I’ll be expecting several comments today on Shelby County from academics who write in the field. Spencer Overton kicks it off:
The preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act required that all or part of 15 states submit their election… Continue reading
SCOTUSblog is reporting that the remaining opinions from the Court are due at 10am tomorrow. There are three left, including the Prop 8 and DOMA cases.
The wait is over. SCOTUSblog reports that section 4 of the VRA has been struck down — the formula for determining preclearance coverage. The Chief Justice wrote the opinion, with Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan in dissent.
UPDATE: The… Continue reading
Every once in a while, these sorts of stories crop up overseas (in the UK, for example, or Thailand): a winning candidate is barred from office based on campaign statements. Now, it’s hit American shores: the winner of… Continue reading
There’s another story today about a jurisdiction — a Texas school district — alleging that state attempts to take over its authority violate the Voting Rights Act. I’m watching with interest a similar set of claims in Michigan, under both… Continue reading
The tenth in a Boston Globe series discusses partisan control and use of the redistricting process.
There’s no doubt that the redistricting process shifts (and shores up) partisan control of seats. The article also attributes increasing legislative polarization to the… Continue reading
Perhaps public support for finance limits is related to this information (from the Sunlight Foundation), complete with football-stadium graphics, about the concentration of donors in the 2012 cycle.
For those tracking whether the Supreme Court leads or follows public opinion, or neither, Gallup’s latest poll adds fuel to the fire. The questions cover support for “a new campaign finance system where federal campaigns are funded by the government… Continue reading