FAYETTEVILLE, AR— Today, the League of Women Voters of Arkansas, filed a lawsuit in a federal court seeking to reinstate the Arkansas Voters First-initiated constitutional amendment calling for a fair, citizen-led redistricting process on the November ballot. Arkansas Voters First collected nearly 150,000 signatures from Arkansas citizens in support of their initiative, which was certified by the Arkansas Secretary of State to appear on the general election ballot. 

Last week, the Supreme Court of Arkansas rejected Arkansas Voters First’s petition based on a hyper-technical issue related to the certification of criminal background checks of paid canvassers.  There was no dispute that any of the paid canvassers were guilty of any crime that would prevent them from being a canvasser. The Court’s decision prevents Arkansans from being able to exercise their constitutional right to vote for or against an independent redistricting commission this November. The decision allows politicians to continue choosing their voters through unfair redistricting practices.

“Given the technicality the court used to remove our amendment from the ballot, we owe it to the 150,000 registered Arkansas voters who signed our petitions to exhaust every legal avenue,” said Bonnie Miller, League of Women Voters of Arkansas member and Arkansas Voters First chairperson. “The voters who signed our petition deserve the right to vote on an independent redistricting commission. We will continue to fight for them until they are allowed to vote for fair maps in our state.” 

The suit filed today argues that invalidating the ballot initiative because of a technical issue silences the voices of Arkansas voters and presents an undue burden on voters’ first amendment rights to freedom of speech and association. The ballot initiative campaign is part of People Powered Fair Maps, a nationwide campaign from the League of Women Voters to achieve fair district maps in all 50 states and DC.

“The Arkansas Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate the signatures of 150,000 voters on a hyper-technical requirement blatantly disregards voters’ first amendment rights,” said Deborah Turner, board president for the League of Women Voters of the United States. “The voices of Arkansas voters deserve to be honored – the Secretary of State must count the signatures of his constituents, thereby honoring the oath of office he took to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of Arkansas.”   

The League of Women Voters and Arkansas Voters First are represented in this case by Campaign Legal Center. 

“Arkansans have the right to decide whether their district maps should be determined by voters or self-serving politicians,” said Ruth Greenwood, co-director, voting rights and redistricting at Campaign Legal Center (CLC). “If voters are denied access to the ballot in November, Arkansas could be stuck with another decade of gerrymandering. People nationwide are demanding a more responsive government, and Arkansas voters have shown they are ready for fair maps.”

A ruling in favor of Arkansas Voters First would give Arkansans the opportunity to vote for People Powered Fair Maps on November 3.  

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, on behalf of clients NAACP-New Jersey and League of Women Voters New Jersey, filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit brought by President Trump, which challenges New Jersey’s plan to send all active registered voters a vote-by-mail ballot during the pandemic. The parties argue that changing New Jersey’s current voting plan could cause widespread voter confusion, hinder voters’ access to voting by mail during a pandemic which might deter people from voting in person, and undermine voters’ ability to vote in a safe and effective manner.

“Voters in New Jersey are relying on receiving their absentee ballots automatically in the mail. Altering course at this time could prevent voters from being able to participate in the presidential election,” said Paul Smith, Vice President, Litigation and Strategy at Campaign Legal Center (CLC). “Mail voting is safe and secure. The only people who can vote by mail or absentee are voters who have verified their eligibility and identity with an election official. Because of COVID-19, it is important that anybody who is concerned about their health be able to vote by absentee ballot to encourage their participation and keep them safe.”

“As we are about to experience the most consequential election of our time in the midst of a pandemic, we must ensure that the voting process is as safe, easy and clear as possible. Changing New Jersey’s current plan mid-course would undermine all of those objectives – and would confuse and potentially disenfranchise voters who need to vote by mail and have already made plans to do so,” said Ryan P. Haygood, President & CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “As is true with all efforts to put voting barriers in place, undoing New Jersey’s current voting plan would disproportionately harm communities of color who are being ravaged by the pandemic, and make it harder for them to participate in our democracy at a time when they have so much at stake in participating in it and choosing leaders to represent their interests.”

"The New Jersey NAACP is proud to intervene in this lawsuit in order to avoid further voter confusion and to protect the format of the 2020 General Election," said Richard Smith, President of the NAACP New Jersey State Conference. "As the Black community continues to be ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic it is paramount to ensure people are able to exercise their franchise and feel safe when doing so."

“The governor’s order prioritizes public health without jeopardizing voting rights,” said Jesse Burns, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey. “This lawsuit is an attempt by outsiders to sow discord, undermine voters’ confidence, and disrupt safe voter access for New Jerseyans.”

“The NJ NAACP and LWVNJ seek to ensure that all registered voters are able to vote in November without fear for their health and well-being," said John Pendleton, Partner at DLA Piper. "This lawsuit is an attempt to suppress voter participation contrary to the fundamental principles of our democracy. We are confident that the Court will not stand for this blatant attempt to deny voters their constitutional rights."

The NJ NAACP and LWVNJ provide voter education to their members in New Jersey. When Gov. Phil Murphy issued an executive order in New Jersey that called for vote-by-mail ballots to be sent to all active registered voters in the state, members of both organizations changed their plans to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot because they now believe one will be sent to them.

NJ NAACP and LWVNJ’s motion argues that Trump’s lawsuit, in seeking to block the automatic mailing of vote-by-mail ballots, will lead to voter confusion. It will also require NJ NAACP and LWVNJ to invest substantial resources to re-educate voters right before an election, with no guarantee that voters will realize they now must apply for their vote-by-mail ballots in time to vote this November.

The case is Trump v. Murphy, and is pending before a federal judge in the District of New Jersey. DLA Piper, a national law firm, is also representing LWVNJ and NJ NAACP pro bono in this matter.

Bill Signed by Governor Codifies and Strengthens Lawsuit Resolution

NEWARK, NJ — Plaintiffs and their counsel in the LWV New Jersey v. Way lawsuit today applauded the New Jersey legislature for passing, and Gov. Phil Murphy for signing, the Ballot Cure Act (A4276), establishing a notice and cure process for mail-in and provisional ballots in New Jersey for future elections. The bill was signed by the Governor late Friday and codifies into law provisions from the lawsuit settlement as well as other voter protections advocated for by the parties.

The following can be attributed to the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, the Campaign Legal Center, the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP and Kaufman Lieb Lebowitz & Frick LLP:

“We are living through extremely challenging times, including public health and economic crises of huge proportions. These crises have disproportionately hit Black and other communities of color as well as other struggling families.

“As we face what’s arguably the most important election in modern times, where voters will be choosing leaders to represent their interests as we navigate these troubled waters, voting should be made as easy, safe and accessible as possible for every voter, and no one’s vote should be denied.

“We appreciate that the State worked hand in hand with us to settle our lawsuit for the primary election so that thousands of New Jersey voters were able to ensure that their votes counted in July. Now, with passage of the Ballot Cure Act, the voter protections established by that order, in addition to several more, will be the law of the land in New Jersey – benefitting all New Jersey voters. We are deeply appreciative of the New Jersey Legislature, and particularly sponsors Asm. Andrew Zwicker and Sen. Vin Gopal, for codifying into law the Consent Order that the parties agreed to in the litigation and for accepting our additional recommendations to strengthen the Ballot Cure Act so that we will now have a strong process for New Jersey voters. 

“We are grateful that Gov. Murphy and the New Jersey Legislature have taken these meaningful democracy-protecting steps.”

Background

LWV New Jersey v Way, filed May 18, 2020, challenged New Jersey’s practice of rejecting vote-by-mail ballots due to signature match issues without providing voters a timely opportunity to “cure” any discrepancies and have their votes counted.

As a result of a settlement between the New Jersey Secretary of State and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit – League of Women Voters of NJ, the NAACP New Jersey State Conference and an individual plaintiff – a process was put in place for the July 7 primary election to provide notice of rejection due to signature match issues and an opportunity to cure the issue in time for voters to have their votes counted. The Division of Election reportedly said that almost 7,000 ballot rejections were prevented when voters returned cure letters in the primary election.

With the signing of the Ballot Cure Act, such protections and others have been codified into law for the coming November general election and all future elections. This is particularly meaningful for voters of color who, during the challenging public health and economic crises, have so much at stake in the upcoming election and are at higher risk of being disenfranchised.

In addition to the provisions from the litigation settlement, The Ballot Cure Act provides the following voter protections:

• Notice of Signature Matching: Provisional ballots, vote-by-mail ballots, and vote-by-mail ballot applications will notify voters that their signatures will be used for ballot verification and that the information they provide on their application or on their provisional ballot will be used to contact them in the event there is an issue with their ballot.
• Review by Boards of Elections: County boards of elections will meet at least once weekly in the three weeks before Election Day to begin reviewing mail-in ballots for signature issues and grant the Secretary of State power to require additional meetings as necessary to process ballots.
• Collecting Voter Information for Notification: Vote-by-mail applications, vote-by-mail ballots and provisional ballots will have space for voters to add their email addresses and phone numbers so that they may receive notice of a possible signature issue in their ballot through those means (becomes effective in Feb. 2021).
• Ballots Not Rejected When Voter Faultless: In the event of a defect not reasonably caused by the voter, such as a torn envelope or missing or insufficient glue to seal ballot envelopes, ballots may not be rejected.
• Website tracking: Expands the online voter information website to allow voters to track the status of their ballot.
• Voter’s Bill of Rights: The Voter’s Bill of Rights is expanded to include ballot curing procedures.