#absentee voting

Hope comes in all forms. Maybe someone a bit less conservative got elected, or voting became easier or a town becoming a little bit more inclusive.

Well, today, it’s all three. Starting in…West Virginia?

West Virginia

Tue, May 12 - Three far right Judges were ousted in the West Virginia judicial races a month and a half ago.

Gerald Titus and Thomas Ewing were appointed to the Supreme Court by current Governor Patrick Morrisey. While Dan Greear was appointed to the Intermediate Court of Appeals in 2022 by then Governor Jim Justice.

And all three of them lost their seats.

Titus and Greear’s campaigns were financed by conservative legal activist, Leonard Leo who spent over $100,000 on each race. While Black Bear PAC focused on keeping Ewing on the bench.

It didn’t work. West Virginia voters chose to instead elect H. L. Kirkpatrick to Titus’ seat. He ran a campaign focused on being relatable while also touting his experience.

Delegate Bill Flanagan will be replacing Ewing, and while he’s a Republican he’s been more moderate than some on issues such as vaccines and trans healthcare (though definitely not GOOD on the later.)

And finally family law Judge Jim Douglas won against Greear and will be the first family law judge on the court. He was backed by Democrats.

Before the election he explained how he could win:

People have to say, we’ve had enough. We’ve had enough of this out-of-state money. And we’re not going to elect people that took out-of-state money.

And that’s exactly what they did.

Look, these aren’t all Democrats. The two new SCOWV judges are still going to be Republicans but they are not Federalists. They have had moderate views before and it’s a rebuke of Governor Morrisey.

And in a state like West Virginia, that’s definitely something to celebrate.

Connecticut

Fri, May 15 - Rep Matt Blumenthal (HD-147) introduced a bill that finally allowed no excuse absentee voting. And on May 15, Governor Ned Lamont signed it into law.

Until now, Connecticut has been one of the only blue states to make voters prove that they need a mail in ballot. Now anyone can chose to vote by mail even if they aren’t disabled, abroad or in the military.

It also allows 17 year olds who will be 18 by Election Day to vote early. And strengthens so many more small but important election protocols.

Blumenthal celebrated the signing by saying, “Connecticut voters overwhelmingly demanded absentee voting for all, and now we have delivered.”

This is such an important law that will remove a barrier to voting that shouldn’t have existed for this long in the first place.

If you live in Connecticut and haven’t been able to vote, cause you couldn’t prove you needed an absentee ballot, now you can!

Washington

Fri, June 5 - While Republicans are pushing for the country to be more conservative, it’s important to highlight places that are refusing to follow that trend, like Mountlake Terrace.

They applied for a $20m grant from the federal government for a Main Street renovation project. They were turned down, likely because of their Diversity Equity and Inclusion Commission.

But instead of dismantling it to get the grant, they just dug further in on their inclusivity.

This year, they held their first ever celebration for Pride Month. It was just one evening, and it was small, but it was there.

One of the drag performers, Sin O’Matic said that there hasn’t been much work in that area for a drag performer so, “this is great that they invited us out here. It’s good to see that a community is still coming together and still representing diversity.”

Every day there are reasons to be more scared and more angry, but we have to remember moments like this too. Republicans want to make sure things are less safe for all of us, but some places are becoming more, and that matters.

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So those are today’s stories. I hope they inspire you to find a way to fight back. From voting to just getting involved in your community, it all makes an impact.

And remember, our voices are our superpower, but only when we use them!

Today is Spirit Day, a national day of action to stand with LGBTQ+ youth against bullying. 💜🌈 One way we can fight for our LGBTQ+ community is to VOTE on the issues impacting us most.

Last year, more than 500 state bills were introduced to target LGBTQ+ rights, and 75 became law. The people WE elect have a direct impact on our community. 

Most of the news over the last 72 hours relates to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Middle East, as the US and Iran exchanged fire (sometimes directed at third parties) over Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz. I will take the opportunity of the relative lull in the usual firehose of news to publish a shorter newsletter ahead of a consequential week in the Supreme Court.

The Court’s current term officially ends on June 30, 2026. Most (but not necessarily all) of the eight remaining opinions should be issued by Tuesday. Those cases will address

whether states may count ballots mailed before Election Day but received up to five days thereafter;

whether birthright citizenship applies to every person born in the United States or can be limited by presidential order;

whether transgender athletes can compete on girls’ sports teams; and

whether the president has unfettered authority to fire heads of independent agencies without cause.

See generally, Chris Geidner, Law Dork (Substack), Eight Supreme Court cases remaining (with links to articles on each case).

Trump should lose on all cases in which he is involved, but the counting of ballots mailed before but received after “Election Day” gives the reactionary majority another opportunity to approve a voter suppression tactic shortly before the midterms.

We should keep in mind two caveats if the Court further restricts voting rights.

First, 36 states already require that mail ballots be received on or before Election Day to be counted. Only 14 states allow a “grace period” for acceptance of domestic ballots mailed before election day but received thereafter. (An additional 15 states allow for the late arrival of military and overseas ballots.) See National Conference of State Legislatures, Receipt and Postmark Deadlines for Absentee/Mail Ballots (as of 5/18/2026).

In general, a loss on the Election Day case will result in changes in 14 states. Five of those states voted for Trump in 2024 (Alaska, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas, West Virginia), and nine voted for Harris (California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Virginia, Washington).

Although the burden of a loss in the Election Day case will fall disproportionately on nine blue states, Texas has the second-largest electorate in the nation, and Alaska’s citizens face greater obstacles than many other voters because of distance and a lack of roads in remote areas. Moreover, more than 220,000 US military personnel and contractors are stationed overseas; a ruling that ballots must be “received by Election Day” will effectively shorten their voting time, thereby imposing a penalty on members of the military.

Another mitigating factor: About 50% of “mail ballots” are returned via “drop boxes” (not US mail boxes). Ballots in drop boxes are collected on election day. See Election Administration and Voting Survey 2024 Comprehensive Report (“Nearly 15 million mail ballots were returned at ballot drop boxes in the 36 states that allow for drop boxes, which account for just under half of the ballots returned in these states.”)

The second point is that voter suppression is a blunt instrument. Even in blue states like California and New York, millions of Republicans vote by mail. An adverse ruling in the Election Day case will likewise affect tens of millions of Republicans currently eligible to mail ballots postmarked on Election Day.

Democrats are better positioned to overcome voter suppression tactics because they are more frequently the target of such tactics.

While a loss in the Election Day case would be outrageous and unconstitutional, we should not react to such a loss by proclaiming that Democrats will fail to take back the House and Senate in November. Instead, we must begin the hard work of changing voter behavior when they vote by mail. We can do that.

Stay tuned. The decision will be issued soon.

The deteriorating situation in the Middle East

Last Friday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard fired on a tanker that failed to follow the shipping lanes prescribed by Iran. The US attacked Iranian missile and drone sites on the Persian Gulf, and Iran retaliated by launching multiple attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait over the weekend.

An anonymous source in the US government is telling media outlets that the US and Iran have agreed to “stand down” from the active hostilities and that Iran will allow traffic to flow “freely” through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has not confirmed the statement by the anonymous US source. See NYTimes, Iran Strikes U.S. Sites in Bahrain and Kuwait as Attacks Show Few Signs of De-escalation.

As usual, Trump is pouring gasoline on a volatile situation. See CNN, Iran talks stall after fighting erupts, Trump threatens annihilation.

Per CNN, Trump posted the following:

There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!

As a public service reminder, the Geneva Convention (and supplementary treaties) and international law make it a crime to threaten civilian populations, which is a fair reading of Trump’s statement that “Iran will no longer exist.” But Trump has committed (or ordered) so many war crimes, no media are commenting on Trump’s latest threat against Iranian civilians.

Iran apparently canceled “technical talks” on Sunday, but the anonymous US source claims that such talks will continue at some point in the future.

Per the Times,

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said technical talks are slated to continue on the memorandum of understanding, but declined to provide any specifics on when or where those talks would occur.

In sum, active hostilities have resumed, Iran canceled peace talks scheduled for Sunday, an anonymous US source says everything is fine, and the last statement from Iran was a barrage of missiles aimed at Kuwait and Bahrain.

Concluding Thoughts

Trump has not relented in his demand that Congress pass the SAVE America Act, the voter-suppression legislation that requires proof of citizenship upon registration. Republicans are beginning to admit that there isn’t enough time to implement the legislation, even if it is passed.

I was corresponding with reader Jeff B. on Sunday, who pointed out that if the SAVE America Act were passed, it would impose an unmanageable burden on state election officials. There are approximately 240 million registered voters. States process more than 50 million registration transactions every year, more than half of which are updates to existing registrations. The “proof of citizenship” requirement would apply to updated registrations (e.g. change of address) and new voter registrations alike. See Election Administration and Voting Survey 2024 Comprehensive Report.

Expecting that states could handle requests for tens of millions of certified birth records between now and November is unrealistic. To put it bluntly, it would be a train wreck. Fifty train wrecks, to be precise. Even Republicans are recognizing it is unrealistic. See Democracy Docket, Kansas GOP Senator admits there may not be enough time to implement SAVE America Act.

And South Dakota Republicans at a state party convention voted down a resolution to censure Majority Leader John Thune for failing to pass the SAVE America Act. See Democracy Docket, South Dakota Republicans reject censuring John Thune over stalled SAVE America Act. Again, Republicans recognize that Thune doesn’t have the votes to overcome the filibuster to pass the Act or to abolish the filibuster. The SAVE America Act isn’t going to pass before the midterms. If Democrats take control of the House in November, the SAVE America Act is dead.

We have to deliver ballots no matter if they have postage or not. We're supposed to ask the polling place or the town office, wherever the ballots get delivered to, for the additional postage, but if they refuse, we deliver them anyways.

Votes are still being counted, but if you live in Philly, Detroit, Milwaukee, Maricopa County (AZ), etc, call your local elections official and ask for a recount by hand

If your vote went from "recieved" to not counted, call your local elections office today.

If your vote in AZ was rejected, make sure you call in order to cure your ballot.

If voted in person, also call your elections office and request a recount by hand.

You're only going to have this opportunity for a short time.

Check your ballot status:

Find and contact your local election official:

If you are voting by mail, you have to make sure your absentee ballot is returned and has reached its destination by the end of voting on election day November 5th (some states allow ballots to be counted if they're postmarked by election day but don't rely on that).

Most states also allow you to cancel your absentee ballot and vote in person if you have to (check here).