GOP War on Voting: Judge blocks Florida voter suppression law

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A federal judge said on Wednesday that he planned to block provisions of the Florida voter suppression law of Governor Lex Luthor Rick Scott that made it harder for organizations to register voters in the state. Judge to Block Changes in Florida Voter Registration – NYTimes.com:

Rick_Scott1The measure, part of a broad and contentious 2011 election law in Florida, had a serious impact on third-party voter groups, like the League of Women Voters and Rock the Vote, which filed the suit along with the Florida Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. The groups asserted that the new requirements were onerous and made volunteers vulnerable to fines and even felony charges.

Voter registration, particularly among Democratic voters, declined significantly in the past year. The Florida Times-Union reported this week that the number of registered Democrats had increased by only 11,365 from July 1, 2011, to Aug. 1, 2012, a sharply lower figure than in the same periods during the past two presidential races. In 2004, nearly 159,000 new Democrats were registered in that period. In 2008, the number was nearly 260,000.

The 2011 Florida election law required groups that registered voters to turn in their completed forms within 48 hours or risk penalties. As a result, several organizations, including the League of Women Voters and Rock the Vote, stopped working in the state. Previously, groups had 10 days to submit the forms.

Deirdre Macnab, the president of the League of Women Voters of Florida, which suspended its operations for a year, said she was delighted with the ruling.

“It sets an important precedent in Florida and nationally that gives a strong level of protection for third-party registration groups,” Ms. Macnab said. “We have been a historical part of America in reaching out to underserved communities.”

But, she added, the all-volunteer voter registration groups now face an arduous task. The registration deadline for the November election is five weeks away.

D.C. Circuit Court rules unanimously that Texas Voter ID law intentionally discriminates against minority voters

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: In the second major victory this week for the Obama administration's Justice Department, voting rights advocates, and for the rule of law, a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court ruled unanimously today that the Texas Voter ID law intentionally discriminates against minority voters. Federal court rejects Texas voter ID law as unfair … Read more

D.C. Circuit Court rules unanimously that Texas redistricting intentionally discriminates against Latinos

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In a major victory for the Obama administration's Justice Department, voting rights advocates, and for the rule of law, a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court ruled unanimously today that the Texas redistricting plan crafted by the Tea-Publican dominated Texas legislature intentionally discriminates against Latinos in violation of the Voting Rights Act. You're shocked, I'm sure. Federal Court: GOP’s Texas Redistricting Plan Intentionally Discriminated Against Hispanics | TPMMuckraker:

PerryA redistricting plan signed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) intentionally discriminated against Hispanic voters, a three-judge panel unanimously ruled Tuesday. The judges found that seats belonging to white incumbent members of Congress were protected under the plan while districts belonging to incumbent minorities were targeted for changes.

The court was “persuaded by the totality of the evidence that the plan was enacted with discriminatory intent,” according to the ruling. There was “sufficient evidence to conclude that the Congressional Plan was motivated, at least in part, by discriminatory intent,” the court found.

All three judges said they were overwhelmed with the amount of evidence showing the law was intentionally discriminatory, writing in a footnote that parties “have provided more evidence of discriminatory intent than we have space, or need, to address here.”

All three redistricting plans — for Texas’ congressional delegation, its state House of Representatives and the state Senate — were blocked by the federal court. The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that interim maps drawn by a federal court were invalid.

The panel of three judges found that “surgery” had been performed on congressional districts belonging to minority members of Congress while no such alterations were made to districts belonging to incumbent white members of Congress.

“Anglo district boundaries were redrawn to include particular country clubs and, in one case, the school belonging to the incumbent’s grandchildren,” the judges wrote.

That country club reference is tied to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), who chairs the House Oversight Committee that oversees the Justice Department.

You can read the opinion here (there was a partial dissent by Judge Griffith as to one district, who wrote most of the majority opinion as well). 

Will the Open Primaries initiative be on the Nov 2012 ballot or not? (video)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Backers of the Open Primaries initiative knew from the beginning that changing Arizona's two-party primary system to an open, "top two" primary system wouldn't be easy. They expected challenges from Democrats and Republicans, and that's what they got.

Earlier in the summer, Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona Legislature tinkered around with ideas to change or stop it. Secretary of State Ken Bennett tried to stop it by saying that it was unconsitutionally broad, but the courts squashed his attack. 

As of mid-August, Open Primaries was back on the ballot, until this week, when Maricopa County said that there were an extraordinary number of bad signatures.

The latest news is that the Open Primaries/Open Government folks have filed a suit to get the initiative back on the ballot. Supporters claim that Maricopa County erroneously rejected.

Stay tuned for the next volley in this ping pong game.

For more background on the Open Primaries initiative– just in case you actually get to vote on it– check out the video debate between former State Rep. Dr. Ted Downing (pro) and former Mayor Tom Volgy (con). The event was sponsored by Progressive Democrats of American Tucson Chapter.

Videos after the jump.

Wild week for election law cases in Arizona

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

When I have a case that goes up on appeal, I always have to counsel clients that "the facts are on your side, the law is on your side, and you won in the trial court, but there are no guarantees — sometimes these guys just do whatever they want."

Friday was one of those times. AZ Supreme Court overturns ruling on open primary ballot initiative – East Valley Tribune

In a brief order, the justices overturned a lower court ruling which concluded that the initiative to create a wide-open primary was constitutionally flawed. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark Brain had said it illegally dealt with more than one subject.http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/3cd5/0/0/*/u;44306;0-0;0;57564054;4307-300/250;0/0/0;;~sscs=?

The justices did not explain their decision, promising details later.

* * *

But the Supreme Court action does not mean the "Open Government/Open Elections'' initiative actually will be on the November ballot.

County election officials are still reviewing a random sample of initiative petition sheets to verify that there are at least 259,213 valid signatures to put the issue on the November ballot. And some preliminary numbers from the state's largest county suggest the petition drive could fall short.

Maricopa County Elections Director Karen Osborne told Capitol Media Services she has checked 12,990 of the 13,076 signatures sent to her. Of those screened, 4,280 are invalid for an validity rate of about 67 percent.

Matt Roberts, spokesman for the Secretary of State's Office, said after clearly invalid petitions were removed, that left more than 358,000 signatures. And a 33 percent failure rate, if that proves to be the final number, would leave just about 240,000 valid signers, short of the 259,213 needed to qualify for the ballot.

Screenshot-7Let's be clear what this initiative is really all about. The Chamber of Commerce establishment Republicans have lost control of the Republican Party to the Christian Reconstructionists and Dominionists, and the Birthers-Birchers-Secessionists fringe groups who have hijacked the GOP and purged the Chamber establishment Republicans from the GOP. The Chamber of Commerce establishment Republicans want "their" party back.

But rather than fight this civil war within the GOP, the Chamber of Commerce establishment Republicans want to rewrite the rules for everyone. They have a simplistic belief that this "top two primary" will magically allow more "moderate" Chamber of Commerce establishment Republicans to get elected — with the added bonus of denying voters any real choice in November by eliminating minor political parties from the general election ballot (Green, Libertarian, Americans Elect), and even Democratic candidates in many Republican voter registration heavy districts, perhaps even statewide races.