Search Results for: "kobach"
Yesterday [corrected] the 10th Circuit panel which decided the Kobach v. EAC case issued this one line order denying rehearing. Kansas and Arizona did not seek rehearing en banc, so the only place to go now is SCOTUS for further appeals. If the Court takes the case it could be a major one about the scope of federal versus state power in setting election rules for federal elections. A potential complication: a new EAC that could well deadlock on a…
Continue reading…WaPo on the role of KS SOS Kris Kobach in the fight over President Obama’s executive order on immigration….
Continue reading…itude of the margins of victory.” But Kansas’s secretary of state, Kris W. Kobach, who wrote the law requiring proof of citizenship to register and a photo ID to vote, dismissed the suggestion that it played a role in suppressing turnout. “Voter turnout in the November 2014 election was 50 percent, exactly what it was in the November 2010 election before we adopted our photo ID law — also 50 percent,” he said. Mr. Kobach said, “The facts show that…
Continue reading…Eric Eckholm reports for the NY Times. My earlier coverage of today’s 10th Circuit ruling in Kobach v. EAC is here….
Continue reading…over federal versus state power in voting. From the opinion’s conclusion: Kobach’s and Bennett’s argument that the states’ Qualifications Clause powers trump Congress’ Elections Clause powers is foreclosed by precedent. In ITCA, the Court clearly held that Congress’ Elections Clause powers preempt state laws governing the “Times, Places and Manner” of federal elections, including voter registration laws. 133 S. Ct. at 2253. Citing the Federalist…
Continue reading…Here’s a scary thought: a recount in the Orman-Roberts #KSSEN race with Kris Kobach (perhaps a lame duck) in charge….
Continue reading…“I served for a week on a jury trial, which basically told me I was a registered voter. I’m a disabled veteran, so it’s particularly frustrating. Why should I have to prove my citizenship when I served in the military?” — Kansas voter De Anna Allen, quoted by the Wichita Eagle….
Continue reading…s are doing that, and KS and AZ are fighting the federal government in the Kobach v. EAC case over how this may be done. 5. Checking citizenship before registering voters is not costless. Aside from the costs to the state of such a program and the costs to voters to provide proof of citizenship, such a requirement no doubt disenfranchises eligible voters. The question is whether the number of non-citizens voting justifies the risk of eligible vote…
Continue reading…Politico , Natl Journal , the Wall St. Journal , and the Washington Times discuss the GAO report; Sec. Kobach responds ….
Continue reading…Brian Lowry: “After court ruling Kobach directs counties to print ballots. It’s official: no Democrat in #KSSen race. #kseln“…
Continue reading…ted that ballots must go to print today—though it would not surprise me if Kobach or Orel try to go to the Kansas Supreme Court for relief. The trial court’s opinion was straightforward and had three parts. 1.SOS Kobach had no right to intervene in the case under the statutes, and there was no good reason to let him permissively intervene. In a dig at Kobach, the court writes: “The only remaining interest of the Secretary is that he has an opinion…
Continue reading…tead to hear more arguments before making a ruling they indicated would come before 2 p.m. Wednesday – the time Secretary of State Kris Kobach says ballots must be sent to printers….
Continue reading…artisan briefs I have seen from a state elections official, and that’s saying a lot….
Continue reading…e. I already explained why I think the Democrats are likely to win this one. In addition to the arguments I’ve laid out, the Democrats really hammer home the point that overseas ballots have already been sent out, that SOS Kobach repeatedly assured the Kansas Supreme Court that the deadline for finalizing the ballot has already passed, and that anyone who wants to vote for Chad Taylor or any other Democrat can do so—using a write in vote….
Continue reading…You can read the case management order, which includes oral argument on Monday, Sept. 29….
Continue reading…Order of Assignment En Banc 092414. As I have indicated, it looks pretty good for Democrats to run out the clock on this. But SOS Kobach is not yet giving up on forcing the issue….
Continue reading…m supporting the writ.) Meanwhile, although Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach agreed to send out overseas ballots without any Democrats name included, he has left open the possibility of sending out supplemental ballots if the court orders a Democrats to come up with a new name for the ballot. Other ballots are also on hold, and one county in Kansas actually sent ballots with Taylor’s name included before the Kansas Supreme Court ruled, a mist…
Continue reading…ally self defeating. Why can’t the party just nominate Pat Roberts or Kris Kobach? Or is the claim that the Court must order the Democrats to choose a “serious” or “legitimate” candidate. Who is going to enforce that? 4. Finally, we are moving against the printing deadline and the federal MOVE Act which protects the ability of military and overseas voters to get their ballot on time. Kobach is now trying to stretch those deadlines, but if this dra…
Continue reading…t that she applauded the court’s “decision to follow the law and stop Kris Kobach from undermining Kansas democracy.” UPDATE: The updated version of the story makes it clear that Kobach said he will go to court if necessary. He’s also offering what appears to be a novel interpretation of the MOVE Act: Kobach said federal law would allow him to postpone the mailing date of overseas absentee ballots as long as the ballots had a 45-day window to be c…
Continue reading…been avoided if Taylor would have done a better job with his letter, or if Kobach did not push the issue—and the evidence that his office had accepted non-complying letters before was damning to his case. The Court noted that Kobach submitted those letters after the deadline for filings, but seemed to praise him for doing it out of an “ethical obligation” to the court. In other words, if he just sat on letters his office just found which showed th…
Continue reading…discretion). The court is spending a lot of time on other letters and how Kobach exercises discretion. Kobach’s lawyer says it is substantial compliance to state reasons for being incapable. This seems like a big concession. Justice asks if substantial compliance should apply to Taylor’s letter. Justice: if facts mattered, we would use an affidavit not simply a notary. Kobach’s lawyer says no role in seeing if statements are truthful. Just need t…
Continue reading…solve this dispute without regard to factfinding. (E.g, it could side with Kobach even if it assumes everything in the Taylor application is true. Or it could side with Taylor by stating that the letter is sufficient as a matter of law. Either way, the factual dispute goes away.) 2. The state has offered a very detailed defense of Kobach’s decision to not accept the letter as sufficient. It makes the arguments I would have expected (plain language…
Continue reading…Press release The Kansas Supreme Court has helpfully created a page posted all of the documents in Taylor v. Kobach….
Continue reading…obach should have recused himself from the decision on Taylor’s candidacy. Kobach, a former Republican Party chairman, is a member of Roberts’ honorary campaign committee, which Taylor’s attorney contends creates a conflict of interest. Kobach recused himself earlier in the year when Roberts’ residency was challenged before the primary. He said that in retrospect he should have turned down Roberts’ request to be on the honorary committee but that…
Continue reading…So reports AP. From the affidavit: As I noted earlier today, it is not clear if the factual dispute will matter to the Kansas Supreme Court. …
Continue reading…nate as listed in the withdrawal statute. In Kobach’s responsive pleading, Kobach argued (among other things) that the Kansas Supreme Court should not take original jurisdiction over this case because there was a disputed finding of fact: Kobach has said that election officials deny telling Taylor his letter was sufficient for withdrawal. Generally trial courts do factfinding and appellate courts like the Kansas Supreme Court are not in a position…
Continue reading…From the memorandum supporting the writ of mandumus filed in the KS Supreme Court: See also Democrat Chad Taylor sues to get name off Kansas Senate ballot. …
Continue reading…would note that many non-attorneys have withdrawn from office in the past and they have all read the statute and made that declaration.” …
Continue reading…Whoa if true, as they say. There are complicated issues about applying waiver and estoppel theories against the government. But if this ends up in court, I expect this fact would help an argument for withdrawal greatly. UPDATE: SOS Kobach says the name stays on the ballot. I expect Dems to go to court next….
Continue reading…question of whether Taylor’s withdrawal is kosher is going to fall to SOS Kobach, who I expect is likely to give the statute a narrow textual reading. One question is whether Taylor, now after the deadline, can amend his letter to include the magic words of inacapability. This could well end up in court, and I don’t have a good sense for how the courts would rule on this question. It may be that the courts would give deference to a Kobach decisio…
Continue readingBy “Kobach,” I mean the Kobach v. EAC case in which the Tenth Circuit heard oral argument Monday – rather than its lead plaintiff, Kansas’ controversial Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who argued the position of his state and the State of Arizona. This post discusses what’s at issue in the case, where the district court went wrong, and what the Tenth Circuit should do. What the Case Is About Kobach involves a narrow but important issue, left unre…
Continue reading…The Wichita Eagle offers a detailed report on today’s Kobach v. EAC 10th circuit oral argument….
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