Welcome to The Markup, our weekly insights and analysis of the latest in election law and policy.
We are tracking 1,807 bills so far this session across 44 states and Washington, D.C., with 321 bills that restrict voter access or election administration and 896 bills that improve voter access or election administration.
RESTRICTING VOTER ACCESS OR ELECTION ADMINISTRATION
South Carolina court rejects ACLU attempt to correct failure to pre-register 17-year-olds at the DMV.
A South Carolina court rejected an attempt by the ACLU to add nearly 2,000 eligible residents to the voter rolls whose pre-registration applications were never processed by the DMV. South Carolina allows residents to pre-register at 17 if they turn 18 between the registration deadline and Election Day.
Federal appeals court rules Mississippi mail ballot deadline violates federal law.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled against a Mississippi law that allows officials to count mail ballots received up to five days after the election as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. The ruling will not impact next week’s election. Mississippi is among 18 states and D.C. that relies on postmarks to determine the timeliness of mail ballots.
IMPROVING VOTER ACCESS OR ELECTION ADMINISTRATION
Georgia Supreme Court allows new election rules to remain blocked through the election.
The Georgia Supreme Court denied a request by Republican Party organizations to expedite an appeal of a recent decision blocking implementation of last-minute rules passed by the State Election Board. The appeal will proceed under the normal schedule, leaving the existing injunction in place through the election.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court requires officials to count provisional ballots cast by certain voters whose mail ballots were rejected.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled that voters whose mail ballots are rejected for technical errors, such as missing the inner “secrecy envelope,” may cast provisional ballots on Election Day, which must be counted if verified.
Various courts dismiss voter roll maintenance lawsuits.
Courts in Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin granted motions to dismiss lawsuits that alleged officials in those states neglected their duties to remove certain voters from the rolls. In Virginia, a court temporarily blocked the removal of thousands of voters.
UOCAVA challenges lose in court.
In Michigan, a state court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Michigan Republican Party and the Republican National Committee that would have disenfranchised overseas citizens and members of the military. In North Carolina, a state court denied an RNC request for an emergency order to block some overseas voters born outside the U.S. from casting ballots.
North Carolina legislature passes bill requiring counties to expand the number of early voting sites.
Lawmakers in North Carolina passed a temporary measure, requiring counties impacted by Hurricane Helene to open additional early voting sites. The legislation applies only to this November’s election. The bill is now with Gov. Roy Cooper to sign or veto.
This update is powered by VRL’s State Voting Rights Tracker: tracker.votingrightslab.org