The Markup: CA defends against interference; VA restores voting rights

We’re tracking 1,723 bills this session across 44 states and D.C. As voting gets underway across the country, election laws and policies are shaping how Americans cast their ballots, with early voting or mail voting starting in roughly a third of states. Election officials also began sending out ballots for overseas and military voters last weekend – 45 days before Election Day. Read on for the latest. 

The Good News

U.S. Supreme Court leaves block on USPS mail voting rule in place. 

On September 14, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an emergency application from the Trump administration to lift a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of a mail-voting rule issued by the U.S. Postal Service. A majority of the justices concluded the administration was “unlikely to succeed on the merits” in the case. The court’s ruling allows states to continue running mail voting under their existing procedures ahead of the November election. The rule – which came out of a March executive order issued by President Donald Trump – would have required election officials to upload information about mail voters to an online portal. The Postal Service would have refused delivery of outgoing ballot mailings if recipient voters were not in the portal. The administration has since said that it has stopped work on developing the portal, although litigation will continue over whether the rule can go into effect for future elections.

Virginia restores voting rights for thousands of citizens.

Under new guidance from the Virginia Department of Elections, and in compliance with a recent federal court order, only common-law felonies recognized in 1870 can result in losing voting rights after incarceration. The state identified just three specific convictions that match these criteria: murder, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter. As a result, individuals convicted of any other felonies who are no longer incarcerated are now automatically eligible to register to vote without needing to seek a formal rights restoration from the governor.

California enacts laws designed to protect against election interference this fall.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several election bills over the weekend, including: A.B. 282 (establishes felony offenses for seizing ballots, election records, or certified voting technology before election results are certified); A.B. 1664 (requires prompt notification to state officials of law enforcement investigations involving election materials); S.B. 884 (opens ballot drop-off locations earlier and restricts law enforcement activity near polling places); and S.B. 259 (establishes penalties for interfering with mail ballot delivery).

Pennsylvania local officials expand mail ballot return options. 

Officials in Philadelphia announced plans to add five ballot drop boxes. Lehigh County also plans to add five drop boxes, doubling its total to 10 ahead of the November election. Pennsylvania is one of 23 states where alternative ballot drop-off locations are available in at least some jurisdictions. Although the state election code does not expressly address drop boxes, the secretary of the commonwealth has issued guidance and many counties have them.

The Bad News

North Carolina appeals court upholds transfer of election board appointment authority. 

A divided North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the legislature did not violate the state Constitution by transferring authority to appoint members of the State Board of Elections from the Democratic governor to the Republican state auditor. The legislature enacted the law over former Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto after now-Gov. Josh Stein was elected. The decision overturned a three-judge Superior Court panel’s ruling finding the transfer violated separation-of-powers principles. The majority concluded that the legislature could assign appointment power to another executive-branch official. In litigation over a previous attempt at removing this appointment power from the governor, the courts ruled that the legislature could not assume this authority. 

On Our Radar

Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear challenges to gerrymandered congressional map. 

Earlier this year, judicial panels rejected two redistricting lawsuits claiming the state’s current congressional maps violate the state Constitution and must be redrawn. One lawsuit claims a partisan gerrymander, while the other argues the map is an anti-competitive gerrymander. Plaintiffs appealed the cases to the state Supreme Court.