(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)
RICHMOND, Va. (CN) The Fourth Circuit on Monday revived an election watchdog’s challenge seeking documents in North Carolina that relate to the citizenship status of registered voters.
“Upon our review, we hold that the district court erred in dismissing the complaint at this stage of the proceedings. Because discovery was not conducted, we cannot discern on this record whether the foundation may be entitled to disclosure of some of the documents requested,” U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Keenan wrote in a 22-page opinion issued Monday.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation sued the North Carolina State Board of Elections in 2019, alleging a violation of the disclosure provision in the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis discusses the damaging impact of COVID lockdowns, expresses support for law enforcement and signs a bill on election integrity and transparency.
For at least two Florida counties, the new voting law means losing millions in private grant money bankrolled mostly by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and closing the spigot for more private dollars to fund election administration.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed the bill Thursday that includes provisions such as adding voter ID requirements to absentee voting and limiting ballot harvesting. The law also outright bans private money from being used to pay for local elections.
Rand Paul and ALEC Are Working Together to Suppress the Vote
Sen. Rand Paul walks through the Senate subway without a face covering on February 13, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
Samuel Corum / Getty Images
U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) last month said he has spoken with state legislators through the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) about passing state bills that restrict voting rights and impose greater legislative control over how elections are run.
In a live-streamed video on April 19, Paul told Kevin Roberts, executive director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an affiliate of the right-wing State Policy Network, that he has “been speaking to legislators through ALEC” about conservative electoral reform priorities since the November 2020 election.
The new laws also require that drop boxes for absentee ballots are monitored.
Immediately after the bill was signed into law, Marc Elias, a Democratic lawyer, announced a federal lawsuit challenging it as a form of voter suppression.
The filing was brought by the League of Women Voters of Florida, Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, and Black Voters Matters Fund. They said the law runs afoul of the Constitution.
The lawsuit asks the court to stop the law from being enforced.
“It will deprive lawful Floridians of their most fundamental rights, undermining the integrity of the state’s elections, and once ballots are cast, there will be no meaningful redress for injured voters,” the complaint reads.
In a video with the right-wing Texas Public Policy Foundation, the Kentucky senator made it clear that he’s teaming up with the American Legislative Exchange Council to back Trumpian voter suppression efforts this year.