Category Archives: Department of Justice

“The Supreme Court’s Gerrymandering Conundrum: Did Alabama legislators redraw district lines to hurt Democrats or to disenfranchise black voters?”

November 11, 2014, 5:46 amDepartment of Justice, Supreme Court, The Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have written this new piece for Slate. It begins: As Democrats struggled last week to salvage control of the Senate, they pushed to get as many black voters to the polls as possible, especially in the South. It’s… Continue reading

“Justice Department To Monitor Tuesday’s Elections In 18 States”

November 3, 2014, 1:22 pmDepartment of Justice, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Chris Geidner reports for BuzzFeed.

“What’s Ahead in Texas Voter ID Battle”

November 3, 2014, 10:58 amDepartment of Justice, election administration, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Tim Eaton for the Austin-American Statesman: Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott won the most recent round in the fight to require voters to show valid photo identification to cast ballots, but a potentially much bigger fight looms beyond Tuesday. Abbott’s… Continue reading

“Devising a Standard for Section 3: Post-Shelby County Voting Rights Litigation”

October 31, 2014, 2:03 pmDepartment of Justice, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Roseann Romano, adding to a growing list of important student notes on bail-in, for the Iowa Law Review: In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which dismantled the modern voting rights enforcement regime by… Continue reading

President Obama Talks Voting Rights and Fraud With Jeffrey Toobin

October 20, 2014, 5:05 pmDepartment of Justice, election administration, Supreme Court, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

A part of this fascinating New Yorker piece: The subject of voting rights has largely been thrust upon Obama by a conservative judiciary. “You look at something like the Voting Rights Act, which was uncontroversial from a legal point… Continue reading

AG Holder on Texas and Voter ID

October 14, 2014, 6:09 pmDepartment of Justice, election administration, The Voting Wars, voter idJustin Levitt

Of course, this was from this morning.

“Rethinking District of Columbia Venue in Voting Rights Preclearance Actions”

September 26, 2014, 3:05 pmDepartment of Justice, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Michael Solimine has written this Essay for the Georgetown Law Journal. Here is the beginning: In Shelby County v. Holder the Supreme Court held that the preclearance provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) was unconstitutional as presently constituted. … Continue reading

“Remarks by Attorney General Eric Holder at the Congressional Black Caucus Panel Discussion on Voting Rights”

September 26, 2014, 2:45 pmDepartment of Justice, election administration, The Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

A snippet: As you’re discussing, through the unrelenting efforts of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division – under the leadership of Acting Assistant Attorney General Molly Moran, from whom you’ll be hearing this afternoon – my colleagues and I… Continue reading

“Issa accuses Holder spokesman of attempting to ‘conspire’ with Democrats on IRS documents”

September 9, 2014, 8:56 pmDepartment of Justice, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

WaPo: Attorney General Eric Holder’s communications director is being accused of calling the House Oversight Committee Republican staff and asking for help spinning a story. The twist? The GOP staff alleges that Holder’s spokesman thought he was talking to… Continue reading

“Texas Voter ID Trial Begins”

September 2, 2014, 5:42 pmDepartment of Justice, election administration, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Bloomberg reports.

“Testimony Begins in Trial Over Texas Voter ID Law”

September 2, 2014, 3:33 pmDepartment of Justice, election administration, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

The Texas Tribune reports.

More on Texas’s Argument DOJ Too Partisan to Enforce Voting Rights Act

August 27, 2014, 11:09 amDepartment of Justice, The Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

In an earlier post, I noted this filing of the state of Texas in the voter id case (particularly pages 13-23), raising an affirmative defense to DOJ’s claims that Texas’s voter id law violates section 2 of the Voting Rights… Continue reading

Texas’s Unusual Defense in Voter ID Case: DOJ is Too Partisan

August 12, 2014, 5:46 pmDepartment of Justice, election administration, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

A reader alerted me to this filing of the state of Texas in the voter id case (particularly pages 13-23), raising an affirmative defense to DOJ’s claims that Texas’s voter id law violates section 2 of the Voting Rights Act… Continue reading