voting rights

Arizona is among nine ‘red’ states being sued for voter disenfranchisement

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Of the 17 states with new voting restrictions in place for the first time in a presidential election this year, nine also have major ongoing lawsuits that could impact voting access before November. Here is the Brennan Center for Justice roundup:

Voting-RightsNorth Carolina’s law, passed shortly after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, reduced the early voting period, cut pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, eliminated same day registration, and implemented a voter ID requirement. At trial, the court heard testimony from dozens of witnesses burdened by the strict new requirements, which caused confusion and long lines in the state’s March primary. Lawyers for the plaintiffs made a motion to appeal the decision, which the appeals court quickly granted, and a hearing could come as early as July.

Battles continue in other states as well. In Texas, a hearing is scheduled for May 24 before the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals concerning the state’s strict photo ID law. Last August, a three-judge panel upheld a prior ruling striking down the requirement, which found more than 600,000 registered voters do not have the kind of ID now needed. (The Brennan Center represents the Texas NAACP and the Mexican American Legislative Caucus in the case, along with other co-counsel).

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SCOTUS gives 5th Circuit Court of Appeals a deadline to decide Texas voter ID case

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The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to stop Texas from enforcing its strict photo ID requirement for voters in the state in an upcoming run-off election, but left open the possibility that it might change its mind later. Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog reports, Texas voter ID law left in effect — for now:

SupremeCourtThe order in essence gave a federal appeals court until July 20 to decide a case about that law’s validity under the federal Voting Rights Act.  After that date, the Court might step in, it said.

 * * *

The new order does these things: first, it denied the request to block enforcement immediately; second, it noted that it was aware of the pressure of time before the November election; third, it told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that if it has not acted in any way on the pending en banc review of the controversy “on or before July 20,” any “aggrieved party” disappointed by that inaction could ask the Justices for temporary legal protection; and, fourth, it also said that any “aggrieved party” could ask the Court to step in before the July date if there were a change in circumstances that would bear upon the enforcement issue.

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North Carolina Judge upholds that states’ ‘most restrictive voting law in the nation’

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A North Carolina Judge has upheld that states’ “most restrictive voting law in the nation” as not being overly burdensome on black voters. Rick Hasen at Election Law Blog has an  Analysis: Federal District Court Upholds Restrictive NC Voting Law in 485-Page Opinion:

VotersFederal district court judge Thomas Schroeder has issued this 485-page opinion considering constitutional and Voting Rights Act challenges to North Carolina’s 2013 restrictive voting law . . .

This is a careful, erudite, yet controversial opinion which will almost certainly be appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which could well reverse parts of it, and then potentially to the United States Supreme Court, where the Court could well deadlock 4-4 (leaving any 4th Circuit ruling in place). And all of these appeals will have to happen in short order for it to affect how the 2016 elections take place under the Purcell principle. 

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Vermont is the fourth state to enact universal (automatic) voter registration

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Vermont is the fourth state to approve universal (automatic) voter registration, following Oregon, California, and most recently, West Virginia. Think Progress reports, BREAKING: Vermont Will Automatically Register Hundreds Of Thousands Of Voters:

Voting-RightsVermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed a bill Thursday to automatically register to vote any eligible Vermonter who visits a Department of Motor Vehicles. The bill passed with near-unanimous support through Vermont’s House and Senate, where power is split between the Republican, Democratic and Progressive Parties. The state estimates the new policy will add between 30,000 and 50,000 new voters to the rolls within the first four years.

Vermont Secretary of State James Condos, a longtime advocate of the measure, told ThinkProgress it will be a boon to the state’s democracy when it goes into effect next year.

“It saves time and money, increases accuracy, curbs the potential for voter fraud, and protects integrity of our elections,” he said. “I believe that voting is a sacred right that we must encourage and protect, and our democracy works best when people can actually participate in it.”

Beginning in the summer of 2017, anyone who visits a Vermont DMV to request or renew a license or ID will be automatically registered to vote, unless they opt-out.

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9th Circuit Court of Appeals to hear en banc appeal of Tucson elections case

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TucsonDylan Smith at the Tucson Sentinel reports that the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to the City of Tucson’s request for an en banc review of the federal district court panels’ 2-1 split decision last November regarding the City of Tucson’s “hybrid” election system.

En banc hearings are not favored, Rule 35, Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, “and ordinarily will not be ordered unless:

(1) en banc consideration is necessary to secure or maintain uniformity of the court’s decisions; or

(2) the proceeding involves a question of exceptional importance.”

It takes “a majority of the circuit judges who are in regular active service and who are not disqualified to order that an appeal or other proceeding be heard or reheard by the court of appeals en banc,” which seems to favor the City of Tucson’s appeal (all previous legal challenges to the City of Tucson’s “hybrid” election system resulted in the election system being upheld by the courts).

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