ACLU Takes Legal Action Over Trump Election Commission Executive Order

WASHINGTON — With the 60th anniversary of the Selma to Mongtomery marches just around the corner, the American Civil Liberties Union urges Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA), reintroduced today to restore and strengthen critical federal protections against racial discrimination in voting. The bill seeks to counteract the damage inflicted by Supreme Court rulings that have severely weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), including Shelby County v. Holder (2013) and Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee (2021). The reintroduction of the VRAA comes at a time when voting rights face unprecedented federal threats like the proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which Congress is currently considering. The SAVE Act would lead to widespread disenfranchisement of millions of eligible voters by requiring citizenship documents like birth certificates and passports to be presented in person every time someone registers or re-registers to vote, and by requiring faulty voter roll purges. This voter suppression measure would disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color, naturalized citizens, young and older voters, and even married women who change their last name. “Since the Supreme Court first gutted the Voting Rights Act over a decade ago, we have seen a coordinated effort to further roll back voting rights that Selma’s brave foot soldiers fought and bled for. Instead of pushing anti-voter legislation like the SAVE Act that would lead to widespread disenfranchisement, especially for voters of color, Congress should be working to advance the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to combat relentless efforts by states to restrict access to the ballot,” said Xavier Persad, senior policy counsel with the ACLU. “This legislation is vital to protecting our democracy and ensuring that every eligible voter — no matter their race, background, or zip code — can freely and fairly cast their ballot.” The VRAA would reestablish much-needed federal protections against racially discriminatory voting laws. Since the Supreme Court gutted the most crucial protection in Shelby — preclearance — states have enacted restrictive voter ID requirements, racially discriminatory maps, and voter roll purges that disproportionately impact Black, Latino, Indigenous, and other communities.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of North Carolina have submitted an amicus brief in the North Carolina Court of Appeals urging the court to reject an attempt by Judge Jefferson Griffin to invalidate 65,500 ballots cast by North Carolinians in the 2024 state Supreme Court race. Judge Griffin ran against incumbent Justice Allison Riggs in last year’s state Supreme Court election. Although the election remains uncertified, it is undisputed that Riggs received 734 more votes than Griffin. Following the election, Judge Griffin filed a petition alleging that the North Carolina Board of Elections had, for nearly two decades, improperly accepted voter registrations without the inclusion of a driver’s license or social security number. Similarly, the petition alleged that the board had improperly invited and accepted overseas absentee ballots without requiring photo identification. On that basis, the petition asks North Carolina’s courts to scrap more than 65,500 ballots. The ACLU’s brief argues that, because voters relied on these longstanding and formal practices, negating 65,500 votes as the judge’s petition seeks would violate the North Carolina Constitution and binding precedents from the North Carolina Supreme Court. “In North Carolina, voters choose their judges, judges don’t choose their voters. Throwing out ballots from eligible voters who cast their ballots in reliance on the procedures prescribed by government officials would be profoundly unfair and a grave violation of the rights of every North Carolinian — Republican, Democrat, or independent,” said Matthew Segal, co-director of the ACLU State Supreme Court Initiative. The brief further explains that the judge’s petition points to no evidence that the 65,500 voters the case seeks to disenfranchise, if properly instructed, would have failed to register and vote using what the petition deems the right procedures. Even if the board had implemented unlawful procedures — which, as the board and the respondent have shown, it did not — otherwise eligible voters should not pay for those procedural errors. “Judge Griffin’s insistence on throwing out over 65,000 votes disregards the will of the people in service of a political power grab. Our judicial system is dependent on respecting the will of the people in choosing their judges. The ongoing effort to disqualify the ballots of eligible voters undermines the constitutional guarantee that ‘political power is vested in and derived from the people.’ North Carolina voters have spoken, it is time to respect their choice and move on,” said Kristi Graunke, legal director of the ACLU of North Carolina.

NASSAU COUNTY, NY – Today, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Steptoe LLP, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), LatinoJustice PRLDEF, and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) announced the first settlement of its kind in New York on behalf of Black, Latino, and Asian voters that will establish fair, equitable legislative maps for voters in Nassau County. In February 2024, voters challenged the redistricting plan for the Nassau County Legislature as a partisan gerrymander that diluted the votes of Nassau County's Black, Latino, and Asian communities. Though residents of color make up over one-third of Nassau County’s eligible voters, the redistricting map rushed through the Nassau County Legislature in February 2023 created only four districts out of 19 in which Black, Latino, and Asian residents constituted a majority of eligible voters. Now, once signed by the Court, a consent decree in New York Communities for Change v. Nassau County will replace that discriminatory map with a politically fair map that includes six districts in which Black, Latino, and Asian residents constitute a majority of eligible voters, with an additional district that rectifies the prior map’s dilution of Asian voting influence. “This map is a big step towards equality and fairness in our community’s democracy,” said Lisa Ortiz, a plaintiff in this case. “After years of having our votes and voices diluted and ignored, we finally have an equal voice at the polls. We’re deeply gratified that our case delivered fairness for voters — and that voters of color will now have as much say as anyone else in Nassau County.” “This historic settlement says it loud and clear: efforts to partisan gerrymander and to deny communities of color their constitutionally-protected power at the ballot box will not stand in New York,” said Perry Grossman, Director of the Voting Rights Project at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “Using all the tools and protections we secured in the New York Voting Rights Act and the Municipal Home Rule Law, every voter in Nassau County will now have a fair, equal opportunity to make their voice heard. 2025 elections are around the corner and, with this settlement, Nassau voters will have a real chance to elect legislators who truly represent their interests.” “Today marks a historic victory for the voters of Nassau County,” said Adriel I. Cepeda Derieux, deputy director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project. “This settlement reflects a critical step toward dismantling barriers that have hindered the influence of Black, Latino, and Asian communities. By securing fair legislative maps, voters — including our plaintiffs — now have a chance to elect candidates who value their concerns and priorities.” This decision follows the New York State Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act (NYVRA) late last year; that decision affirmed that the NYVRA requires equal opportunity in electoral systems, not race-based preference for one group of voters over another. The new map implemented under this settlement will govern Nassau County’s legislative elections through the redistricting cycle after the 2030 census, when maps will be redrawn to reflect updated census counts. “We are immensely proud to have achieved this landmark settlement, which provides fair representation for all of Nassau County’s voters,” said Michael G. Scavelli, partner at Steptoe LLP and co-lead counsel on the matter. “This result would not have been possible without the tireless work of a truly remarkable team of clients, lawyers, and legal professionals. It was a privilege to stand up with each of them in the courtroom to tell our clients’ stories and demonstrate why fair maps and a fair mapmaking process matters. Our Steptoe team looks forward to continuing this important work.” “We are incredibly proud that the new redistricting map will help ensure our communities are better represented and have a fair and equitable say in the upcoming 2025 legislative races and other future elections," said Cesar Ruiz, Associate Counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “Communities of color in Nassau can breathe a sigh of relief and begin the critical work of organizing and mobilizing for their collective future knowing that their vote counts. We are proud to fight on behalf of our comunidad always, ¡Pa'lante Siempre Pa'lante!" “This new legislative map is a historic win for the voters of Nassau County, especially for the county’s rapidly growing Asian American community in the greater New Hyde Park area that had been illegally divided by the prior district lines,” said Ben Goldstein, Legal Fellow at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). “With this new map, Asian voters will have an equal opportunity to influence the outcome of elections, as New York law requires. Nassau County’s voters—and even candidates—of color can now participate in the political process on a more level playing field as a result of this settlement.”

This case arises from the November 2024 election for state supreme court justice in North Carolina. Incumbent State Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs defeated Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, but Griffin has filed a petition seeking to invalidate more than 65,000 votes from the election. He argues that the state Board of Elections impermissibly allowed 60,000 people to register without providing their driver’s licenses or social security numbers, and that the Board impermissibly allowed 5,500 overseas voters to cast absentee ballots without photo identification. The petition has resulted in both federal and state litigation, and the ACLU has submitted amicus briefs in both venues. In the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project and the ACLU of North Carolina filed an amicus brief explaining that the petition’s attempt to cancel tens of thousands of votes threatens democratic backsliding in North Carolina. Separately, in the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative and the ACLU of North Carolina submitted an amicus brief explaining that, even if the Board did make mistakes, cancelling votes as a consequence of those mistakes would violate the popular sovereignty provision of the North Carolina Constitution because voters relied on the Board to know how to register and vote.