THREAD: Have Trump-appointed judges impacted 2020 election litigation and therefore how we run the election? Let us count the ways.

(Spoiler: they have. A lot). 1/

There have been at least 25 cases in federal courts, brought by plaintiffs seeking to ease voting rules (especially during a pandemic), that have produced appeals.

Voting rights plaintiffs are 4 for 25 overall. For you baseball fans, that means they are batting .160. 2/

In 2 of those 4 cases, state had agreed to the voting change (RI and NC). NC case is still on appeal. A 3rd was about whether to run the election at all after a candidate died (MN).

BUT in the 21 cases, district courts granted relief in 18 of them, only to see reversal. 3/

In 16 cases, district courts ruled to expand voter access but were reversed by federal appeals court. 8 cases were 3-0, 8 were 2-1.

10 included Trump-appointed judges in the majority.

In fact, 35% of votes in the majority were from Trump-appointed judges. 4/

Six of the eight 2-1 cases that ruled against voting rights plaintiffs included a Trump-appointed judge in the majority.

And SCOTUS reversed 2 cases where appeals court had ruled expansively toward voting rights (with, of course two Trump appointees, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh). 5/

That's just the cases where appeals court reversed the lower court. There are at least 2 cases were the district court ruled for state and were affirmed. One was 2-1 with Trump-appointed judge in majority.

This also doesn't include cases not appealed. 6/

Of course, this doesn't tell the whole story. Voting rights advocates have been more successful in defending against challenges that sought to make voting *more* restrictive after a state eased its voting rules. 7/

Also, a few Clinton- and Obama-appointed judges have ruled against voting rights plaintiffs. And some Trump-appointed judges on the 4th Cir. ruled in favor of voting rights advocates (though that NC case has been appealed to SCOTUS). 8/

Those stats also don't include cases in state courts, which have been more amenable to voting rights plaintiffs overall (see PA Supreme Court case, appealed to SCOTUS). 9/

Still: trend is clear. Trump-appointed judges have made a huge difference in the 2020 election litigation in federal courts.

See all the data here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15xC1qbr_IZH7p363hKHrjAZBW2Uuu4hG/view?usp=sharing 10/

These cases obviously have merit as many district courts ruled for plaintiffs, but then appeals courts reversed cause of undue deference.

See this thread for details on how courts have unduly deferred to states, harming constitutional right to vote. 11/ https://twitter.com/JoshuaADouglas/status/1318326356510445574?s=20

This was, of course, McConnell's plan all along.

Block as many Obama nominees as possible. Push through as many Trump appointees as possible. Watch those judges issue conservative rulings, including on voting rights, that make it harder for some people to vote. 12/

What can we do? Vote early. Follow all instructions very carefully. Create a backlash against voter suppression. And hope the election isn't close so that it doesn't go to the courts.

No matter who wins, it should be determined by all voters, not election rules.

/end

Oh jeez, I somehow left off the 11th Circuit Florida felon disenfranchisement case, which was 6-4, with 5 (!) Trump-appointed judges in the majority! That makes the numbers even starker. /end+1

OK, the percentages are even worse (or better, depending on your perspective?)

20 of 58 votes (over 34%) in cases that reversed favorable voting rights rulings came from Trump-appointed judges. That's over 43% of the judges that were in the majority in these cases. /end+2