A look back at headlines from this past week (October 20, 2024 – October 26, 2024).
Voting News and Updates
Have you signed our Community Letter yet? We’re sending a letter to the chief election officer in all 50 states this week to urge public, unequivocal support of our community’s right to access the ballot box. We need leaders across all parties to speak out against the political attacks by partisan politicians who have filed lawsuits challenging the validity of our votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina. They have made the callous decision that it is worth risking troops’ votes for a perceived political gain.
We are so grateful to veterans and military supporters who have signed on. Will you join us? Please sign and share!
1. Michigan and North Carolina: Republican lawsuits over overseas and military voting hit setbacks in 2 swing states (NPR; Oct 22, 2024). A Michigan state judge dismissed one of three lawsuits that GOP groups filed in swing states in recent weeks, while in a North Carolina-based case, a state judge rejected the Republican National Committee’s request for the court to order that returned ballots of some overseas voters be set aside and not counted until the voters’ eligibility can be confirmed. The are not yet completely settled due to appeals.
2. Georgia Amicus Brief explainer and update: SFI had filed a lawsuit challenging Georgia S.B. 189, a new Georgia law that would make it more difficult for counties to dismiss unsubstantiated challenges to an American’s voter registration or their eligibility to vote (Secure Families Initiative v. Raffensberger) arguing that S.B. 189 violates federal law and infringes on military and overseas voters’ fundamental freedom to vote. (SFI blog post here and a video explainer here.) Good news! Georgia Supreme Court rejects Republican effort to restore last-minute election rules!
3. Mississippi: Mississippi’s Absentee Ballot Measure Violates Federal Law, Appeals Court Rules (New York Times; Oct 25, 2024). A Mississippi law requiring officials to count absentee ballots received by mail up to five days after Election Day violates federal law, an appeals court ruled on Friday. It appeared unlikely that the ruling, which sent the issue back to a lower court, would affect this election. But experts said it could eventually undermine similar practices around the country. The Republican National Committee, the Mississippi Republican Party and other plaintiffs had challenged the law, arguing that the state had effectively extended each election beyond the date set by federal law.
4. Federal judge orders Virginia to halt voter removal program, put people back on voter rolls (WRIC ABC; Oct 25, 2024). A federal judge has ordered Virginia to put more than 1,600 people back on the state’s voter rolls after they were recently removed under a state program that the Justice Department and advocates say illegally took them off too close to the election.
5. Your Vote Is Safe (Time; Oct 24, 2024). But the arc of the evidence, based on interviews with state, local, and federal election officials, intelligence analysts, and expert observers, bends toward confidence. Since 2020, the nation’s electoral apparatus has upgraded its equipment, tightened its procedures, improved its audits, and hardened its defenses against subversion by bad actors, foreign or domestic.
6. Military families face struggle for overseas absentee ballots (NewsNation Now; Oct 22, 2024). Thank you to SFI’s Executive Director, Sarah Streyder, for discussing military voting. To those watching, this might be the first time you’re hearing about how military and overseas ballots get cast. I promise we’re Americans just trying to participate in the same democracy that you are. The same checks and balances that apply to your ballot apply to mine as well. Please do not be afraid of what you’re being told. Our elections are something to be proud of.
Other News Around the World
1. Blinken to Visit Israel in Latest Push for Gaza Cease-Fire (New York Times; Oct 21, 2024). Mr. Blinken, who is making his 11th trip to the region since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, is returning to the country […] President Biden and other U.S. officials say that Mr. Sinwar’s killing could create new opportunities for diplomacy, especially around the long-stalled effort to reach a cease-fire in Gaza that would free hostages held by Hamas and allow for a surge of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians trapped there. But Hamas and Israeli leaders have vowed to fight on, and many analysts doubt that a deal has moved within reach.
2. Pentagon’s Inspector General Will Audit Israel’s Use of US Weaponry (Military.com; Oct 25, 2024). The Pentagon’s inspector general has begun an audit of Israel’s “proper use, storage and physical security” of American armaments, including missiles, drones and night vision devices.
3. North Korean troops are in Russia, U.S. says (Axios; Oct 23, 2024). “What exactly they’re doing is left to be seen,” Secretary Lloyd Austin said, adding, “We’re trying to gain better fidelity on it.” It’s a “serious issue,” he said, if North Korea’s “intention is to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf.”
4. Sending love to all impacted by the terrible loss of these two trailblazing naval aviators. Navy IDs two aviators who died in EA-18G Growler crash last week (Navy Times; Oct 22, 2024). NAS Whidbey Island also provided a statement recounting the aviators’ contributions and leadership.
Less than Two Weeks from Election Day
Upcoming voter registration deadlines:
- October 28: Colorado (mail and online), Hawaii (mail), Washington (mail and online)
Early voting begins in these states:
- October 28: District of Columbia
- October 30: Oklahoma
- October 31: Kentucky, Oregon
As always, if you run in to any issues with voting, please reach out to us here at SFI. We are happy to help you. Fill out our Voting Pain Points form and / or email us at info@securefamiliesinitiative.org.
Feeling election anxiety? Take action. Here are some things you can do:
- VOTE! If you haven’t already. Early vote if your state offers it. Send in that absentee ballot.
- If you haven’t yet voted, do you have your voting plan? Where will you be voting? What time are polls open? What time will you be going? Do you need to take time off work? Do you need to secure childcare? What mode of transportation will you be using? Will you be eating before or after voting?
- Make sure your friends and family are voting and have a voting plan.
- Share about any voting pain points, like difficulty registering to vote, discovering you’ve been kicked off the voting roster, or you received your absentee ballot late, or any other issue, you can share your voting story in the pain points survey. Your responses will help us better advocate for military voters.
- Share about your experience with your Voting Assistance Officer, whether non-existent, positive, or in-between, please let us know in the super quick Voting Assistance Officer feedback survey, and we can take the next steps to ensure all military voters are getting the support we need.
- Door knock. Phone bank. Write postcards. Volunteer on Election Day at the polls, at a community center, at a voting resource center, at a troubleshooting hotline, the possibilities are endless.