US Midterms: Over 100 Lawsuits Filed to Date

Facts

• In what has become the most litigation-focused US election ever, over 100 midterm-related lawsuits have already been filed. The lawsuits — primarily from the GOP — cover issues including mail-in voting, early voting, voter access, voting machines, voting registration, mismarked absentee ballots, and access for partisan poll watchers.
• The Republican National Committee (RNC) has filed 73 lawsuits itself, with a spokesperson saying it's a “multimillion-dollar investment into building an election integrity operations infrastructure that draws on its legal, political, data and communications resources.”
• The RNC has also hired 37 lawyers in key states and held over 5K training sessions on how to look for voter fraud. Other Trump-allied groups, like America First Legal, have also prepared for litigation battles.
• The RNC recently won a suit against Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, over her rules around how poll watchers can operate. It's also won poll worker-related suits in Arizona and Nevada, as well as a suit on "ballot curing" and drop boxes in Wisconsin.
• One federal suit in Georgia that won't be decided before election day is related to a law signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. It outlawed the distribution of food and water to voters near polling stations — opponents say these actions are harmless, while others say the distributors are also advocating for candidates.
• Democrats have also taken legal action through roughly 35 lawsuits, mostly to make casting ballots easier. One of these included efforts to stop alleged voter intimidation at Arizona drop boxes.

Sources: Cleveland, FOX News, Associated Press, NBC, and USA Today.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by Truthout. Since losing the last election and pulling failed poll-watcher and legal stunts, the GOP has been open about their desire to be better prepared for the next election cycle. But in all political offices, the peaceful transfer of power can only work if the voters trust their voting system. These lawsuits from the GOP have only eroded that trust.
• Republican narrative, as provided by FOX News. To say Democrats haven't conducted corrupt or even illegal election schemes is blatantly false, and it's not only about federal elections. In states like New York and Vermont, lawsuits stopped some truly unethical actions. Lawsuits aren't signs of voter suppression, they're signs of democracy in action — just not the kind Democrats like.
• Narrative C, as provided by Brennan Center. Extensive studies have demonstrated that voter fraud in the US is extremely rare, and allegations that this occurred in the 2020 election — or will occur in the midterms — are baseless. While election integrity must absolutely be protected, chasing phantom voter fraud shouldn't be used as an excuse to undermine free and fair access to voting.

Predictions