According to data from Democracy Docket, a website tracking election-related cases created by Democratic lawyer Marc Elias, there are approximately 95 election-related lawsuits in the seven battleground states that will decide the 2024 election.
These states include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Usually, Democrats and their allies sue Republican election officials for not providing convenience to voters, while Republicans respond by claiming the need to prevent voter fraud. Republicans sue Democratic election officials for not safeguarding the integrity of the election, and Democrats respond by saying voters cannot be suppressed.
A survey by Reuters/Ipsos shows that Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, are engaged in a fierce competition, with both parties fighting for every vote.
As a result, both major parties, their respective voters, and interest groups have filed lawsuits, involving various details such as mailing ballot addresses, polling locations, and voter registration procedures.
For Erika Worobec from Cecil, Pennsylvania, mailing in her vote is a solemn family ritual. In a primary in April, she researched candidates and issues with her young son before making her choice. Worobec, 45, who works in technology product marketing, said her son was thrilled when the ballot envelope arrived.
However, two months after the primary, she learned that she inadvertently failed to fill in the date on her ballot, and that 259 mail-in ballots in her county were not recorded due to ballot completion errors. Worobec criticized election officials, saying, “I don’t think this is the American way! If so many votes were not cast, how can the primary results be accurate?”
She said she has an autoimmune disease and didn’t want to risk going to crowded polling stations to vote, so she chose to vote by mail. Worobec refused to disclose which presidential candidate she supports.
In July, she joined several other voters in a lawsuit to ensure they could participate in various voting methods and vote in the U.S. presidential election on November 5.
After receiving a notice from the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Worobec agreed to sue the Republican-led election board in Washington County near Pittsburgh along with six other voters. In August, a judge ruled that if errors appeared on mail-in or absentee ballots, the election board must notify voters early so they can challenge or cast provisional ballots at polling places. The voters won the case.
The case has been appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
A Republican spokesperson said the party is dedicated to ensuring fairness and security in Pennsylvania’s elections. Claire Zunk of the Republican National Committee said, “Democrats continue to try to undermine election safeguards, and we must continue to stop them.”
Tyler Engel, 35, a research project manager in Madison, Wisconsin, who has a form of muscular dystrophy, finds it difficult to reach polling stations due to his wheelchair. Unable to mark his ballot by hand, he needs assistance to cast absentee ballots.
He said, “I have to have someone help me vote, but it makes me uncomfortable because people will then know how I voted.” Engel declined to reveal which presidential candidate he supports.
After the Disability Rights Wisconsin organization learned that Engel was inquiring about the accessibility of polling stations, they invited him to join a lawsuit to advocate for allowing disabled voters like him to mark ballots electronically without assistance. The organization is funding a pilot program to help him with the inquiry.
Although a lower court ruled that voters who cannot see paper ballots or mark them should receive electronic ballots via email, the ruling has been stayed and will not be resolved before the election.
In Michigan, the state governor designated the Veterans Administration and Small Business Administration offices as the official voter registration agencies, leading to a lawsuit by the Republican National Committee and its allies.
The nonpartisan Vet Voice Foundation, an organization advocating for American veterans, sought to intervene. Brian Stone, a 37-year-old Navy veteran and volunteer for the organization, voiced his support for Kamala Harris. He explained, “Veterans typically go to VA medical centers first because they need their meds, but more importantly, many veterans are homeless, facing challenges in voter registration.”
A judge rejected Vet Voice Foundation’s request, and the case remains unresolved.
Claire Zunk of the Republican National Committee said the case is an attempt by the governor and Kamala Harris to allow Democrats to continue governing. She said, “These agencies should be 100% focused on supporting our veterans and small businesses, not using our taxes to influence Michigan’s elections.”
In Montana, traditionally a Republican-leaning state whose election outcome may determine control of the U.S. Senate, some members of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes living in Fort Peck have to travel over twenty miles to the nearest election office.
On September 30, some tribal members sued election officials, demanding a satellite office near their residences be open every day for six weeks before the election for registration and early voting. The parties are currently in settlement negotiations. The Fort Peck Reservation includes much of Roosevelt County in Montana, as well as portions of Valley County and two other counties.
Lawyer Dylan Jensen of Valley County said the county lacks resources but, as in past years, would provide a satellite office for two days, but only four voters have used it. An attorney for Roosevelt County said discussions are ongoing.
One of the plaintiffs, 38-year-old Joseph Dolezilek, said, “Our town is in a remote place, you know? Does that mean our voice won’t be heard?”
(This article references reporting by Reuters)