Groups representing young people in Montana hope to prevent a slate of election laws from going into effect before the state’s primary in June.
the Forward Montana Foundation, Montana Public Interest Research Group and Montana Youth Actionare challenging three laws passed by the legislature in 2021, including the end of registration on polling day and stricter voter ID laws which require another form of identification with a student card. Rylee Sommers-Flanagan, Founder and Executive Director of Law of the Seven Superiors, represents the group.
“When you have a bunch of laws that restrict voting — or even make it theoretically harder to vote — those laws will interact with each other to hit youth populations harder,” she said, “so you’re just going to see a natural reduction in youth participation because you’ve made it difficult for them.”
Groups also challenge a law that prohibits mailing ballots to voters before their 18th birthday, even those who will be 18 on election day. Montana lawmakers and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen said the laws were necessary to ensure the integrity of the state’s elections, a top concern for Republicans.
Youth civic groups filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent the enforcement of these laws before the Montana primary on June 7. Sommers-Flanagan called it unfortunate that the Montana Legislature put in place these barriers to youth voting.
“They’re disappointing in the sense that I wish we didn’t have to bring them up,” she said, “but they’re exciting in the sense that, in particular, the case of youth voting in is one about young people who care a lot about being involved in politics, and being involved in elections, and having a role in how democracy plays out.”
A hearing is scheduled for March 10. The court will also hear other challenges to election laws, including a lawsuit from Native American groups over the law ending voter registration on election day.
Support for this report was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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The second year of Ohio’s 134th General Assembly officially begins today as the State House and Senate convene.
One of the most pressing tasks for lawmakers will be to rework the 15 congressional districts they approved in November, which were struck down by the state Supreme Court last week for favoring the GOP. The Legislative Assembly has until mid-February to approve a new map.
While the biennial budget was a priority in 2021, this year it is the capital budget. Desiree Tims, Group Chief Executive Officer Ohio-Innovation, said it provides funding for state agency infrastructure needs as well as local community projects.
“That’s why people vote for their state representatives and their state senators,” she said. “We rely on them to manage the budget and to make sure that money and taxpayers’ money comes back into the communities. It’s something people on the ground will feel immediately.”
Lawmakers will submit priorities for new capital projects by April 1. Some bills expected to be advanced this year include House Bill 376, to help protect consumer data, House Bill 389, which would reinstate components of Ohio’s gutted energy efficiency law, and Senate Bill 236, which allows insurers using an online platform to automatically enroll buyers for digital communications.
2022 being an election year, the General Assembly will be interrupted for the primary from May to mid-April. Tims noted that campaign years are a bit tricky as lawmakers try to secure a “victory” with voters. She said she fears these attempts to gain political points will focus on policies that lean toward extremism.
“Most Ohioans want the Legislature to get things done, and extremism doesn’t make our state stronger, it doesn’t make our democracy stronger,” she said. “It actually weakens it – like attacking education, like dangerous gun bills like carrying without a license, and of course, the ongoing attacks on reproductive freedom.”
Other issues likely to come this session include an omnibus criminal justice reform bill and a measure to use artificial intelligence to reduce the occasions Ohioans need to interact in person or by phone. correspondence with the government.
This story was produced with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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A ballot initiative in Missouri seeks to change the way statewide elections are conducted.
Currently in the Show-Me State there are party primaries in August and voters choose between the winners of the primaries in November.
the Better elections initiative is to move to what is called preferential choice voting.
Rosetta Okohson, Democratic consultant and co-leader of the political action committee Better Elections, said that under the model they propose, everyone votes for their first choice among any party in a primary election, then the top four would move on to the general election. , where voters can rank them in order of preference.
“Things were very polarized in our last election, and voter turnout was very low,” Okohson observed. “We know more people show up in November and are more engaged in November, and we want voters to feel good about having different options.”
She added that while some voters are strong supporters, others may want to vote for a Democrat in one race and a Republican in another.
Under the proposal, party tags would still be included next to people’s names on the ballot, so voters would always know which candidates represent which party. Opponents of preferential voting say the current primary system works and there is no reason to change it.
John Hancock, Republican consultant and co-leader of the campaign, said some voters don’t like to publicly disclose their political leanings, but they have to in order to vote in the primary.
He pointed out that strong supporters tend to be more engaged primary voters, Republican candidates tend to run as far to the right as possible, and Democratic candidates tend to run to the left. He hopes the new system can solve these problems.
“In this system, if I’m one of four Republicans running, I’m not going to tear down my fellow candidates, because if a voter is going to vote for them as their first choice, I want to be their second choice,” Hancock pointed out. “It will make campaigns broader. I think it will make campaigns less divisive. And I think it will produce better elected officials.”
The constitutional amendment was approved by the office of the Secretary of State for the collection of signatures. To appear on the ballot, the campaign will need at least 160,000 signatures by May, the number determined by turnout in the last gubernatorial election.
Support for this report was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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In Wisconsin’s pandemic elections, mail-in ballot boxes offered a different route for people to vote, but a new Waukesha County Circuit Court ruling could ban their use in future elections.
Luke Berg, associate attorney at the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, argued in a hearing Thursday for the group trial, drop boxes are not mentioned anywhere in state law and are therefore not permitted.
“What that means is there are no procedures, there are no requirements, there are no limitations on drop boxes, if they are allowed,” Berg argued. “There are no restrictions on where they can go, how many there are, how safe they are.”
An attorney for the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the defendant in the lawsuit, countered that drop boxes are covered by existing mail-in voting rules. Lawyers for intervening parties in the case, the plaintiffs, two Waukesha County residents, lacked standing to sue.
The Associated Press reports that the judge’s decision will still allow drop boxes in city clerks’ offices. An appeal in the case is likely.
Steven Kilpatrick, assistant attorney general, pushed back against the claim that the state doesn’t have formal rules for drop boxes. He said the Commission has established guidelines for their installation and operation.
“The Commission does not advocate or recommend that city clerks leave a shoebox on a park bench to collect mail-in ballots,” Kilpatrick stressed.
Wisconsin GOP lawmakers have fought a months-long battle to restrict absentee voting. In August, Governor Tony Evers vetoed a bill that would restrict drop box locations.
According to the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, more than 500 postal ballot drop boxes were established across the state ahead of the November 2020 election.
Support for this report was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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