All posts by Justin Levitt
Speaking of data
Adam Ambrogi at the Democracy Fund posts here about a post-election audit by the Philadelphia City Controller’s office.
I haven’t had the chance to read the report yet, but I gather that it’s not the sort of audit to check … Continue reading
EAC Going Out of Business Sale?
In my mind, Exhibits A and B for keeping (and strengthening) the federal Election Assistance Commission arrived this morning.
Draft data from the 2012 Election Administration and Voting Survey — our best national source of data to date about the… Continue reading
TIGTA response to Rep. Levin about scope of IRS exempt organization audit
The webs are on fire this morning with news of the TIGTA response to this Levin letter. And (from an entirely unscientific sample) the vast majority of them have headlines along the lines of the one in The Hill:… Continue reading
Center for Competitive Politics on Werfel’s IRS report and the “Path 2” forward
Joe Trotter blogs here, with a letter to Werfel here, focusing largely on the “Path 2” suggestion for resolving the applications for tax-exemptions of organizations held up in screening as “potential political cases.”
An underrecognized bureaucratic hurdle to get photo ID
It’s an anecdote involving a renegade DMV clerk, yes. But it happened. And now you can add “Pap smear” to the list of prerequisites.
Al Jazeera’s take on the last three days of the term
The program includes Shelby County. Guests include Spencer Overton and Doug Spencer.
“How to protect minority votes after the Voting Rights decision”
Krist Novoselic connects the world beyond Shelby County to the world beyond single-member plurality districts.
Reactions to Shelby County: Abby Thernstrom
Abby’s op-ed appears to be behind the WSJ paywall, but it begins…
The Supreme Court did itself proud on Tuesday when it struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. That is the provision of the law containing the … Continue reading
Did you know you had a National Taxpayer Advocate?
It’s true. And today, in addition to her usual annual retrospective report and her usual annual look forward, Nina Olson issued a Special Report to Congress concerning political activity and tax-exempt status.
An introduction is here; the report… Continue reading
Coverage of the National Taxpayer Advocate’s Report
The AP’s headline: “IRS Delayed Action On Progressive Groups, Too”
The Wall St. Journal’s headline: “Taxpayer Advocate Cites Difficulty With IRS Division”
The USA Today headline: “IRS taxpayer advocate suggests ‘apology payments’”
The BNA… Continue reading
“Lawmakers Express Growing Concern Over Objectivity of TIGTA Audit on Exempts”
Vigorous letter-writing continues, from Rep. Levin. The concern appears to be that the Treasury IG for Tax Administration “narrowly focused on the treatment of tea party organizations” when other organizations appear also to have been subject to additional scrutiny… Continue reading
Re-redistricting in the news
This report begins: ” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) is introducing legislation that would block states from rearranging their congressional districts until after a 10-year Census takes place, a reaction to the Supreme Court ruling striking down a key… Continue reading
“Perry signs redistricting maps”
And now, a whole new round of redistricting litigation in Texas resumes. Ah, the circle of life.