Court Rulings Ease Voting Restrictions in 3 States
With the Nov. 5 US presidential election less than three weeks away, courts in Nebraska, Alabama, and Georgia this week loosened voting restrictions, many of which were passed after former Pres. Donald Trump, the current Republican presidential nominee, claimed the 2020 election was rigged agains...
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Facts
- With the Nov. 5 US presidential election less than three weeks away, courts in Nebraska, Alabama, and Georgia this week loosened voting restrictions, many of which were passed after former Pres. Donald Trump, the current Republican presidential nominee, claimed the 2020 election was rigged against him.[1]
- In Alabama, a US district judge ruled in favor of the Justice Department and civil rights groups who sued over Republican Secretary of State Wes Allen's program to remove 'noncitizens' registered to vote in that state.[2]
- The judge agreed this violated a federal law barring systemic removal of names from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election.[2]
- Meanwhile, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that Republican Secretary of State Bob Evnen lacks the power to declare a law that restores voting rights to people convicted of a felony unconstitutional.[3]
- In addition, a judge in Fulton County, Ga., temporarily blocked a rule allowing election boards to refuse to certify election results and requiring the hand counting of ballots.[4][5]
- One day later, a Fulton Superior Court judge struck down those rules and others, calling them 'illegal, unconstitutional and void.'[5]
Sources: [1]Al Jazeera, [2]Associated Press, [3]CBS, [4]Verity and [5]NPR Online News.
Narratives
- Democratic narrative, as provided by MSNBC. These rulings are huge victories for the democratic form of government. If Republicans had their way and any elected official could stop the certification of the votes or remove anyone deemed suspicious from the voting rolls, chaos would reign and the rule of law would be squashed.
- Republican narrative, as provided by The Heritage Foundation. Unlike the Democrats, Republicans believe in enforcing the laws rather than assuming that their mere existence is enough to stop people from voting illegally. However, the legitimacy of the upcoming election will be hanging by a thread because of the inaction of the Biden administration, the Justice Department, and these types of rulings.
