Here. Although Think Progress criticizes the ruling, I tentatively think it is right on the merits for reasons I expressed in When is Uniformity of People, Not Counties, Appropriate in Election Administration? The Cases of Early and Sunday Voting”, 2015 University of … Continue reading
AP: A federal judge has scaled back Election Day voter registration for highly populated areas in Illinois, a decision that sides Republicans who claimed in a lawsuit that last year’s extension of same-day registration is unconstitutional. Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan’s (dehr-YAY’-gehnz) … Continue reading
Here is the order, issued Friday. It also requires Kansas officials to notify dual registration voters that they can vote in all elections this November. There will be further proceedings after the election, after Kobach raised a very late standing … Continue reading
Here, with quotes on Pam Karlan and Heather Gerken on Citizens United and voting rights. … Continue reading
Back on September 9, the DC Circuit issued an order in one of the EAC cases, holding that the district court should have issued a preliminary injunction against the order put out by EAC Director Brian Newby (without getting approval … Continue reading
Allegra Chapman for TAP. … Continue reading
AP: A federal judge rejected a bid Friday to block an Arizona law prohibiting get-out-the-vote groups from collecting early ballots, striking a blow against Democrats. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas L. Rayes shot down Democratic groups’ request for an injunction … Continue reading
Extensive AP report: With more than 120 million Americans expected to cast ballots for president this fall, the nation’s voting process seems more convoluted than ever and rife with potential for confusion come Election Day. Voting rules vary widely by … Continue reading
AP: Texas is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to restore its newly weakened voter ID law but not until after the November election. Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the request Friday, two months after a federal appeals court ruled that … Continue reading
Extensive Cincinnati Enquirer report: While nearly every county was happy to discuss what local officials call the “voter purge” process, the records they provided were a morass of half-kept data and confusing spikes in removed voters. And the numbers they sent to the … Continue reading
Cleveland.com: The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Fridaythat Ohio’s reliance on lack of voting activity as a trigger for purging people from the voting rolls violates federal law. In a 2-1 opinion, the appellate court reversed a lower … Continue reading
Looking forward to speaking on a “Voting Rights and Wrongs” panel Saturday. … Continue reading
Daily Press: U.S. Court of Appeals panel wrestled here Thursday over how to treat Virginia’s voter ID law following a circuit decision that nullified a similar law in North Carolina. That decision was made by a different three-judge panel on … Continue reading
Pam Fessler reports for NPR. … Continue reading
Topeka Capital-Journal: Secretary of State Kris Kobach said in court Wednesday an elderly couple challenging Kansas’ proof of citizenship voting law hadn’t demonstrated they are citizens – and therefore eligible to sue. At the same hearing, a Shawnee County District … Continue reading
Given Wisconsin Republicans’ fanning the voter fraud flames, I would have expected even more lopsided numbers in this new Marquette poll of Wisconsin voters: Respondents were asked how many illegally cast votes by people not legally eligible they expected in November’s … Continue reading
Today the Wisconsin Law Review Forward published this article of mine (also in html format). From the Introduction: Headlines about voter identification laws often place court rulings in a simple win or loss frame. For example, the New York Times headline describing … Continue reading
So reports David Saleh Rauf. Presumably this will not be accompanied by any request for emergency relief, meaning we should hear by around January if the Supreme Court would hear the full appeal. … Continue reading
Andrew Cohen for Brennan: One of the most distressing indications of failure in American journalism today is the release of a poll last week that reveals that nearly half of the country believes that voter fraud occurs “very or somewhat … Continue reading
The plaintiffs in the Texas voter id litigation have been complaining that Texas has not properly alerted voters that for this election they can vote without one of the narrow forms of ID. The court has now issued this order, … Continue reading
NYT editorial: How does a lie come to be widely taken as the truth? The answer is disturbingly simple: Repeat it over and over again. When faced with facts that contradict the lie, repeat it louder. This, in a nutshell, … Continue reading
From the KUT report I’ve just linked to: During an appearance on Laura Ingraham’s radio show today, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says the Texas Legislature will try to pass a new voter ID law in the next session. “I was … Continue reading
KUT: A federal judge sided again today with plaintiffs in the long legal battle over Texas’ voter ID law. This time, the U.S. Department of Justice joined the group of Texas voters challenging the state’s law, arguing Texas election officials … Continue reading
Elections are right around the corner, be prepared with your Voter ID: https://t.co/Tv5H1t5PbE — Governor Walker (@GovWalker) September 18, 2016 … Continue reading
News21/WaPo reports. … Continue reading
News and Observer: It was not until May that it became clear Edmunds would face any challengers in his campaign to keep his seat. In 2015, the Republican-led General Assembly passed a law that changed how sitting justices could be … Continue reading
Extensive profile of Texas SOS Carlos Cascos, apparently the only person in Texas without a stated opinion on whether Texas’s voter id law is necessary to stop voter fraud or is really a pretext for suppressing likely Democratic votes: While … Continue reading
Vocativ reports. … Continue reading
Must-read Michael Wines NYT: A senior vice president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce, Steve Baas, had a thought. “Do we need to start messaging ‘widespread reports of election fraud’ so we are positively set up for the recount … Continue reading
Scott Lemieux for TAP. … Continue reading
Reuters: A Reuters survey found local governments in nearly a dozen, mostly Republican-dominated counties in Georgia have adopted plans to reduce the number of voting stations, citing cost savings and efficiency. In seven of those counties, African-Americans, who traditionally back … Continue reading
Yup. The State of Ohio says it’s a fair system. A judge recently ruled in favor of voter purging. The ACLU has filed an appeal. While Brickner agrees that states need a clean list, he doesn’t think people who haven’t … Continue reading
New CAC issue brief. See also this resource page on relevant litigation. … Continue reading
Wichita Eagle: Kansas county election offices are sorting through thousands of records to identify voters affected by a recent federal court order, according to Secretary of State Kris Kobach. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit blocked Kansas … Continue reading
WaPo: Nearly half of Americans say that voter fraud occurs at least somewhat often according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, a viewpoint at odds with studies showing it rarely occurs in U.S. elections. The poll also finds 63 … Continue reading
AP: Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature used its supermajority Wednesday to significantly loosen the state’s gun laws and potentially tighten its voting requirements as lawmakers overrode numerous vetoes of Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon. The sweeping guns legislation would allow most adults to … Continue reading
The Cap Times reports. … Continue reading
Check out this Republican operative suggesting “messaging ‘widespread reports of election fraud’ so we are positively set up for the recount regardless of the final number.” This comes from from the Guardian’s collection of leaked John Doe papers [in this Prosser file]. … Continue reading
The following is a guest post from Ned Foley: The Sixth Circuit’s Distinction between Absentee and Provisional Ballots: Why? One thing I don’t understand about the majority opinion in yesterday’s NEOCH decision is the distinction that the majority draws between … Continue reading
The Santa Fe Reporter contains this article. … Continue reading
Josh Gerstein for Politico. … Continue reading
Fortunately, this is not meant literally. … Continue reading
Darrel Rowland for the Columbus Dispatch: In a pair of court decisions that could help Donald Trump, Ohioans’ voting rights were pared back Tuesday for the 2016 presidential election. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review an appeals court panel’s … Continue reading
Over an impassioned dissent recounting the disparate racial effects of its decision, a 6th Circuit panel has voted 2-1 to mostly reject a district court order rejecting some Ohio voting rules which make it harder for voters voting absentee or with … Continue reading
Response. … Continue reading
There were no noted dissents to this order. This is no surprise. I expected at most two votes for the Democrats’ position here. Why was this such a weak case? As I explained when the 6th Circuit reversed the trial … Continue reading
The Austin-American Statesman reports. … Continue reading
Important story from OH: In an online ad, a smiling Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted holds up a letter with his name in large print and the promise, “Your absentee ballot request form is in the mail.” But for … Continue reading
WaPo: A federal judge said Monday he is unlikely to hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging a proof-of-citizenship requirement in a mail-in federal voter registration form used by Kansas, Alabama and Georgia until an appeals court panel that looked at … Continue reading
Patrick Marley for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: A federal judge on Monday gave the state 10 days to spell out what it is doing to inform people how they can vote if they have great difficulty getting IDs. The ruling by … Continue reading
