As the 2024 election approaches, voting rules and regulations are being litigated across the country.
Reports show both the Harris and Trump campaigns are already beefing up their legal teams for potential post-election court battles — adding additional lawyers to their campaign staffs.
This comes as pre-election court battles from Georgia to Arizona to Nevada are playing out to determine how people vote in November.
GEORGIA
The state election board in Georgia has enacted significant changes to voting rules less than three months from election day. One rule states that counties will need to conduct a "reasonable inquiry" before certifying election results — without defining what a reasonable inquiry is.
RELATED STORY | How voting laws have changed in Georgia since 2020
It's a function some worry will be used to sow doubt in the election outcome.
"Any rule changes this close to an election are a bad idea," said Stephanie Jackson Ali, policy director at The New Georgia Project.
A proposed rule change would require a hand count of the ballots be matched with the machine's count before certification of the results. Those who oppose the change worry that even a count that's off by one vote might cause an election official to refuse to certify the election without further investigation.
The ACLU of Georgia called the changes "unreasonable" and predicted they will cause "great harm."
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"They are changing rules that open the door for extremist members of county election boards and the state election boards to refuse to certify elections," said Andrea Young, executive director at the ACLU of Georgia.
Two members of the Georgia State Election Board who voted for the rule changes didn't respond to Scripps News interview requests.
ARIZONA
The U.S. Supreme Court partially ruled in favor of the Republican National Committee by reinstating a voter identification law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in Arizona.
However, the brief unsigned order also allows around 40,000 federally registered voters to remain on the Arizona voter rolls without confirming they are U.S. citizens.
RELATED STORY | How false claims of voter fraud tarnished trust in Arizona elections
NEVADA
Two lawsuits were recently dismissed in Nevada: one calling for the state to toss mail-in votes that are postmarked on election day but received afterward, and another pushing for an investigation into commercial addresses listed as residencies on the state's voter rolls.
