Category Archives: The Voting Wars

“Voter ID Battle: Texas Seeks Rehearing, DOJ Seeks Injunction”

September 4, 2015, 5:38 pmSupreme Court, The Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Texas Lawyer: Texas has asked the full bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to rehear civil rights plaintiffs’ case against the state’s voter ID law after a three-judge panel from the same court ruled that… Continue reading

SC Gov. Nikki Haley Discusses Voter ID in “Black Lives Matter” Speech

September 2, 2015, 4:31 pmThe Voting Wars, voter idRick Hasen

Text of the speech: One of the lessons of the flag controversy is that if we stop shouting and start listening, we get more accomplished. We should all listen to each other more – we will all benefit from… Continue reading

“Texas Two-Steps All Over Voting Rights; It says it can make voting as difficult as it wants to, and any law that says otherwise is unconstitutional.”

September 2, 2015, 9:41 amSupreme Court, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, one of the most important pieces of legislation in U.S. history. It contained key protections for minority voters, especially blacks, who had been… Continue reading

“Kris Kobach says voter registrations without ‘proof of citizenship’ need to go”

August 30, 2015, 6:27 pmelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

KC Star: One complication of the state’s proof-of-citizenship law is that federal elections have no such requirement. Two voters are challenging Kobach’s decision that those who register to vote using a federal form, which doesn’t require proof of citizenship, can’t… Continue reading

Breaking: TX Seeks En Banc Review in 5th Circuit Voter ID Case

August 28, 2015, 5:12 pmelection administration, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can read the petition for en banc review here. The effect of this filing is to stay the mandate and to put the remand of the case on hold, at least for now. It is not clear if… Continue reading

“INVESTIGATION: Is Ohio the Next Home Of Hanging Chads?”

August 28, 2015, 10:35 amelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Nicholas Kusnetz of the Center for Public Integrity has written this extensive Politico magazine piece.

“Georgia County Admits To Illegally Disenfranchising Voters”

August 26, 2015, 7:08 amelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Think Progress: Fulton County, Georgia admitted to illegally disenfranchising and misleading voters in the 2008 and 2012 elections in a settlement this month. For more than two dozen violations of state law — including improperly rejecting eligible ballots and… Continue reading

Jeffrey Rosen NYT Book Review of Berman Voting Rights Book

August 25, 2015, 9:11 amThe Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

It concludes with a note on race and party: In 2014, the first election since 1965 without the preclearance protections of the Voting Rights Act, voters in 14 states faced new voting restrictions adopted by mostly Republican legislatures, including a… Continue reading

“What is Abridgment?: A Critique of Two Section Twos”

August 25, 2015, 7:15 amThe Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Franita Tolson has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Alabama Law Review). Here is the abstract: Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which allows Congress to reduce a state’s delegation in the House of Representatives if the state abridges the… Continue reading

“DOJ to 5th Circuit: Texas voter ID law needs to be fixed ASAP”

August 22, 2015, 6:00 pmelection administration, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

San Antonio Express News: The Obama administration and several civil rights groups are urging a federal appeals court to fast track the process of temporarily fixing Texas’ voter ID law in time for the upcoming Nov. 3 elections. In court… Continue reading

“The battle for voting rights continues”

August 20, 2015, 7:37 amThe Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

E.J. Dionne: This month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that Texas’s voter ID law “has a discriminatory effect” and amounted to a poll tax. But it also sent the case back to a lower-court… Continue reading

Polifact Rates “True” Cory Booker’s Statement that Lightning Strike More Prevalent than Vote Fraud in TX

August 18, 2015, 6:05 pmelection administration, The Voting Wars, voter idRick Hasen

Read.

“Legal challenge to N.C. voter ID law could be settled, documents say”

August 18, 2015, 9:24 amelection administration, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Woah: But there may be room for compromise, according to a joint status report that plaintiffs filed Monday. In the report, they said “Plaintiffs’ pending photo ID claims may be able to be resolved through discussion and negotiations with… Continue reading