Fighting Voter Suppression

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, a US federal court struck down key provisions of Florida’s Senate Bill 90 that equated to voter suppression. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker ruled that Florida’s Senate Bill 90 violates federal law, unconstitutionally impeding the right to vote for Floridians. He noted that “the right to vote, and the VRA particularly, are under siege.”

For the fourth time, the Ohio Redistricting Commission stared down a deadline Monday to approve Statehouse district maps that meet court scrutiny. But Monday evening they were still working toward the court-ordered midnight deadline, after another late surprise.

A judge has accepted a remedial Baltimore County Council map with one majority Black council district. U.S. District Court Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby said at a status conference Thursday afternoon that the new map drawn by the Baltimore County Council is better than the one she struck down in February because it gives Black voters a chance to elect their candidate of choice.

While other groups say they'll continue to fight, the executive director of the League of Women Voters says there isn't enough time in this year's election calendar to win.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Two voting-rights groups sued the state of Utah Thursday seeking to block new redistricting maps they say unfairly solidify one-party GOP control and ignore a voter-approved independent commission.

Today, League of Women Voters of Utah (LWVUT), Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG) and individual voters filed a lawsuit to block Utah from implementing a congressional redistricting map that constitutes an extreme partisan gerrymander and to reinstate the citizen-led initiative that established an independent redistricting commission and binding anti-gerrymandering requirements. 

With the new year comes more litigation. In the past year, the League has continued our work of fighting against anti-voter bills and purges, challenges to new district maps, and pushing back against the increased attacks on reproductive rights. Here are a handful of the issues you may want to keep an eye on in 2022. 

Today the League of Women Voters of the United States CEO Virginia Kase Solomón issued the following statement in reaction to the US Census Bureau report undercounting 18.8 million and underrepresentation of Black, Latino, and Indigenous people in the 2020 Census.

Today, the League of Women Voters of Colorado and other civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit against election conspiracy group US Election Integrity Plan (USEIP) for voter intimidation activities in Colorado. The lawsuit alleges members of USEIP are leading an organized intimidation campaign, dispatching volunteers — who are sometimes armed — to go door-to-door in diverse communities, interrogating Colorado voters on how they voted. 

This story was originally published in Al.com. 

The League of Women Voters of Alabama, Black Voters Matter, Greater Birmingham Ministries and other organizations spoke out today against a bill to make it a crime for election officials to accept funding or services from private citizens and private organizations to help with voter education, outreach, and registration efforts.