Of
all the developments in The Voting
Wars since 2000, the lead story has to be the successful Republican
effort to create an illusion of a voter fraud epidemic used to justify a host of
laws, especially tough new state voter identification requirements, with the aim
to suppress Democratic turnout and to excite the Republican base about “stolen”
elections. Democrats sometimes have
exaggerated the likely effects of such laws on turnout—we won’t see
millions of voters disenfranchised by state voter id laws, for example. But in a
very close presidential election, as we are likely to see in November, new voter id
rules, voter purges in places like Colorado and Florida, cutbacks in early
voting in Ohio, and other technical changes have the potential to
suppress Democratic turnout enough to swing the election from Obama to
Romney. How did we get here? Our story begins with what Josh has aptly referred
to as “bamboozlement” by a group
of political operatives, “The Fraudulent
Fraud Squad.” Read
More
This
year, 32
states will be holding contested elections or retention votes for
judges on their highest courts. An ideological battle inFlorida, an expensive and
partisan one in North
Carolina and others are providing uncomfortable lessons about why
judges on the highest courts should be appointed rather than elected. Elections
turn judges into politicians, and the need to raise money to finance ever more
expensive campaigns makes the judiciary more vulnerable to improper influence by
donors.Special interests, like the casino, energy and hospital industries and
others, have been heavily involved and sometimes find their ways around
disclosure rules and exert their influence through independent expenditures,
reducing race after race into a contest of slogans. In six states where spending
has been especially
heavy — Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas —
the harm to justice is well documented. Read
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The
fight over early voting is escalating in Florida as Gov. Rick Scott seeks
agreement among counties for eight days and Democrats demand 12 days. At issue
is whether all 67 counties will operate under one early voting schedule, or five
counties — including Monroe — will offer more days than all the others. Days
after a federal court ruled that eight days of early voting could depress
African-American turnout, Scott’s chief elections advisor tried to get five
counties to agree to eight days of early voting anyway — for 12 hours a
day. Court approval is critical. Because of past evidence of discrimination,
election law changes need clearance from the federal government or federal
courts before they taking effect in Monroe, Hillsborough, Collier, Hardee and
Hendry counties. Because the judges rejected the shorter early voting schedule
in those counties last week, the counties must provide up to 14 days of early
voting under the old law. Read
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As
was reported widely
in the press, if not entirely
accurately, last Thursday night a Washington, DC, panel of federal
judges handed down a unanimous ruling that
restrictions placed on early voting in Florida should continue not to be
implemented in the five counties covered by Section 5 of the 1975 amendments to
the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Florida, said the judges, “has failed to satisfy
its burden of proving that those changes will not have a retrogressive effect on
minority voters.” With respect to early voting, House Bill 1355–which was passed
on party line votes by the Florida legislature and signed into law by Republican
Governor Rick Scott in May 2011–is likely to have a differential impact it is
likely to have on racial and ethnic minority voters in the 2012 general
election. In addition to my testimony before
the US Senate on the topic, I’ve co-authored with Professor Michael
Herron of Dartmouth College a soon-to-be published article in Election Law Journal that
reveals the heavy reliance of early voting by
minorities in the 2008 general election. We found that in the 10
Florida counties that offered voting on the final Sunday of early voting in
2008, there was a surge in turnout among minority voters, especially African
Americans. That final Sunday of voting was eliminated under HB1355. Since then,
Florida voters have participated in two statewide primary elections in 2012
under a dual
system of elections, which very well may violate state
law. Read
More
The
state Office of Elections issued its report Thursday concerning how the County
of Hawaii handled the Primary Election. In a six-page report, Scott Nago, head
of the state election’s office, ripped into Jamae Kawauchi, who as County Clerk
also serves as the Hawaii County election chief. Nago said he sent a state staff
member to observe the election at the Hilo county building and found ” poor
planning, implementation, and leadership by the County Clerk.” Nago, however,
praised county staff and volunteers who “did their best under the circumstances
and were able to get through the election.” He said while the public’s
confidence had been undermine, but the problems did not meet the standards used
to determine whether final results might have been impacted.
Iowa
Secretary of State Matt Schultz on Friday provided the fullest explanation yet
of his office’s search for ineligible voters and picked up bipartisan support
for the effort. Schultz, a Republican, was joined by Democratic Attorney General
Tom Miller at a news conference to announce the state’s formal response to a
lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and a Latino group
challenging new administrative rules related to voter registration. Miller
backed up Schultz’s actions and said the state would oppose the ACLU’s request
to prevent the rules from taking effect.
The
special election spurred by U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis’ resignation in July has left
questions for election officials about how the ballots will be handled. Gov.
Steve Beshear has set the special election to fill the vacancy for Geoff Davis’
Fourth Congressional District seat on the same day as the general election on
Nov. 6. Some, however, fear the two elections–one for the general election and
the other special election to fill out the final months of Davis’ term that
expires at the end of the year–will cause confusion. Secretary of State Alison
Lundergan Grimes and county clerks await on a Franklin Circuit Court judge’s
decision on how to proceed with absentee ballots. Grimes filed suit to move the
Oct. 9 deadline for candidates to file for the special election up to Sept. 10,
when the state certifies the names on the general election ballot. Grimes has
said it must send out ballots 45 days prior to an election for people overseas,
such as the military, to have time to fill out and send back the ballots. An
Oct. 9 deadline only leaves 28 days. Read
More
If
Rep. Todd Akin (R) does drop his Missouri Senate bid within the next 24 hours,
as the GOP establishment is pressuring him to do, at least his timing will be
impeccable. Missouri state law allows a nominated candidate to withdraw his or
her bid for office by 5 p.m. on the 11th Tuesday before the election which, as
it turns out, is tomorrow. If Akin does drop his bid before tomorrow’s deadline,
the state’s GOP central committee would pick his replacement. This statutory
fact alone is why Republicans — from National Republican Senatorial Committee
Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) to presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney
to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) — are coalescing around a
24-hour ultimatum. Read
More
When
New York added the ability for voters to register
online earlier this month, officials hoped it would add a lot of
citizens to the state’s voter rolls. According to the office of Gov. Andrew
Cuomo, fewer than 64 percent of eligible New York residents are currently
registered to vote, which ranks the state 47th in the country in voter
registration. The addition of the new online registration capability was
especially timely, given the Aug. 19 deadline for those wishing to participate
in the state’s primary election, scheduled for Sept. 13. “At the DMV, or in
their own homes, New Yorkers will now have a convenient and secure way to ensure
they are able to register and exercise their right to vote,” said Cuomo in a statement. And New Yorkers
seem to have gotten the message. Twitter activity on Friday suggested that an
influx of would-be voters brought the new system to its knees. Read
More
"Our
vote is our passport to democracy and freedom," said Charles Holmes, a retired
pastor from the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Dayton, Ohio. He was
speaking this morning to a group of 180 protesters in front of the offices of
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted in downtown Columbus. "In Ohio and all across
the nation, there is an effort to take away your vote, by tricks like photo ID
and reducing the number of early voting hours," Reverend Holmes said. "This is
reprehensible." As the November election nears, the controversy over voting
rights and voter suppression has been heating up in Ohio and other key
battleground states. On Friday, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted suspended two
Democrats on the Montgomery County Board of Elections for refusing to back down
on a proposal to allow weekend early voting. Husted had issued a directive on
Wednesday that all 88 Ohio counties would allow some weekday evening early
voting hours, but no early voting on weekends. "Secretary Husted is wrong to
punish Dennis Lieberman and Tom Ritchie for voting to extend weekend voting
hours," Reverend Holmes said. "We owe these two men the debt of our gratitude
for standing up for all voters, not just some. Jon Husted is supposed to be an
impartial referee. But he's working in partisan ways to reduce the total vote
count, just as his mentor, Ken Blackwell, did in 2004." Read
More
The
Corbett administration has responded to a federal review of the new voter ID
requirement in a letter suggesting the U.S. Department of Justice has
overstepped its authority because of political opposition to the law. The
Department of Justice last month notified the state that it is examining whether
the voter ID law discriminates against minorities. It requested extensive
documentation, including databases of voters and driver licenses, to aid in that
inquiry. In a letter Friday to the Justice Department's top civil rights lawyer,
General Counsel James Schultz said the state would be willing to provide the
federal agency with the same information it shared with the groups who
challenged the law in state court, provided the department signs a
confidentiality agreement. Read
More
The
Justice Department has signed off on Virginia’s new voter ID law, Gov. Robert F.
McDonnell (R) said Monday night, in a decision that clears the way for the
bitterly contested measure to take effect in time for Election Day. “The
legislation I signed into law is a practical and reasonable step to make our
elections more secure while also ensuring access to the ballot box for all
qualified voters,” McDonnell said. “It is welcome news that DOJ has recognized
the compliance of this legislation with the Voting Rights Act.” The Justice
Department review was needed because Virginia has a history of voter
discrimination. It is one of 16 states that must receive federal approval before
changing voting laws. The states must prove to the federal government that any
new statutes would not discriminate against minorities. Read
More
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