voting rights

(Update) California’s minor political parties appeal ‘top-two’ electoral system to U.S. Supreme Court

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Earlier this year I posted about California’s minor political parties appeal ‘top-two’ system to U.S. Supreme Court:

In January of this year, the Court of Appeal of the State of California (1st District, Division 1) upheld California’s “top-two” primary electoral system in the case of Rubin v. Padilla (.pdf):

StopTop2We affirm the trial court’s dismissal of the action. Given the structure of California’s “top-two” electoral system, minor-party candidates have no right to appear on the general election ballot merely because they have made a showing of significant public support. The role played by the general election under the former partisan system is fulfilled by the primary election in the top-two system, and there is no material barrier to minor-party participation in the primary election. Further, the failure of minor-party candidates to appear on the general election ballot does not substantially burden their members’ rights of political association and expression, and California’s interest in expanding participation in the electoral process is adequate to justify any burden that may occur. Lastly, because California’s electoral system treats all political parties identically, plaintiffs’ claim that they are denied equal protection of the laws is groundless.

This is a sweeping dismissal of minor political party rights and limiting the choices of voters in a general election.

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California passes universal (automatic) voter registration bill, awaits governor’s signature

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The California legislature just passed a bill for universal (automatic) voter registration that has the potential to add millions of new voters to the voter rolls. Governor Jerry Brown has 30 days to decide whether to sign the bill.

The Brennan Center for Justice reports, A Watershed Moment for Voter Registration:

Voting-RightsIf Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs the bill into law, the plan would dramatically modernize voter registration in the Golden State by replacing old-fashioned, ink-and-paper cards with a system that automatically registers eligible citizens when they visit the DMV. Automatic registration in the most populous state in the country is a watershed moment in the effort to fix our broken election system: California will be putting the responsibility for ensuring eligible citizens can vote where it should be — on the government, not the individual.

The Brennan Center explains why California’s automatic registration bill is so important, as the bill makes two very small but transformative changes. California’s legislature is one of many that have considered automatic registration, based on a Brennan Center proposal, and is the third state legislature to pass such monumental reform.

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The Times and Post editorialize in favor of universal (automatic) voter registration

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While we’re still waiting on the California Assembly to complete passage of universal (automatic) voter registration and send the bill to Governor Jerry Brown for his signature, both the New York Times and the Washington Post editorial boards weighed in this week in support of a expanding universal voter registration to all states.

The Times writes, Entwining Two Rights in California: Voting and Driving:

Voting-RightsFor all the early excitement stirred by the presidential primary contests, a greater test of democracy than the candidates’ cut-and-thrust will be voter participation, a vital statistic which dropped from 62.3 percent in 2008 to 57.5 percent in the last presidential election. In part because of a welter of obstructionist state laws, more than 90 million Americans did not bother or care to vote in 2012.

The Democratic-majority Legislature in California, the most populous state, has just taken a major step toward resisting this alarming trend by approving a system of automatic voter registration for any citizen who obtains or updates a California driver’s license. Modeled on Oregon’s excellent “motor-voter” program, the new system cannot help but increase democratic participation.

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California on verge of enacting universal (automatic) voter registration

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Update to California following Oregon’s lead on universal (automatic) voter registration.

Screenshot from 2015-09-13 13:49:14The California Senate approved a universal (automatic) voter registration bill last week with some minor amendments that will require the Assembly to vote on the amended version of the bill. Final approval of the bill could come as early as this week. California moving toward automatic voter registration:

The nation’s largest state may be about to make it much easier to register and vote.

California’s Senate passed a bill Thursday by a 24-15 vote that would automatically register to vote anyone who gets or renews a driver’s license, unless they chose to opt out. The state Assembly already passed a similar bill in June. If the Senate version passes an Assembly vote, as expected, the measure would head to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown, a Democrat, hasn’t taken a public position on the bill, and a spokesman for his office declined to comment on pending legislation. But in 2012 he signed legislation allowing Californians to register and vote on the same day.

Another provision that Arizona should enact to eliminate the use of provisional and conditional provisional ballots, thousands of which are never counted.

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Update on ‘dual election system’ lawsuit in Kansas

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NoVoteAt the end of June I posted about the status of Belenky v. Kobach (2013-CV-001331), the lawsuit in Kansas state court challenging the “dual election system” imposed by Secretary of State Kris Kobach after he lost his legal challenge to the federal voter registration form. Arizona Secretary of State Ken “Birther” Bennett imposed the same “dual election system” here in Arizona, which has been continued by Arizona’s queen of voter suppression, Secretary of State Michele Reagan. Now about that dual election system in Kansas and Arizona.

There is finally some movement in this long-pending lawsuit. The Kansas City Star reports, Kris Kobach’s dual voter registration system in Kansas is illegal and should be dumped, ACLU says:

An odd repercussion has arisen over Kansas’ proof-of-citizenship requirement for residents who register to vote.

So odd that the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas has asked a state court to put an end to the two-tiered voter registration system that Secretary of State Kris Kobach has created, a system that critics call the law’s “unintended consequence” or, less kindly, “collateral damage.”

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