California: Shasta County Files Legal Action Over Proposed Ballot Measure to “Reform” Elections | Annelise Pierce/Shasta Scout

A group of five local community members have submitted paperwork to the Shasta County Elections Office in hopes of amending the County’s new charter, a document that outlines specifics about how the County is governed. The group behind the February 19 petition includes election activists Laura Hobbs, Deirdre Holliday, Kari Chilson, Richard Gallardo, and James Burnett. Their goal is to get permission from the Elections Office to circulate a petition for signatures to put the proposed measure on the fall ballot. If enough signatures are gathered, the document could provide the community an oppportunity to vote on a ballot measure that Hobbs and others say is designed to “reform” local election law. But Shasta County is pushing back. In a March 13 complaint filed in Shasta County Superior Court, attorney Joseph Larmour alleged that the proposed ballot measure will be used to attempt to implement actions that he believes are illegal and would violate the United States Constitution, the California Constitution, and the federal Help America Vote Act or HAVA. Read Article

Some Wisconsin voters received inaccurate information in the mail. The response may be a sign of the times. | Anya van Wagtendonk/WPR

Last week, some Wisconsin voters began receiving postcards reminding them to vote in an upcoming election. The notes were backing Susan Crawford, the liberal candidate in the high-stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race. They briefly described her background and encouraged voters to head to the polls. The problem? The postcards gave the wrong date. The actual election takes place on Tuesday, April 1. The postcards said it was 10 days later — on a Friday. Read Article

Pennsylvania court rulings on records requests raise concern about ballot secrecy | Carter Walker/Votebeat

Recent decisions from a Pennsylvania state court could create a new route to pierce the secrecy of some mail ballots and reveal the private choices made by thousands of voters. While a very small percentage of cast ballots would be at risk, according to a pair of analyses, some state and county officials are concerned about the potential for any voter’s choices to be exposed. In two cases last year, the Commonwealth Court ruled that voted mail ballots were public records under the state’s open-records laws, meaning Erie and Allegheny counties, where the records requests were filed, would have to release them. Read Article

North Carolina Legal Community: ‘Tens of Thousands of Voters Will Lose Their Voice’ If GOP’s Supreme Court Lawsuit Succeeds | Matt Cohen/Democracy Docket

A bipartisan coalition of more than 200 North Carolina jurists, attorneys, state government officials, bar leaders and legal educators signed on to a letter to Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin to end his effort to overturn the results of the 2024 election. A three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals is set to hear oral argument Friday in Griffin’s ongoing lawsuit to overturn the results of the state’s Supreme Court election and have more than 65,000 legal ballots tossed out. Even after two recounts, Griffin narrowly lost the election to incumbent Justice Allison Riggs (D), but he wouldn’t concede — instead mounting a massive legal effort falsely claiming that the ballots were illegitimate. Read Article

Nebraska counties could hold all-mail elections under bill removing population cap | Brian Beach/Nebraska Public Media

A legislative proposal to give all Nebraska counties the option to conduct elections entirely by mail was discussed at a hearing Wednesday afternoon. Currently, only counties with populations under 10,000 can apply to the Secretary of State to mail ballots to all registered voters. In the last general election, 11 of the state’s 67 eligible counties did just that. In most counties, voters must request an absentee ballot to vote by mail. Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, who introduced LB237, which would remove the population limit, said there are many benefits to all mail elections, including reduced costs and higher voter turnout. Read Article

Arkansas: Proposed maximum reading level for citizen-led ballot measures stumbles but passes House | Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate

A proposal mandating citizen-led ballot measures be written at an 8th-grade or lower reading level cleared the Arkansas House of Representatives Wednesday after three attempts to pass its emergency clause. House Bill 1713 passed the House on Tuesday with 60 votes; a separate vote on the emergency clause received 63 votes. Emergency clauses require a two-thirds vote in each chamber, meaning at least 67 House votes, and allow laws to go into effect immediately upon the governor’s signature. HB 1713’s emergency clause received 70 votes Wednesday and will next be heard in the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs. Read Article

Texas GOP bill would empower AG to prosecute election crimes | Natalia Contreras/The Texas Tribune

Some Texas Republican lawmakers are reviving a previously stalled effort to expand the Texas attorney general’s power to prosecute election crimes. The long-running push is a response to a 2022 ruling from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which found that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office does not have unilateral authority to independently prosecute criminal cases in trial courts without the request of a local prosecutor. Senate Bill 1026, filed by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, a powerful Republican from Central Texas, would amend the law to require the Texas attorney general’s office to prosecute election crimes if no local proceedings have begun after six months. The bill was approved by the GOP-led Senate Committee on State Affairs Thursday. Similar bills have also been filed in the House. Read Article