PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The state of Rhode Island has agreed to eliminate witness/notary requirements for vote by mail throughout the 2020 elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A court issued the decree on July 28.

Campaign Legal Center, the American Civil Liberties Union and law firm Fried Frank filed a federal lawsuit on July 23 challenging the requirements.

The case was brought on behalf of two voting rights advocacy groups — Common Cause Rhode Island and the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island — and Rhode Islanders with significant medical vulnerabilities that place them or members of their household at a heightened risk of severe illness or death if they contract COVID-19.

The following reactions are from:

Jonathan Diaz, legal counsel, voting rights, Campaign Legal Center: “Today’s agreement is a huge victory for voters in Rhode Island. In the two remaining statewide election days in 2020, people will not have to choose between casting a ballot that will count and placing their health at risk.

Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island: “Removing the witness and notary requirement in the midst of a deadly pandemic will protect people’s health and their right to vote. It was the right thing to do. This is a major victory for the voters of Rhode Island and for our democracy."

Common Cause Rhode Island Executive Director John Marion: “Today’s decision is a victory for all Rhode Islanders who want to cast their vote by mail in the upcoming elections. No one should have to choose between their health and their right to vote. Unfortunately, during this public health emergency, the witnesses-or-notary requirement would force some voters to make that choice. We are delighted by today’s resolution, which will allow Rhode Islanders to plan to vote by mail without having to break quarantine to get their ballots signed by witnesses or a notary public.

Jane Koster, president of the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island: “We are thrilled with the agreement to waive Rhode Island’s onerous two-witness and notary requirement for mail-in ballots for our upcoming elections. This agreement is especially important for Black, Latinx, elderly, and disabled voters, who will rely on mail-in ballots to vote safely this year. Now Rhode Island voters can be assured that their safely-cast ballots will count."

The lawsuit, Common Cause Rhode Island v. Gorbea, was filed in U.S. District Court.

Washington, DC: Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign and joint fundraising committee. The campaign and its committee violated the law by laundering nearly $170 million in campaign spending through firms headed by Trump’s former campaign manager, Brad Parscale, and other firms created by Trump campaign lawyers. 

The campaign reported millions in payment--American Made and Parscale Strategy—which disbursed the funds to the campaign’s ultimate vendors. Ultimately, this hid millions in payments to companies engaged in significant work for the campaign, as well as payments to Trump family members or associates like Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle.  

 “Voters have a right know how campaigns are spending money to influence elections,” said CLC President and former Republican Chair of the FEC Trevor Potter. “This scheme flies in the face of transparency requirements mandated by federal law, and it leaves voters and donors in the dark about where the campaign’s funds are actually going. This secrecy could also disguise other campaign finance violations, but we don’t know, because the campaign isn’t disclosing these routed payments.” 

CLC has asked the FEC—the only federal agency dedicated to enforcing our laws governing presidential campaigns—to take action.

“This illegal conduit scheme leaves voters in the dark about the entities working for the Trump campaign, the nature of their services, and the full amount they are paid. We don’t know all of what is being hidden by this scheme, but we do know that it violates the law,” said CLC’s Director of Federal Reform Brendan Fischer.  

To read the full complaint, click here.

ALBANY, NY – Today, the New York State Senate passed a bill providing voters an opportunity to resolve challenges to their absentee ballots, fixing a process that did not give voters notice that their ballot would be rejected. The board of elections will be required to inform absentee voters by phone or email, as well as mail, of clerical errors with their ballot and give them an opportunity to fix it.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and pro bono partner Selendy & Gay are representing the League of Women Voters of the United States, the League of Women Voters of New York, and individual client Carmelina Palmer in a lawsuit, League of Women Voters v. Kosinski, filed July 8 against the state on the same issue. The Governor will have 10 days to sign or veto the bill, and if he takes no action by that point, then the bill automatically becomes law. The bill resolves many of the issues raised in the complaint, but the case remains ongoing.

“This bill is a huge step toward safeguarding the constitutional right of voters to have their votes counted,” said Danielle Lang, co-director, voting rights and redistricting at CLC. “As New York voters increasingly rely on the state’s absentee voting system to cast their ballots, more New York voters will be at risk of disenfranchisement because the state erroneously rejects their ballot for issues that have nothing to do with their eligibility. We are glad to see legislative action to address this problem.” 

“We are pleased to see the legislature taking the initiative to correct a major flaw in New York State’s election law,” said Laura Bierman, executive director of League of Women Voters New York. “Voters deserve the right to know whether their vote will count and the opportunity to challenge attempts to invalidate their vote. This reform is long overdue and will ensure voters are more confident their ballot will be counted should they choose to vote absentee in November.”  

“It is vital that absentee ballot voters receive notice and an opportunity to cure before their ballot is cast aside, and this legislation goes a long way towards that goal,” said Selendy & Gay partner Joshua Margolin. “We are hopeful that uniform guidance for assessing absentee ballots is not far behind, as that is a critical next step to truly protect New York voters.”

In the 2018 general election, state election officials discarded more than 34,000 absentee ballots – or about 14% of all absentee ballots cast. While the precise figures are not yet available, very high rejection rates in the 2020 June primary have also been reported. This is, in part, because the state had no process for notifying voters and given them an opportunity to respond when their ballots are in danger of not being counted because of benign issues – like an omitted signature, writing the wrong date on a ballot, or a perceived discrepancy between the signature on a voter’s absentee ballot envelope and the one in their voter registration file.