In an important win for voting rights, the Supreme Court today rejected efforts to block Rhode Island from eliminating witness/notary requirements for vote by mail in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The state had agreed to drop the requirements via consent decree, resolving a lawsuit brought on behalf of Common Cause of Rhode Island and others.

Two weeks ago, the state of Rhode Island agreed to eliminate witness/notary requirements for vote by mail throughout the 2020 elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in a consent decree resolving a lawsuit. Today, the Republican National Committee and the Rhode Island Republican Party sought a stay of that consent decree from the U.S. Supreme Court.