Montana law ending Election Day voter registration on hold
2 years, 3 months ago

Montana law ending Election Day voter registration on hold

Associated Press  

— The Montana Supreme Court, in a split ruling on Wednesday, upheld a temporary order blocking the enforcement of two election-related laws passed by the 2021 Montana Legislature while the laws are being challenged in court. Four justices agreed that District Court Judge Michael Moses was correct in temporarily blocking a law that ended Election Day voter registration while the court case plays out. “Young people use Election Day voter registration at twice the rate of older Montanans,” said Hunter Losing, executive director of one of the plaintiffs — the Montana Public Interest Research Group, or MontPIRG. The Montana Supreme Court ruled in May that the student ID law and another ending voter registration at noon on Monday before Election Day would remain in effect for the primary election. An expert for the secretary testified that there was “some evidence the photographic identification laws bolster confidence in elections.” That argument was undermined, the justices said, by the fact that the law allows the use of concealed carry permits — which do not include photos — as a primary form of voter ID.

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History of this topic

Supreme Court allows Virginia to cancel hundreds of voter registrations before Election Day
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Supreme Court allows Virginia to cancel hundreds of voter registrations before Election Day

The Independent  

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Three Trump Judges Just Issued a Shock Ruling That Could Wreak Havoc on the Election
1 month, 4 weeks ago

Three Trump Judges Just Issued a Shock Ruling That Could Wreak Havoc on the Election

Slate  

On Friday afternoon, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit handed down a shock decision declaring that states may not count ballots that are mailed by Election Day but received shortly thereafter. The fact that Congress created one “Election Day” does not mean that it intended to void ballots that are cast by that date but, for whatever …

A judge orders Virginia to restore registered voters purged too close to Election Day
2 months ago

A judge orders Virginia to restore registered voters purged too close to Election Day

NPR  

A judge orders Virginia to restore registered voters purged too close to Election Day toggle caption Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images A voter removal program in Virginia illegally purged registered voters from the state’s rolls too close to this fall’s election, a federal judge ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles, who was nominated by President Biden, has ordered the state …

Trump-Appointed Appeals Court Judges Rule in Favor of Mississippi on Ballot Receipt After Election Day
2 months ago

Trump-Appointed Appeals Court Judges Rule in Favor of Mississippi on Ballot Receipt After Election Day

CNN  

A federal appeals court judges have ruled that Mississippi's post-election mail ballot receipt violates federal law. The ruling could impact legal challenges to late-arriving ballots in other states, which could make a difference in key races. The court's decision is only binding on the three Southern states covered by the circuit, and for now, the panel is not ordering that …

A federal judge has ordered Alabama to stop trying to purge voters before Election Day
2 months, 1 week ago

A federal judge has ordered Alabama to stop trying to purge voters before Election Day

NPR  

A federal judge has ordered Alabama to stop trying to purge voters before Election Day toggle caption Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked Alabama’s voter removal program in one of the major legal fights over voter purges in Republican-led states ahead of this fall’s Election Day. The court ruling comes after the Justice Department and civil …

Justice Department sues Alabama saying state is purging voter rolls too close to election
2 months, 3 weeks ago

Justice Department sues Alabama saying state is purging voter rolls too close to election

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit Friday against Alabama and its top election official, accusing the state of illegally purging people from voter rolls too close to the November election. Federal officials said the purge violates the “quiet period provision” of the National Voter Registration Act that prohibits the systemic removal of names from voter rolls …

Montana becomes eighth state with ballot measure seeking to protect abortion rights
4 months ago

Montana becomes eighth state with ballot measure seeking to protect abortion rights

Associated Press  

— Voters will get to decide in November whether they want to protect the right to an abortion in the constitution of Montana, which on Tuesday became the eighth state to put the issue before the electorate this fall. Montana’s measure seeks to enshrine a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling that said the constitutional right to privacy protects the right …

New York’s mail-in voting law upheld by the state’s top court
4 months ago

New York’s mail-in voting law upheld by the state’s top court

Associated Press  

ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York law allowing all registered voters to cast their ballots by mail was upheld Tuesday by the state’s highest court, which rejected a Republican challenge to the legislation. “New York’s court system is so corrupt and disgraceful that today’s ruling has essentially declared that for over 150 years, New York’s elected officials, voters, and judges …

Montana Supreme Court allows signatures of inactive voters to count on ballot petitions
5 months ago

Montana Supreme Court allows signatures of inactive voters to count on ballot petitions

Associated Press  

— Montana’s Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would allow the signatures of inactive voters to count on petitions seeking to qualify constitutional initiatives for the November ballot, including one to protect abortion rights. District Court Judge Mike Menahan ruled last Tuesday that Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen’s office wrongly changed election rules to reject inactive voter signatures from three …

Abortion rights supporters report having enough signatures to qualify for Montana ballot
5 months ago

Abortion rights supporters report having enough signatures to qualify for Montana ballot

Associated Press  

— An initiative to ask voters if they want to protect the right to a pre-viability abortion in Montana’s constitution has enough signatures to appear on the November ballot, supporters said Friday. “We’re excited to have met the valid signature threshold and the House District threshold required to qualify this critical initiative for the ballot,” Kiersten Iwai, executive director of …

Montana seeks to revive signature restrictions for ballot petitions, including on abortion rights
5 months ago

Montana seeks to revive signature restrictions for ballot petitions, including on abortion rights

Associated Press  

— Montana officials asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday for an emergency order to block a ruling that allowed signatures from inactive voters to count on petitions for several proposed November ballot initiatives, including one to protect abortion rights. A judge said Tuesday that Montana’s Secretary of State wrongly changed election rules to reject inactive voter signatures from three …

Montana judge: Signatures of inactive voters count for initiatives, including 1 to protect abortion
5 months, 1 week ago

Montana judge: Signatures of inactive voters count for initiatives, including 1 to protect abortion

Associated Press  

— A Montana judge said Tuesday that the Secretary of State’s Office erred in changing the rules governing whose signatures should count on petitions for three constitutional initiatives — including one to protect abortion rights — after officials tried to omit the signatures of inactive voters. District Judge Mike Menahan said he would give county election offices another week to …

Backers of ballot initiative to preserve right to abortions in Montana sue over signature rules
5 months, 1 week ago

Backers of ballot initiative to preserve right to abortions in Montana sue over signature rules

Associated Press  

— Two organizations that gathered voter signatures to qualify proposed constitutional amendments for the Montana ballot — including an initiative to protect abortion rights — have sued the secretary of state’s office over changes made to the rules about whose signatures may be accepted after the signatures were gathered and while county election officials were verifying them. The lawsuit alleges …

Delaware’s early voting and permanent absentee laws are unconstitutional, a judge says
9 months, 4 weeks ago

Delaware’s early voting and permanent absentee laws are unconstitutional, a judge says

Associated Press  

— Laws allowing early voting and permanent absentee status violate Delaware’s constitution and are invalid, a judge ruled in a lawsuit brought by a state elections inspector and a Republican lawmaker. Friday’s ruling follows a 2022 state Supreme Court decision that laws allowing universal voting by mail and Election Day registration were unconstitutional. State attorneys argued that the General Assembly …

Arizona governor vetoes voter registration cancelation bill
2 years, 6 months ago

Arizona governor vetoes voter registration cancelation bill

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a bill Friday that would require county recorders to launch an investigation anytime someone claims that a person’s voter registration is invalid. Ducey, a Republican, said the bill could allow for subjective decisions and lead to people’s voter registrations being canceled “based on fiction rather than fact.” Determining someone’s residency under election laws …

Montana primary voters must be registered by noon on June 6
2 years, 7 months ago

Montana primary voters must be registered by noon on June 6

Associated Press  

— Montanans who want to cast a vote in next month’s primary election must be registered with their county elections office by noon on June 6, under an order by the Montana Supreme Court. District Court Judge Michael Moses of Billings had ruled last month that a law ending Election Day voter registration appeared to unconstitutionally burden the right to …

Montana judge temporarily blocks new election laws
2 years, 8 months ago

Montana judge temporarily blocks new election laws

Associated Press  

— A Montana judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked four laws passed by the 2021 Legislature that the state Democratic Party, tribal organizations and youth groups argued were meant to make it more difficult for Native Americans, new voters, the elderly and those with disabilities to vote. District Court Judge Michael Moses ruled the laws that eliminated election day voter registration, …

Montana Democratic Party challenges changes to voter ID laws
3 years, 8 months ago

Montana Democratic Party challenges changes to voter ID laws

Associated Press  

— The Montana Democratic Party has asked a judge to overturn a law that ends Election Day voter registration and another that requires college students to provide other proof of residency besides a student ID to register and vote. Republican Rep. Sharon Greef of Florence said Tuesday her bill to end Election Day voter registration “respects local election officials and …

Montana governor approves ending same-day voter registration
3 years, 8 months ago

Montana governor approves ending same-day voter registration

Associated Press  

Greg Gianforte signed measures Monday to end same-day voter registration and require additional identifying information from those who use a student ID to register to vote. Supporters of the bill to end same-day voter registration said it will allow clerks to focus on voting on Election Day and mean shorter lines at the polls. Opponents argued that Montana voters six …

Montana law preventing absentee ballot gathering overturned
4 years, 2 months ago

Montana law preventing absentee ballot gathering overturned

Associated Press  

— A Montana judge on Friday struck down a voter-enacted law that restricted third-party collection of absentee ballots after several Native American groups argued they rely on ballot collection efforts to vote. The Ballot Interference Prevention Act exacerbated the barriers many rural Native Americans face in voting, which include difficulties in traveling to post offices and polling places, and is …

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