Welcome to Fair Elections Alert, your rundown of key attacks against voting rights and independent elections across the country over the past week. It’s a way to keep up with what the opponents of democracy are focused on. We’ll highlight critical updates you need to be aware of, with a spotlight on the South, the original frontline in the fight for voting rights.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Our government’s citizenship lists are incomplete and inaccurate. The United States Postal Service is overburdened and inadequate. This combines a car crash with a train wreck.” – The Brennan Center for Justice, on President Trump’s second executive order that attacks mail voting and creates lists of eligible voters in each state.
NOTABLE TRENDS
Trump Signed Executive Order to Restrict Mail Voting: On March 31, President Trump signed his second executive order on elections that would instruct the USPS to only send mail ballots to on an approved list and that would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create lists of citizens who are eligible to vote in each state.
Florida and Mississippi Governors Signed Bills Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Vote: The governors of Florida and Mississippi both signed legislation on Wednesday April 1, HB 991 and SB 2588 respectively, to require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and begin the process to purge voters who have not provided proof of citizenship. Florida and Mississippi join South Dakota and Utah who have also passed proof of citizenship laws this year. Similarly, the Louisiana House passed HB 691 to require the Secretary of State’s office to submit personal identifying information, including Social Security numbers, for all registered voters to the Department of Homeland Security to run through its SAVE database –Which has consistently and incorrectly marked U.S. citizens as non-citizens .
STATE ACTIVITY
Colorado • Court Ordered Resentencing of Former County Clerk’s 9 Year Sentence: A three-judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals ordered the trial judge Matthew Branch to resentence former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters, who was originally sentenced to 9 years for her role in allowing unauthorized access to voting equipment, without consideration of her claims of 2020 election fraud. The panel argued that the lower court violated Peters’ 1st Amendment right to free speech and that it was “apparent” the court imposed the sentence to “prevent [Peters] from continuing to espouse views the court deemed ‘damaging.’”
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) said that he believed Peters’ original sentence was fair and appropriate, stating “Ms. Peters is in prison because of her own criminal conduct to prove false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 elections, and she has not shown any remorse for her actions.”
Louisiana Republican Lawmakers Killed Two Bills That Would Have Improved Voting Access For Incarcerated And Formerly Incarcerated Individuals: Republican lawmakers in the House and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to involuntarily defer two bills, HB 270 and HB 361, that would have improved access for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, effectively killing both bills.
HB 270 would have allowed eligible, incarcerated first-time voters to cast ballots by mail, resolving a conflict in current state law.
HB 361 would have simplified the voter registration restoration process for formerly incarcerated individuals by removing the in-person delivery requirement for parole documentation.
ANTI-VOTING GROUP ACTIVITY
Michigan Fair Elections Announced Commission To Investigate Civera, Which Provides Election Data Tools: Michigan Fair Elections (MFE), the state chapter of the Election Integrity Network (EIN), announced a commission to lead an “independent review” of Civera, a civic technology company that provides election data tools for election officials and the public, to examine its “impact on election transparency and integrity.” Patrice Johnson, founder and chair of MFE, is serving as interim leader of the commission. Another figure in the EIN space, Linda Sheckler from the Election Research Institute, which was founded by Heather Honey, is on the commission.
MFE, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, highlighted that “all three Michigan Secretary of State candidates” are on the commission but only include the 3 Republican candidates at the time, including the Republican nominee Anthony Forlini.
Election Integrity Network Claimed Over 8,000 People Signed Their SAVE Act Citizen Pledge: On April 2, the Election Integrity Network (EIN) claimed that more than 8,000 people have signed their SAVE Act Citizen Pledge and that they are “just getting started.” EIN also encouraged their supporters to call or visit their Senators.
The Midterms
I’m concerned, as many, many people are that Trump will send ICE to polling places this fall to intimidate voters. What if state governors were to beat Trump to the punch by ordering the National Guard to protect those polling places prior to Trump sending in ICE? Would that work? Could that be done? Do you think it’s a good idea? If not, what would you recommend to protect the vote in the midterms?