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U.S. Voters Turn to Courts for Election Access Ahead of 2024 Presidential Election

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For Ericka Worobec, a resident of Cecil, Pennsylvania, mail-in voting is a family tradition that she shares with her young son. However, after discovering that her ballot was rejected due to an incomplete date, she felt deeply concerned about the accuracy of the election. Worobec, who votes by mail due to her autoimmune condition, is one of many Americans turning to the courts to ensure their votes are counted in the upcoming November 2024 presidential election.

Worobec’s experience reflects a growing number of lawsuits in the United States surrounding election access and voting rights. With 95 election-related lawsuits filed across seven key battleground states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—voters, advocacy groups, and political parties are seeking judicial intervention on a wide range of issues, from absentee ballot errors to polling place accessibility. These legal battles are fueled by the contentious presidential race between Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump.

A Nation Divided: Voting Access vs. Election Integrity

The lawsuits often fall along partisan lines, with Democrats advocating for expanded voting access and Republicans emphasizing the need for election integrity. Democrats argue that voter suppression tactics limit eligible voters’ participation, while Republicans claim that looser regulations invite fraud. These legal battles are seen as critical, with both parties fighting for every vote in a tight race.

Worobec’s case is an example of this divide. After being approached by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), she joined a lawsuit against her county’s election board, challenging the rejection of mail-in ballots with minor errors. A Republican intervention in the case defended the election board’s actions, but a judge ruled in favor of Worobec, mandating that voters be notified of ballot errors in time to cast provisional ballots.

Mixed Success in Court Challenges

While some voters, like Worobec, have seen favorable rulings, others have struggled to gain traction in the courts. Tyler Engel, a 35-year-old from Madison, Wisconsin, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, has faced challenges accessing his polling place. Unable to mark a paper ballot on his own, Engel sought a legal solution that would allow him to vote electronically without assistance. Though a lower court ruled in his favor, allowing electronic ballots, the ruling is on hold, leaving Engel and other disabled voters in uncertainty.

In Michigan, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has sued over the governor’s decision to designate Veterans Administration (VA) and Small Business Administration (SBA) offices as voter registration agencies. The Vet Voice Foundation, a nonpartisan group supporting veterans, attempted to intervene, arguing that veterans, particularly those who are homeless, rely on these agencies for registration. Despite the group’s efforts, a judge denied their request, leaving the case unresolved. The RNC has criticized the initiative as a partisan move, while advocates for veterans argue that it’s crucial for facilitating voter access.

Tribal Voters Seek Representation

In Montana, a lawsuit filed by members of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes underscores the challenges faced by Native American voters. Some tribal members live over 20 miles from the nearest election office, making it difficult to vote. The plaintiffs have requested satellite voting offices to be open daily in the six weeks leading up to the election, arguing that their voices deserve to be heard despite their geographic isolation. Settlement talks are currently underway, with local officials citing resource limitations but promising to provide some level of satellite voting access.

As the November election approaches, these cases reflect the broader battle for voting rights in the United States, with legal challenges emerging in response to the evolving landscape of mail-in voting, polling place accessibility, and voter registration procedures. With the stakes high in this 2024 presidential election, both voters and advocacy groups are fighting to ensure their ballots are counted in a race that could hinge on every vote.

Misinformation on Facebook Alarms Officials as 2024 Elections Near

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Election officials across the U.S. are increasingly concerned about the spread of misinformation on Facebook as the country heads into the critical 2024 presidential election. In Durham County, North Carolina, Derek Bowens, the director of elections, faced a crisis when viral posts falsely claimed that voters should request new ballots if a poll worker writes on them, rendering the ballots invalid. This misinformation, which also spread during the 2020 election, has resurfaced without fact-checking labels on Facebook.

Despite previous efforts to flag such content, Bowens and other officials have seen a lack of timely intervention from Meta, Facebook’s parent company. The North Carolina State Board of Elections had to issue a press release to counter the misinformation. However, many false posts continue to circulate in North Carolina and other states like Mississippi and New Jersey without warnings or corrections. Meta stated that it has sent flagged content to third-party fact-checkers, but election officials are still frustrated by the platform’s insufficient efforts to prevent the spread of false information.

Across the nation, with just 40 days until the November 5 elections, election officials are worried about how misinformation might disrupt the voting process. While Facebook scaled back the promotion of political content on its platform after the 2020 election, misleading posts still spread quickly, often outpacing official responses. Bowens and his colleagues, as well as officials in swing states like Arizona and Wisconsin, are finding it increasingly difficult to use social media effectively to provide accurate information.

In Maricopa County, Arizona, communication director Taylor Kinnerup noted that false claims about voter fraud from 2020 still plague the county’s social media feeds. Despite efforts to increase transparency and communication, Kinnerup’s team struggles with Meta’s limited engagement and unresponsive support systems. Many local election offices are also dealing with technical issues when using Meta’s apps, such as unlinked Facebook and Instagram accounts that prevent simultaneous posts.

Meta, which has cut back its trust and safety teams during multiple rounds of layoffs since 2021, continues to promote its integrity efforts and partnerships with fact-checking groups worldwide. However, state and local officials like Bowens and Kinnerup report little direct communication or assistance from Meta in addressing election misinformation.

Officials warn that the risks go beyond the presidential race, with down-ballot races also vulnerable to interference, as regional and local election systems often have less protection. Congressional representatives, including Sen. Susan Collins, have expressed concerns about foreign actors targeting these races with disinformation.

As the November elections approach, election officials across the country are working overtime to combat the spread of misinformation, but many feel under-supported by tech companies like Meta. With election integrity at stake, they urge greater collaboration and proactive measures to prevent further disruptions.

 

Georgia Election Board Mandates Hand-Counting of Ballots Amid Legal Warnings from GOP Officials

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The Georgia State Election Board has passed a controversial new rule requiring counties to hand-count ballots cast at polling places on Election Day, despite opposition from bipartisan election officials and warnings from key Republican state officials. The decision was approved in a 3-2 vote, with allies of former President Donald Trump supporting the measure, while a Democratic and GOP-appointed independent member opposed it.

The hand-counting rule mandates that the total number of ballots be counted by hand to ensure they match those tallied by voting machines. However, the rule stops short of requiring hand counts for individual candidate votes, which are still to be processed by machines. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, had previously warned that the move could be unlawful, noting that state law does not allow local election workers to hand-count ballots before votes are officially tallied.

Carr’s office also cautioned the board that implementing these changes so close to the election—early voting begins October 15—might lead to legal challenges. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger echoed these concerns, criticizing the timing of the rule changes, calling it “too late in the cycle” to introduce new procedures.

The rule’s proponents, like State Election Board member Janelle King, defended the changes, arguing they were necessary to address public mistrust in the electoral process. Critics, however, see this as part of a broader effort by Republicans allied with Trump to cast doubt on election results, particularly in battleground states like Georgia. The rule change comes after a GOP-led state legislature removed the secretary of state’s position from the election board in the wake of Trump’s failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Nonpartisan experts and local election officials have expressed concerns that hand-counting could slow the election process, adding unnecessary burdens on county offices already struggling with limited resources. Despite this, the board also passed another rule granting poll-watchers greater access to vote-counting areas, a move similarly criticized as overstepping statutory authority.

With early voting set to begin in just weeks, many election officials fear these changes could lead to delays and confusion during the critical 2024 presidential election. As the new rules come under scrutiny, legal challenges seem likely, especially given warnings from the state attorney general’s office that they may be overturned in court due to their lack of legal basis.