In the Courts Archives - Page 10 of 25 - Voting Integrity Institute

Federal Judge Upholds North Carolina Voter ID Law

RALEIGH -- A federal judge has upheld North Carolina's voter ID law in a ruling posted Monday evening. U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder issued a 485-page ruling dismissing all claims in the challenge to the state's sweeping 2013 election law overhaul. Schroeder, a George W. Bush appointee, also upheld portions of the 2013 law that reduced the number of days people could vote early, eliminated same-day registration and voting and prohibited people from casting a ballot outside their precinct. The decision comes nearly three months after a trial on the ID portion of the law. Schroeder noted that North Carolina had "become progressive nationally" by permitting absentee voting, early voting for 17 days before the Election Day, a lengthy registration period, out-of-precinct voting on Election Day and a pre-registration program for 16-year-olds. "In 2013, North Carolina retrenched," Schroeder said in his opinion. Ultimately, though, Schroeder said the state had provided "legitimate state interests" in making the changes and the challengers failed to demonstrate that the law was unconstitutional. "This ruling further affirms that requiring a photo ID in order to vote is not only common sense, it's constitutional," Gov. Pat McCrory said in a statement. "Common practices like boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed require photo ID, and thankfully a federal court has ensured our citizens will have the same protection for their basic right to vote." In reaching the decision released on Monday, Schroeder conducted a two-part trial that spanned more than 21 days in July and this past January. He considered the testimony of 21 expert witnesses and 112 other witnesses, and more than 25,000 pages that are part of the record.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:34:40+00:00April 26th, 2016|Absentee / Mail-in Voting, Early Voting, In the Courts, News, Same-Day Registration, Voter ID|

New Yorkers File Suit over Alleged Election Fraud

More than 200 outraged New York voters have joined a lawsuit claiming the party affiliation on their voter registration changed without their consent. The voters say they are unfairly being shut out of Tuesday's primary. The suit, filed Monday in Brooklyn, calls for New York to be an open primary state, allowing anyone to vote in primaries regardless of party affiliation. "For many of our complainants, to have the electoral process deprived of them, it's devastating," Shyla Nelson, an activist and spokeswoman for Election Justice U.S.A., told the Daily News. New York is one of 11 states that has a closed primary system and, due to an obscure election law, voters must have been registered by November of the previous year for the party whose primary they plan to vote in -- this is the earliest change-of-party deadline in the country.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:22:29+00:00April 19th, 2016|In the Courts, News, Vote Fraud|

Texas Defends Voter ID Law at Supreme Court

Arguing that its five-year-old law requiring voters to have a photo ID before they may cast a ballot will not deny anyone in Texas the right to vote, state officials urged the Supreme Court on Monday afternoon to allow the law to remain in effect while a federal appeals court conducts a new review of it. If federal voting rights law would treat the requirement as illegal, the federal law would be unconstitutional under the Fifteenth Amendment, the state contended.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:34:41+00:00April 13th, 2016|In the Courts, News, Voter ID|

ACRU Sues Philadelphia over Voter Records

The ACRU is suing Philadelphia over city officials' refusal to open voter registration records for public inspection as required by federal law. In a complaint filed April 4 in U.S. District Court under Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (Motor Voter Law), the ACRU seeks "specific records... to ascertain why Defendants have implausible percentages of active registrants as compared to age-eligible United States citizens who live in Philadelphia." Specifically, the ACRU seeks a court order finding the city in violation of NVRA, and requiring officials to allow inspection of voter registration records and the various means by which the city is supposed to be updating them. The ACRU had requested access to the records in a January letter to city officials. Philadelphia voter rolls have contained an implausible number of registrants over the years with the total registered nearly exceeding the number of eligible citizens in Philadelphia. The ACRU seeks to examine why this is occurring and what can be done to ensure that only eligible citizens are voting in Philadelphia elections

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:26:57+00:00April 7th, 2016|ACRU Litigation News, Early Voting, In the Courts, News, Press Releases|

Group: Philly’s Voter Rolls Are Abnormally and Suspiciously Large

By Victor Fiorello It seems like every time there is an election in Philadelphia, there are allegations of shenanigans soon to follow, with the good ol' saying "vote early and vote often" being a staple of our democratic process. But one group isn't waiting until after the April 26th primary to cry foul. They've already filed a lawsuit. The Virginia-based is the right wing's answer to the left's American Civil Liberties Union. Founded by late Reagan administration advisor Robert Carleson and with a board that includes anti-porn and anti-drug crusader Edwin Meese, the ACRU has gone to court against Obamacare and in favor of gun owners and the formerly anti-gay Boy Scouts. And now the ACRU has come to Philadelphia with some pointed questions about our voter registration numbers. ACRU filed a federal lawsuit against the City Commissioners Office, the municipal body in charge of our elections, claiming that it hasn't bothered to respond to a January letter that the organization sent demanding access to voter registration records here. The ACRU says the letter was sent by certified mail, and in failing to reply, ACRU maintains that the city is in violation of the National Voter Registration Act.

ACRU Staff2016-04-07T14:24:00+00:00April 7th, 2016|In the Courts, News|

Supreme Court: Count Illegals in Legislative Districting

A unanimous Supreme Court ruled Monday that illegal immigrants and other noncitizens can be counted when states draw their legislative districts, shooting down a challenge by Texas residents who said their own voting power was being diluted. The ruling does not grant noncitizens the power to vote, but says the principle of one person, one vote doesn't require localities to only count those who are actually eligible to vote when they are deciding how many people to put inside of each district. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the court, said even though only eligible voters are supposed to cast ballots, elected officials represent all people within their districts, and it is that act of representation, not the election itself, that the boundaries are drawn to.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:38:01+00:00April 5th, 2016|In the Courts, News, Voter ID|

ACRU’s Complaint against the City of Philadelphia

ALEXANDRIA, VA (April 4, 2016) The has sued the city [...]

ACRU Staff2016-04-04T16:07:31+00:00April 4th, 2016|ACRU Complaints, In the Courts|

Court Date Set for Texas Voter ID Law

A May 24th court date has been set to re-hear the case surrounding the Texas Voter ID law. In August, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled the law violates part of the Voting Rights Acts. However a majority of the full, 15-member court wants to reconsider the case. The voter ID law requires millions of registered voters to show a picture ID at the polls.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:34:41+00:00March 31st, 2016|In the Courts, News, Voter ID|

ACLU Sues Kansas over Proof-of-Citizenship Voting Law

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tens of thousands of people in Kansas are being deprived of their right to vote, the American Civil Liberties Union argued in a lawsuit filed on Feb. 18 that challenged a state law requiring residents to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote. The suit is the latest to take direct aim at a three-year-old measure ushered into law by Secretary of State Kris W. Kobach, who has lobbied heavily over the years for measures that he said were needed to prevent non-citizens from casting ballots. The ACLU, arguing that fraud claims were unfounded, brought the class-action suit in federal court on behalf of six Kansas residents who said they were left off the voter rolls after registering at the state's Department of Motor Vehicles. Passed by its Republican-dominated legislature five years ago, the law requires residents to show proof of citizenship when they register.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:38:01+00:00March 19th, 2016|In the Courts, News, Press Releases, Proof of Citizenship, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

No Voters Denied Due to Photo ID Law, former Virginia Officials Testify

Several former state and local election officials testified in federal court that they were not aware of any eligible voter who has been denied the right to cast a ballot because of Virginia's photo voter ID requirement enacted in 2013. "None," said Cameron Quinn, a former state elections official who from 2011 until last year was the general registrar for Fairfax County, testifying on March 1 in the sixth day of a trial before U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson in a lawsuit filed by the Democratic Party of Virginia and two voters challenging the state law. Fairfax is the state's largest jurisdiction and has 700,000 registered voters. Justin Riemer, a former member of the Virginia State Board of Elections and Donald Palmer, the former secretary of the board, also testified that they were not aware of anyone unable to vote because of the photo requirement.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:35:34+00:00March 12th, 2016|In the Courts, News, Voter ID|

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