The Republican National Committee and its lawyers are traveling to states trying to influence what laws and procedures apply to the November election.
The RNC, which has been reorganized by supporters of former President Donald Trump, is reviving legal arguments that failed in 2020 as it tries to get involved in dozens of state and federal lawsuits. Cases are occurring in all major 2024 battleground states, but also in deep red and dark blue states.
Some of the major ongoing lawsuits target how absentee ballots are processed and who should be removed from voter rolls. If the lawsuit is successful, fewer people will be able to vote in November and fewer absentee ballots will be counted.
In some cases, the RNC works with state political parties to prosecute state or county officials. In other cases, the National Party seeks to intervene to support or oppose lawsuits initially filed by advocacy groups. The RNC will also file friend-of-the-court briefs, seek involvement in the rulemaking process, and announce when it will seek public records as part of its own investigation.
These lawsuits are often brought based on the same misinformation that fueled the myth that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump through fraud. Lawyers argue that the RNC needs to get involved in the lawsuit in order for people to have confidence in the election results, trust in the democratic process and encourage other Republicans to go vote.
Preparing to vote: See who’s running for president and compare their positions on important issues with our voter guide
Eliza Swearen Becker, senior counsel for the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, which represents RNC opponents, said, “Their legal arguments are based on misinformation and disinformation about election administration, election mechanics, and election results.” It is premised on expression.” Lawsuit over Michigan’s voter rolls. “They are primarily fueled by election denial campaigns and lies about the 2020 election.”
For several months, the RNC has been providing updates on its litigation program through ProtectTheVote.com. The website was also used by the Trump 2020 campaign to rally supporters who challenged Biden’s victory in court. The justices, including some Republican-leaning judges appointed by President Trump, overwhelmingly rejected those arguments.
The RNC did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on the litigation program. Attempts to contact several members of the RNC’s Election Integrity Commission, state party officials, and plaintiffs in various lawsuits were unsuccessful.
“The RNC’s legal team will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that election officials comply with election administration rules,” RNC Chief Counsel Charlie Spieth said in a statement on April 19. “If we don’t comply or don’t follow the rules, we will aggressively take them to court.” Make sure to change it at the last moment. ”
Voter registration lawsuit targets Nevada, Michigan
In Nevada and Michigan, the Republican National Committee is asking courts to require states to remove registered voters from their rolls under the National Voter Registration Act. The law, enacted in 1993, requires states to wait several years before removing registered voters from their files.
The RNC says there are simply too many people on voter registration lists in these states — some of which have more registered voters than adults living in them — meaning each state is under federal law. This means that voters who are ineligible are not excluded.
The National Voter Registration Act, sometimes called the Motor Voter Act, is a frequent target of right-wing election advocacy efforts. This is the same law that House Speaker Mike Johnson recently criticized as not doing enough to prevent non-citizens from voting.
In a memo summarizing several lawsuits obtained by the liberal website Democracy Docket, the RNC wrote: The RNC provides legal authority to clean up voter rolls. ”
The secretaries of state of Nevada and Michigan, both Democrats, asked the court to dismiss the RNC’s lawsuit. Both states have substantial programs in place to remove ineligible people from their voter rolls and say the RNC’s calculations are wrong.
Nevada accused the RNC of using “statistical sleight of hand” to compare the fast-growing state’s 2024 voter registration numbers with 2020 population data. Michigan said the RNC’s lawsuit uses “questionable interpretations of census data” and provided its own calculations showing that: No county in Michigan has more active registered voters than potential voters.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in a statement: “Call this what you will. It’s a PR campaign disguised as a baseless lawsuit, filled with baseless accusations designed to undermine public confidence in election security. ” he said. “Those who abuse the legal process to sow doubts about our democracy should be ashamed.”
Selina Stewart, chief adviser at the League of Women Voters, said attempts to remove voters from rolls are often a way to prevent Black and brown people from voting.
“At the end of the day, presidential elections in this country can be contested in a small number of states,” Stewart said. “I think Nevada and Michigan are part of that handful as well.”
Absentee voting deadlines are on target in Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi and Wisconsin
In Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi and Wisconsin, RNC lawyers are targeting when absentee ballots can be requested, submitted, counted and corrected. In three of these states, the RNC sought to defend voting restrictions passed by Republican legislatures but liberals want to block.
Record numbers of Americans voted by mail in 2020, as Democratic and Republican states alike made it easier to fill out ballots remotely at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. I did it. Since then, baseless claims of mail-in voting fraud have become louder among Trump supporters who believe the election was stolen.
The RNC is seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit in Georgia brought by unions to give voters more time to request absentee ballots. The question is whether Georgia voters will have an additional four days to request an absentee ballot.
A sweeping overhaul of Georgia’s election laws starting in 2021 requires voters to request a ballot only 11 days before an election. The union argues that this violates a provision of the Voting Rights Act that allows voters to request absentee ballots up to seven days before an election. The RNC claims the federal law is unconstitutional.
more:Voter ID and absentee voting restrictions: South tightens key voting laws ahead of election
A federal court in North Carolina said the RNC cannot intervene in a lawsuit challenging a law enacted in October that requires absentee ballots to be received by the polls deadline on Election Day. The law also makes it easier to contest whether someone else’s absentee ballot can be accepted.
The RNC said the law “provides appropriate safeguards and transparency while also providing voters with ample opportunity to cast their ballots” and will continue the lawsuit “without the participation of either of the country’s two major political parties.” He said it shouldn’t be done.
A state court in Wisconsin also said the RNC and its affiliates could not intervene to oppose the lawsuit in the state. In the lawsuit, the progressive group Priorities USA challenges, among other things, the state’s requirement that absentee ballots be returned by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Wisconsin law also requires that if an absentee ballot is defective, it must be repaired or corrected by the same deadline.
The RNC argued that the law in question “protects Wisconsin’s elections and allows voters, organizations, and candidates alike to proceed with confidence in our democratic process.”
In federal court in Mississippi, the RNC joined the state party in suing a county election official, a Republican, over a law that allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted up to five days after the election. . Defendant Justin Wetzel asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
So is Secretary of State Michael Watson, also a Republican. He said in a March court filing that the RNC’s “entire lawsuit is based on the fiction that Mississippi law allows mail-in absentee voters to ‘vote’ after Election Day.” But Mississippi law does not allow that. ”
Signature verification cases in Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, and Washington
The RNC and its allies involved in lawsuits in Arizona, Colorado, Michigan and Washington are demanding that voters’ signatures on absentee ballots match specific signatures on file with election officials. The plan is to require the Election Commission to confirm the
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the majority of states have some form of signature verification for absentee ballots, but each state has strict regulations that require voters to provide additional identifying information such as a Social Security number or driver’s license. enforcing the law. , a copy of your ID, or even a notary signature.
In Colorado and Washington, an advocacy group called the Vet Voice Foundation argues that state officials are not implementing signature matching, saying it unfairly disenfranchises young voters, voters of color, and people living in certain counties. filed a lawsuit asking the court to order an injunction.
RNC national committee member Vera Ortegon is intervening in the Colorado case. Her lawyer said in court documents that she was trying to increase voter turnout in Colorado, saying, “Voters who cannot trust signature verification requirements cannot trust Colorado’s election procedures and ultimately will not vote.” They may lose interest in it.” A Washington court refused to allow the RNC to intervene in the case.
In Arizona, the state’s Republican Party has joined a lawsuit alleging that Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ method of directing local election officials to verify signatures is too broad. In Michigan, the RNC is suing Secretary of State Benson over guidance he gave to local election officials on signature verification.
The Brennan Center’s Swellenbecker said courts should be “highly skeptical of these claims, and should quickly and forcefully dismiss them if they find that there is a lack of evidence,” adding I think a lot of people will.”
