Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
Ayota v. Fall
On October 31, 2024, just five days before the November 5 General Election, Cobb County announced that it had failed to send more than 3,000 absentee ballots to Cobb County voters who had timely requested them. Many of these voters are at school hundreds of miles away or have disabilities that make it all but impossible to vote in person. The ACLU and co-counsel sued on behalf of affected voters to ensure that they would not be disenfranchised because of the County's administrative error.
Status: Ongoing
View Case
Learn About Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
Featured
U.S. Supreme Court
Oct 2024
Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
Republican National Committee v. Genser
Voters in Butler County, Pennsylvania made a mistake in voting their mail ballots in the April 2024 primary election, forgetting to use the required secrecy envelope. Because their mail ballots could not be counted, they went to the polls in Election Day and voted provisional ballots. The County later determined that it would not count their provisional ballots, and the voter’s appealed, arguing that Pennsylvania law requires that when an eligible voter attempts to vote by mail but the mail ballot is rendered void due to some defect like lacking a secrecy envelope, the eligible voter may cast a provisional ballot and have that ballot counted notwithstanding the failed attempt to vote by mail.
Georgia
Oct 2024
Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
Eternal Vigilance Action, Inc. v. Georgia
The ACLU and partner organizations have sought to intervene in this case to represent the rights of voters and voting-rights organizations in a case challenging a number of rules passed by the Georgia State Election Board. We challenge a rule that requires that the number of votes cast be hand counted at the polling place prior to the tabulation of votes. This rule risks delay and spoliation of ballots, putting in danger voters’ rights to have their votes count.
All Cases
21 Fighting Cuts to Voting Access Cases
Arizona Supreme Court
Sep 2024
Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
Richer v. Fontes (Amicus)
Will nearly 100,000 Arizona voters who have long been registered as “full ballot” voters who can vote in all federal, state, and local elections in Arizona be penalized and disenfranchised from voting due to a technical error by the State of Arizona discovered on the eve of the November 2024 election?
Explore case
Arizona Supreme Court
Sep 2024
Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
Richer v. Fontes (Amicus)
Will nearly 100,000 Arizona voters who have long been registered as “full ballot” voters who can vote in all federal, state, and local elections in Arizona be penalized and disenfranchised from voting due to a technical error by the State of Arizona discovered on the eve of the November 2024 election?
Texas
Sep 2024
Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
America First Policy Institute v. Biden
The ACLU, along with several partner organizations, are representing the rights of voters by intervening in a lawsuit that seeks to make it harder for Americans across the country to register to vote, including in the upcoming 2024 election. In 2021, President Biden signed an executive order aimed at promoting access to voter registration and election information to eligible voters on a nonpartisan basis. Now, on the eve of the 2024 election, a small group of political candidates and election administrators seek to block the executive order, based on speculation and unfounded claims of election manipulation and noncitizen voting. The ACLU and its partners are fighting to preserve the ability of eligible Americans to register to vote, in accordance with federal law.
Explore case
Texas
Sep 2024
Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
America First Policy Institute v. Biden
The ACLU, along with several partner organizations, are representing the rights of voters by intervening in a lawsuit that seeks to make it harder for Americans across the country to register to vote, including in the upcoming 2024 election. In 2021, President Biden signed an executive order aimed at promoting access to voter registration and election information to eligible voters on a nonpartisan basis. Now, on the eve of the 2024 election, a small group of political candidates and election administrators seek to block the executive order, based on speculation and unfounded claims of election manipulation and noncitizen voting. The ACLU and its partners are fighting to preserve the ability of eligible Americans to register to vote, in accordance with federal law.
Mississippi
Sep 2024
Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
Republican National Committee v. Wetzel (Amicus)
In 2020, in a nearly unanimous bipartisan vote, Mississippi joined eighteen other states in accepting mail ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrived after Election Day (in Mississippi’s case, up to five business days). This lawsuit by partisan actors seeks to disenfranchise these voters whose ballot is mailed by Election Day but—through no fault of their own—does not arrive until afterwards. In Mississippi, this harm will fall disproportionately on voters with disabilities, older voters, and other communities that rely upon absentee voting. Twisting the words and meaning of Congress, the RNC argues that three longstanding federal laws that set a uniform election day for federal races require that ballot may only be counted if they are received by election officials by Election Day. If accepted, this radical argument would not only disenfranchise thousands upon thousands of voters in Mississippi and eighteen other states, but also upend election administration in every state.
Explore case
Mississippi
Sep 2024
Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
Republican National Committee v. Wetzel (Amicus)
In 2020, in a nearly unanimous bipartisan vote, Mississippi joined eighteen other states in accepting mail ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrived after Election Day (in Mississippi’s case, up to five business days). This lawsuit by partisan actors seeks to disenfranchise these voters whose ballot is mailed by Election Day but—through no fault of their own—does not arrive until afterwards. In Mississippi, this harm will fall disproportionately on voters with disabilities, older voters, and other communities that rely upon absentee voting. Twisting the words and meaning of Congress, the RNC argues that three longstanding federal laws that set a uniform election day for federal races require that ballot may only be counted if they are received by election officials by Election Day. If accepted, this radical argument would not only disenfranchise thousands upon thousands of voters in Mississippi and eighteen other states, but also upend election administration in every state.
Arizona
Aug 2024
Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes (Amicus)
Does Congress have authority (as it has long done) to regulate all federal elections, including presidential elections—such as through key federal voting rights laws like the NVRA, UOCAVA, and the MOVE Act?
Explore case
Arizona
Aug 2024
Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes (Amicus)
Does Congress have authority (as it has long done) to regulate all federal elections, including presidential elections—such as through key federal voting rights laws like the NVRA, UOCAVA, and the MOVE Act?
Kansas
Jun 2020
Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
Fish v. Schwab (formerly Fish v. Kobach)
This lawsuit challenges Kansas’ documentary proof-of-citizenship law which requires people, when they register to vote, to show documents to prove their citizenship. It violates the National Voter Registration Act, a federal law designed to make it easier for Americans to register to vote and maintain their registrations.
Explore case
Kansas
Jun 2020
Fighting Cuts to Voting Access
Fish v. Schwab (formerly Fish v. Kobach)
This lawsuit challenges Kansas’ documentary proof-of-citizenship law which requires people, when they register to vote, to show documents to prove their citizenship. It violates the National Voter Registration Act, a federal law designed to make it easier for Americans to register to vote and maintain their registrations.