Election Updates for the Week of August 23, 2021

As summer ends, more election news is emerging throughout the nation. Below are the latest election updates.

States

In Colorado, the FBI joined the Colorado Secretary of State’s investigation into the Mesa County clerk’s office about County Clerk Tina Peters possibly leaking confidential voting information to QAnon followers. State Conservative activists are advocating for a closed Republican primary in all Colorado elections. Advocates for closed primaries argue that such a move would encourage more Republicans to be active, while critics say it could alienate the independent voters that any candidate needs to win a general election.

In Florida, a “dark money” group tied to a case involving election fraud has donated to Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Congressman Charlie Crist, the two leading Democrat candidates for Governor in Florida. The Florida county, Broward County, is mandating that all election workers for the upcoming special congressional election be vaccinated.

In Arizona, Maricopa County is demanding that the Arizona State Senate pay $2.8 million for the loss of voting equipment due to Arizona’s audit of the 2020 Arizona election. An Arizona advocacy group is helping fund ads for voters to approve an initiative that would enact more voting restrictions. The Pascua Yaqui Tribe, which is located in Arizona, reached a settlement with Pima County to have an early voting site on tribal land.

In Michigan, the State House of Representatives passed a bill largely along party lines that adds security measures for future elections. Opponents of the bill have called it unnecessary and have warned that the legislation would serve as an assault on voting rights. Ohio is looking to enact a similar bill that particularly targets vote by mail and bans ballot drop boxes.

In Alaska, former Independent Governor Bill Walker is seeking a rematch against incumbent Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy, who ousted Walker in 2018.

In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott set a special election for this November for eight constitutional amendments that passed the Texas legislature in its last regularly scheduled session. This week, the Texas Senate passed the election security bill that prompted Texas Democrat state legislators to flee the state. Before passing the Senate, the bill faced a 15-hour filibuster. The bill still needs to pass the Texas House, but the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the legislature can arrest Texas House members to bring them in for a quorum.

In Nevada, former State Attorney General Adam Laxalt announced his candidacy for Senate, ensuring that Republicans will have a top tier opponent for incumbent Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. Many see this development as a boon to Republicans’ chances to take the Senate.

In Pennsylvania, the FBI arrested a man running as a write-in candidate for Judge of Elections for his role in the January 6^th riot.

In North Carolina, a civil rights group is suing to restore voting rights for more felons than the current law allows.

In Georgia, a Judge is refusing to allow the release of a report on potential vulnerabilities that election machines face. Some believe this ruling might increase conspiracy theories over voting issues.

In California, now that early voting has started for the recall election, statewide officials are campaigning to get out the vote. Radio talk show host Larry Elder skipped the latest recall debate, and the candidates who did appear attacked Elder, marking a change from the party unity expressed in previous recall debates that have primarily featured Republican candidates. At the recall debate, an audience member served gubernatorial candidate John Cox with a subpoena on behalf of a vendor who is suing Cox for failing to pay campaign debts from Cox’s 2018 gubernatorial run.

In Virginia, now that the Census has released the 2020 data, the Virginia redistricting commission has started to work to release maps within 45 days for the state legislature and two months for the congressional districts. New Jersey is aiming to fill all of the seats on its redistricting commission, but there is partisan gridlock over which person should occupy the eleventh seat on the commission that would break ties for the commission.

West Virginia’s Secretary of State, Mac Warner, was the only Secretary of State to vote against a resolution by the National Association of Secretaries of State that recommended guidelines for every state to follow for election audits. Missouri’s Secretary of State, Jay Ashcroft, abstained from voting.

Culture

The Republican National Committee released a report that they claim shows abuses in the 2020 election. The RNC plans to have an “integrity unit” available for every upcoming election to prevent these abuses.

Democrats unveiled a new voting rights bill honoring the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis, titled the “John Lewis Voting Rights and Advancement Act.” Some progressives are cautioning that the bill may be too late to enact redistricting reform since states are starting to draw maps. Members of Lewis’s family are pressing politicians in DC to pass a voting rights reform bill as part of Lewis’s legacy. Several members of Congress are pushing for a bill that specifically protects the Native American voters, known as the “Native American Voting Rights Act of 2021.”

Some Southern Catholics are calling for local Bishops to actively oppose the new restrictive voting laws that several Southern states have passed.

This past week, civil rights activists in Vermont held a rally for increased voting rights, while also celebrating the improvements made in voting. Former Attorney General Eric Holder recently called for Democrats to protest and get arrested in order to create pressure for passing voting rights legislation. Several stars of television shows on the channel “The CW” appeared in a public service announcement to advocate for legislators to “remove barriers to voting.”

Corporate

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is refusing to pay $5 million to a cyber expert who claims they have proven Lindell’s allegations wrong on the 2020 election. Lindell had issued a challenge that anyone who could prove that his accusations regarding fraud in the 2020 election were wrong, would receive $5 million from him.

As Smartmatic’s lawsuits against Fox News, Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani continue, this past week attorneys for Powell and Giuliani faced tough questions from the Judge overseeing the case.

Todd Carney is a writer based in Washington, DC.  The views in this piece are his alone and do not reflect the views of his employer.