voting rights

Now about that dual election system in Kansas and Arizona

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NoVoteIt was just short of a year ago that I told you about the lawsuit filed by the ACLU and League of Women Voters against Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach in Kansas state court, Belenky v. Kobach, seeking an injunction against the “dual election system” established by Kobach to disenfranchise citizens of their right to vote in state and local elections if they had registered to vote using the federal voter registration form (Arizona Secretary of State Ken “Birther” Bennett established a similar dual election system in Arizona).

Because there was a parallel case in another court, Kobach v. U.S. Election Assistance Commission in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the closeness of the primary election date, Shawnee County District Court Judge Franklin Theis denied the injunction. The judge did not rule on the merits of the case. Kansas judge approves dual election system in Kansas. Both Kansas and Arizona conducted dual elections in 2014 based upon the voter registration form that voters used to register to vote.

A unanimous panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Election Assistance Commission in Kobach v. U.S. Election Assistance Commission. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the appeal from this order without comment, a surprising turn of events given that Justice Antonin Scalia suggested the convoluted legal process to Kansas and Arizona in his earlier Supreme Court opinion in Arizona v. The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.

So what is the status of Belenky v. Kobach (2013-CV-001331) in Kansas state court?

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Congressional Democrats to introduce bill to restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965

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Voting-RightsTomorrow marks two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) in Shelby County v. Holder. (This has the effect of suspending Section 5 pre-clearance review by the Department of Justice.).

Chief Justice Roberts’ opinion in Shelby County v. Holder opened the floodgates to new GOP voter suppression efforts in those covered jurisdictions within hours of the decision. After Ruling, States Rush to Enact Voting Laws.

Research from earlier this year demonstrates just how full-o’-crap Justice Roberts’ opinion was, as the New York Times editorialized in Voting Rights, by the Numbers.

At the 50th anniversary of of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama in March of this year, President Obama called upon members of Congress to restore the VRA. Obama at Selma: ‘Pledge to make it their mission to restore the Voting Rights Act this year’.

Tomorrow, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) — an icon of the Civil Rights Movement who was nearly beaten to death in Selma on “Bloody Sunday” — will introduce the bill to restore the VRA. (The U.S. Supreme Court could announce its opinion in Arizona Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistriciting Commission tomorrow as well).

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Automatic Voter Registration Act introduced in Congress

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Voting-RightsHillary Clinton recently called for universal (automatic) voter registration, as the state of Oregon enacted earlier this year, for all states as part of the voting rights plank of her campaign.

On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) Asks, Why Aren’t People Automatically Registered To Vote?

Well that’s an easy one Congressman. The people who control power in this country want to prevent “those others” who do not have power from ever voting, and to make it as difficult as possible for them to register and to vote. This is necessary for them to maintain control of their power.

Think Progress (above) reports:

Currently, 24 percent of eligible Americans are not registered to vote. Even if 100 percent of those who are registered show up and cast a ballot in any given national election [it is always well below 50 percent in non-presidential years, and below 60 percent in presidential years since 1968. National Voter Turnout in Federal Elections: 1960–2014], one fourth of the country would not be participating in the electoral process.

U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) wants to change that. The congressman from Rhode Island introduced the Automatic Voter Registration Act on Wednesday, which would expand ballot access to eligible voters by automatically registering to vote any citizen who provides his or her information to the state motor vehicle department. The departments would then forward the individual’s information to the election boards unless he or she chose to opt-out. Currently, only Oregon has an automatic registration system in place, but Cicilline told ThinkProgress that his bill would “shift the burden” across the country and automatically register 85 percent of all eligible voters.

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(Repost) A challenge to voting rights organizations for a package of ballot measures

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Voting-RightsIn light of Stan Greenberg’s research into the Democratic Party’s challenge to recapture some of what has been called the “White Working-Class Voter,” The Average Joe’s Proviso: “Surprising numbers of white working-class voters will support the Democratic agenda—if Democrats promise to reform the government that would carry it out,” and Hillary Clinton’s speech on voting rights on Thursday, I want to repost what I have previously posted on this subject.

Earlier this year I posted A challenge to voting rights organizations for a package of ballot measures:

I am issuing a challenge to these organizations to form a Grand Coalition to work together to enact a package of four voting rights ballot measures that will (1) increase voter registration, (2) increase voter turnout, and (3) prevent voter suppression efforts in the future.

Here are the four ballot measures that I have previously posted about over the years that I challenge these voting rights organizations to file and to qualify for the 2016 ballot:

Universal (Automatic) Voter Registration

On Monday, the state of Oregon became the first in the nation to enact universal (automatic) voter registration. It’s official: New Oregon law will automatically register people to vote:

The so-called “New Motor Voter Bill,” House Bill 2177, “will automatically register voters using information collected at the DMV.

Anyone eligible will be given an opportunity to opt out — but otherwise they become registered voters. The administration estimates that about 300,000 people will be added to the rolls, increasing the number of registered voters from 2.2 million to 2.5 million.

“I challenge every other state in this nation to examine their policies and find ways to ensure that there are as few barriers as possible in the way of a citizen’s right to vote,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) said at the signing ceremony on Monday.

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Hillary Clinton goes big and bold for voting rights

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Earlier this year I posted that Hillary Clinton supports the Move to Amend movement:

A major theme of the Hillary Clinton campaign is the Move to Amend movement for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. FEC and its progeny?  “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?”

Apparently so. Hillary Clinton says she would support a constitutional amendment on campaign finance reform:

Hillary Rodham Clinton is calling for changes to the nation’s campaign finance system, saying here Tuesday that she would support a constitutional amendment if that’s what it takes to fix what she called a “dysfunctional” system.

Yesterday Hillary Clinton went to Southern University in Houston, Texas, to accept an award in the honor of the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, and to deliver a major speech on voting rights. Clinton made several proposals for which I have been advocating for years. “Oh, Mrs. Robinson, you ARE trying to seduce me!”

Screenshot from 2015-06-05 12:49:52

The full video of the speech is available on C-SPAN and can be accessed by CLICKING HERE. Hillary for America also released a fact sheet about voting rights.

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