UPDATE: Monday, Nov 7, 2022 · 5:39:49 PM +00:00 · Lauren Sue
A Michigan judge dismissed Republican secretary of state nominee Kristina Karamo's lawsuit on Monday, ruling that “the Clerk's Office will not reject ballots” and that the “Plaintiffs' argument is without merit.”
"Plaintiffs have raised a false flag of election law violations and corruption concerning Detroit's procedures for the November 8th election," Judge Timothy Kenny wrote in the order. “This Court's ruling takes down that flag.”
Karamo sued Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey last month to have absentee ballots discredited when they were not cast in person with an ID. The very demand "runs contrary to state requirements," Washington Post reporters Amy Gardner and Emma Brown wrote.
“When asked in a recent court hearing, Karamo’s lawyer declined to say why the suit targets Detroit, a heavily Democratic, majority-Black city, and not the entire state,” the journalists wrote.
Republicans in battleground states are talking out of both sides of their mouths again, in one respect encouraging supporters to get out and vote and in the other, attempting through legal action to disqualify thousands of mail-in ballots. Even more disheartening, in some cases, courts have already ruled in favor of Republicans.
The state Supreme Court sided with the Republican National Committee in a Pennsylvania decision ordering on Nov. 1 that county boards of elections "refrain from counting any absentee and mail-in ballots" that were put in "undated or incorrectly dated outer envelopes," according to a court document The Washington Post obtained.
Efforts to disenfranchise voters are underway in Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin, where two separate cases are aimed at stripping voters of their rights. The good news—and there is some— is that voters still have the power to correct their ballots in some cases.
RELATED STORY: PA voters need a cure in Allegheny county
Although Pennsylvania's Allegheny County said there is not enough time to mail affected voters letters explaining their options to correct improperly dated envelope. Voters can come to the elections division office in downtown Pittsburgh, present a photo ID, and fix the issue.
“This opportunity is available during regular business hours of 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM on Monday, November 7, 2022 and from 7 AM to 8 PM on Election Day, Tuesday, November 8, 2022,” the county wrote on its website. “Voters unable to travel to the Elections office due to a disability may authorize a designated agent to cure their ballot on their behalf by using a Designated Agent Cure Form, which has been specifically designed for this purpose.”
Twenty-four states have processes known as curing procedures to notify voters of a missing signature or a signature discrepancy and give them the opportunity to fix them, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Those states are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
As you may have noticed, Wisconsin is not on the list.
A circuit court judge in the state ordered the Wisconsin Elections Commission not to count mail-in ballots that are missing a complete address from the required witness. And in another case filed on Friday, a former Milwaukee election official outed and charged with a felony and three misdemeanors used three alleged incidents of military ballots completed using fake names to justify a lawsuit preventing military ballots from being counted immediately.
Will Attig, director of the Union Veterans Council, voiced his concern in an interview with The Washington Post. “These are service members defending our country that have the right to vote and their means to vote is by mail,” he said. “We’ve got what to me appears to be an orchestrated plan by election deniers who do not truly support our democracy.”
Such election deniers are practically attacking on all fronts this election. They have filed lawsuits regarding poll workers in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, and Virginia.
In total, there have been 120 lawsuits filed on voting rights as of Nov. 3, and more than half of them are seeking to make voting less accessible, according to CNN and the liberal voting rights platform Democracy Docket.
Sylvia Albert, director of voting for the voting rights organization Common Cause, told the Post these legal battles could potentially change the outcomes of elections. “They’re looking for every advantage they can get, and they’ve calculated that this is a way that they can win more seats,” Albert said. “Research has shown that absentee ballots are more likely to be discarded if they are voted by young people and people of color, which are not generally seen as the Republican base.”
In these final days of get-out-the-vote, calling Democrats and helping them make a "plan" to vote is essential. MoveOn, SwingLeft, and Sister District are all running virtual phonebanks and they need your help. Click here to find a shift that works for your schedule, and sign up!
Phonebanking is easier, when you (a) do it from home, and (b) have a whole team of volunteers and trainers on Zoom to provide you with support. Phonebanking is a crucial way to reach Democratic voters so they make a plan to go vote. Click here to sign up for a virtual phonebank shift today.
This is it, folks. We need to chase down every last Democratic voter, and calling them on the phone to help them make a "plan" to vote is key. Volunteer with Swing Left, MoveOn, or Sister District to get out the Democratic vote from the comfort of your home.
At long last, the 2022 midterms are almost here! With the battle for the House front and center, we give you a window into the key races on a final pre-election episode of The Downballot. We discuss a wide range of contests that will offer insight into how the night is going, including top GOP pickup opportunities, second-tier Republican targets, and the seats where Democrats are on offense. And with many vote tallies likely to stretch on for some time, we also identify several bellwether races in states that count quickly.
