate it again via the ballot box. So this year folks are trying to pass a constitutional amendment that would add straight ballot voting and other pro-voting measures to the state constitution.

[Gass3268]

Iowa Supreme Court upholds injunction on the new Voter ID law:

https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1027961579994734592

[Gass3268]

EPIC-MRA-Michgian:



Also an initiative to reform redistricting up 48-32. If both of these pass, Michigan could go from one of the worst voting states to one of the best.

Also, an initiative to legalize recreational pot is up 56-41.

Source

[Gass3268]

RIP Singletxguyforfun

https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1054428513468592128

Big win for voting rights!

[Gass3268]

North Carolina State Court Rules State Voter ID Constitutional Amendment is Void Because Enacted by a Racially Gerrymandered Legislature.

I look forward to this going to the 6-1 Democratic NC Supreme Court.

[Gass3268]

Virginia Democrats planning on scrapping mandatory photo voter ID. Would also allow employee and student ID cards, utility bills and other forms of identification to be used.


Personally I would be in favor of zero ID requirements, but this is a good start.

Other proposals include:

- No excuse early voting (starting the second Saturday before an election, beginning in 2020)
- Allow 16-year-olds to preregister to vote
- A pilot Election Day voter registration program
- A constitutional amendment that establishes that the only qualifications to vote in Virginia are U.S. citizenship, being at least 18 years old and being registered

[Gass3268]

https://twitter.com/BGPolitics/status/1204496456129929216?s=20

[Gass3268]

Mandatory Voter ID is being scrapped in Virginia!

https://twitter.com/ssurovell/status/1224759081342246913?s=20