Democracy Docket

Democracy Docket is a news website focused on voting rights and election litigation in the United States.[2][3][4] Founded in 2020 by election law attorney Marc Elias, the site has become a leading progressive platform dedicated to opinion, advocacy and information about voting rights, elections, redistricting and democracy.[2][5]

Democracy Docket
Founded2020
Location
Founder
Marc Elias
Websitehttps://democracydocket.com

In addition to highlighting election litigation and voting rights advocacy, Democracy Docket's website and weekly newsletter publishes a database of legal filings and decisions in election lawsuits across the country. The group's compilation of litigation status was widely cited during the protracted legal battles following the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election.[2][6][7]

Founding

Elias launched Democracy Docket on March 5, 2020 with the goal of educating the public on voting rights and redistricting litigation.[8] [9] Elias has written that he did so in part as a response to a Republican Party initiative to spend $20 million on election litigation.[10] Elias was particularly concerned that the Republican Party would have a newfound freedom in its efforts, as a court order prohibiting the party from past voter suppression tactics had expired.[10][11] Writing that, in one Republican leader's words, the GOP planned to sue Democrats “into oblivion and spend whatever is necessary,” Elias envisioned Democracy Docket as a platform to raise awareness and support efforts to defend election rules and results from Republican lawsuits in what was anticipated to be a close presidential election.[12][13]

Activities

Democracy Docket's activities include a weekly newsletter, editorials, database of election litigation documents, advocacy and education.[5][3][4] The project tracks ongoing lawsuits and aims to explain the voting process to nonlawyers. It highlights current voting rights issues and has solicited guest posts from prominent Democratic leaders including Stacey Abrams, Amy Klobuchar, and Michael Bennet.[14]

Democracy Docket has focused on making absentee voting more accessible, arguing that postage for mail-in ballots must be free or prepaid by the government, that ballots postmarked on or before election day must count, that signature matching laws should be reformed, and that community organizations should be permitted to help collect and deliver voted, sealed ballots.Newblom, Michelle (18 August 2020). ""Democracy is literally on the ballot" and Marc Elias's Democracy Docket is fighting for your right to vote". This Week in Legal Blogging. LexBlog, Inc. Retrieved 14 March 2021.</ref>

References
  1. "Democracy Docket LinkedIn Profile". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  2. "Trump's latest batch of election lawsuits fizzle as dozens of losses pile up". The Guardian. 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  3. Wickert, David (2021-12-16). "Groups sue four Georgia counties over early voting". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  4. Murphy, Erin (2021-03-09). "Lawsuit challenges Iowa's new elections law". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  5. "About Us". Democracy Docket. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  6. Amy, Sherman (2 November 2020). "PolitiFact - 2020 election lawsuits and ballot access: what you need to know". Politifact. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  7. Tompkins, Al (2020-11-02). "Here are 19 tools and resources for covering the 2020 presidential election". Poynter Institute. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  8. Newblom, Michelle (18 August 2020). ""Democracy is literally on the ballot" and Marc Elias's Democracy Docket is fighting for your right to vote". This Week in Legal Blogging. LexBlog, Inc. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  9. Roe, Dan (2021-02-01). "Perkins Coie's Marc Elias Became Every Democrat's Favorite Lawyer. Now He Wants to Reform Democracy Itself".
  10. Elias, Marc (2020-03-04). "GOP's Bigger, Better Voter Suppression Program". Democracy Docket. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  11. Debenedetti, Gabriel (2020-06-22). "Are We Headed for a Voter-Suppression Catastrophe in November?". New York. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  12. Elias, Marc (2021-03-05). "In 2021, Take the GOP at Its Word". Democracy Docket. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  13. Isenstadt, Alex (2020-05-07). "Trump intensifies war with Democrats over voting laws". Politico. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  14. Roe, Dan (2021-02-01). "Perkins Coie's Marc Elias Became Every Democrat's Favorite Lawyer. Now He Wants to Reform Democracy Itself".

Official Website — includes database of legal filings in election and voting rights legislation

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