Early Voting Archives - Page 22 of 25 - Voting Integrity Institute

Appeals Court Upholds Texas Voter ID Law

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday afternoon gave the state of Texas permission to enforce its strict voter ID law, finding that a federal judge's ruling last week barring the use of that law "substantially disrupts the election process . . . just nine days before early voting begins...next Monday." The three-judge panel commented that the Supreme Court "has repeatedly instructed courts to carefully consider the importance of preserving the status quo on the eve of an election." That was a controlling reason, it said, for permitting the law to govern voting in the remaining days before the November 4 election. Opponents on Tuesday immediately filed an application to the U.S. Supreme Court to block the law.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:34:45+00:00October 15th, 2014|Early Voting, In the Courts, News, Voter ID|

Supreme Court Upholds North Carolina Voting Law

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld North Carolina's new voting law, which cuts back on early voting and eliminates same-day registration. The ruling affects North Carolina, scene of a tight Senate race that could help decide which party wins control of that chamber for the final two years of President Obama's term. The justices reversed a federal appeals court's decision that would have allowed same-day registration and counted votes cast mistakenly in the wrong precincts. Those were among several other procedures eliminated by the state Legislature last year.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:30:15+00:00October 10th, 2014|Early Voting, In the Courts, News, Same-Day Registration|

Courts Strike Down Wisconsin, Texas Voter ID Laws

The U.S. Supreme Court late Thursday blocked Wisconsin from enforcing its strict voter identification law in November's election. By a 6-3 vote, the justices granted an emergency appeal from civil rights lawyers, who argued it was too late to put the rule into effect this year. Lawyers for the ACLU noted that the state had already sent out thousands of absentee ballots without mentioning the need for voters to return a copy of their photo identification. At nearly the same time, a federal judge in Texas struck down that state's new voter ID law on the grounds that it violated the constitutional right to vote and discriminated against racial minorities. Texas Atty. Gen. Gregg Abbott said the state would appeal. The Wisconsin and Texas cases were the two most closely watched tests of new voter rules this year. In both states, Republican-led legislatures sought to tighten the rules for voting and to require all registered voters who did not have a driver's license to obtain a photo ID card at a state motor vehicles office.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:34:45+00:00October 10th, 2014|Absentee / Mail-in Voting, Early Voting, In the Courts, News, Voter ID|

Court’s Ohio Decision on Early Voting Could Affect Other States

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court delayed the start of early voting in Ohio on Sept. 27, a day before it was scheduled to begin, temporarily blocking a victory won by voting rights groups in lower courts. The decision has potential implications for other states, including Wisconsin, North Carolina, Texas and Arkansas, where state efforts to tighten up voting procedures are opposed by civil rights groups who say they disproportionately affect minorities. Ohio's was the first of those cases to reach the high court, and the conservative majority blocked lower court rulings that would have jump-started early voting Tuesday. Their action, opposed by the court's four liberal justices, reversed a federal appeals court decision that had blocked the state from reducing early voting from 35 to 28 days. The lower court also had ordered the state to restore some evening and Sunday voting that the Legislature had eliminated. Those reductions remain in place as a result of the high court's order. The justices invited the state to seek a full ruling on the merits of the case. If that request is denied or the state loses in court, the expanded voting hours would be restored -- albeit too late for this year's election.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:26:46+00:00October 6th, 2014|Early Voting, In the Courts, News|

Federal Court Overturns Part of NC Voting Reforms

A federal appeals court granted a temporary order on Wednesday that will allow same-day registration and provisional ballots in this fall's North Carolina elections, but refused to intervene on changes that shortened the early voting period. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in Charlotte last Thursday in the case that came after the Republican-led N.C. General Assembly passed a series of changes in 2013. Supporters say the measures are intended to strengthen the integrity of elections. Those who sued to overturn the laws say the changes are unfair because they disproportionately hurt young voters and minorities. Wednesday's ruling means voters can register and vote on the same day during the in-person early voting period, Oct. 23-Nov. 1. The temporary order also allows voters to cast ballots even if they show up at the wrong precinct. All three of the judges who heard the arguments last week were appointed to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals by Democratic presidents.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:38:06+00:00October 1st, 2014|Early Voting, In the Courts, News, Same-Day Registration, Voter ID|

NC Voter ID Law Will Fight Fraud, Black Conservative Says

U.S. District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder ruled this month that North Carolina's November election can be held under a new voting law, considered one of the toughest in the nation and approved by Republican lawmakers. Opponents challenging the law say it will suppress minority voter turnout. But Schroeder denied their motion to hold the November vote under the old rules, saying the groups failed to show they would suffer irreparable harm. Horace Cooper of Project 21 serves as Director of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Voter Integrity Project. He says the judge clearly didn't buy into the Justice Department's argument. Cooper, Horace (Project 21)"They made up and distorted the case log to try to come up with an argument in this case," he tells OneNewsNow. "And the judge simply didn't buy it. They had to acknowledge that, yes, under the states that have voter ID, they have seen higher black voter turnout."

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:34:46+00:00August 20th, 2014|Early Voting, News, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

Court Smacks Down Holder in NC Voter ID Law Case

The left trumpeted a voter ID decision in Wisconsin as if it were the end of the issue. Let's see what they do with this one. A federal court on Aug. 8 smacked down the Holder Justice Department and refused to enjoin (block) North Carolina's voter ID law, curtailment of costly early voting and end of fraud-infested same day registration. This means the state's voter ID law will be in place for the midterm congressional (and Senate) elections in November. The Justice Department had actually argued that even if black voters turned out at higher rates under voter ID (which they do), because blacks have to take the bus more and their life is generally harder, then voter ID and curtailing early voting violates the Voting Rights Act. The opinion lays waste to the theories of those opposing North Carolina's election integrity laws, including the Justice Department.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:34:46+00:00August 12th, 2014|ACRU Commentary, Early Voting, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

Justice Department to Intervene in Ohio, Wisconsin Voting Law Cases

The Obama administration plans to join lawsuits against Republican-backed voting restrictions in Ohio and Wisconsin -- two major swing states, Attorney General Eric Holder has said. The moves would represent the first time that Holder's Justice Department has intervened against statewide voting laws outside the areas that the Supreme Court freed from federal oversight in last year's Shelby County v. Holder ruling. They underline the administration's intention to aggressively protect voting rights across the country, not only in the mostly southern jurisdictions directly affected by Shelby. Earlier this year, Ohio's Republican legislature passed laws that cut six days from the early voting period and ended same-day registration, among other restrictions. Secretary of State Jon Husted then announced that there would be no early voting on Sundays or on week-day evenings. A federal judge recently restored early voting on the last three days before the election, but the other cuts remain in force. They're being challenged by the ACLU and other civil rights groups, which allege that they disproportionately affect non-white voters. A brief filed recently by the laws' challengers uses detailed voting records to establish that blacks are far likelier than whites to take advantage of early voting. In 2012, 20% of blacks did so, compared to just 6% of whites. Wisconsin's strict voter ID law was recently struck down by a federal judge, who ruled that it discriminated against black voters. But the state has appealed the ruling, and the litigation is ongoing.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:37:09+00:00July 16th, 2014|Early Voting, News, Same-Day Registration, Voter ID|

Columnist: Scrapping Early Voting Means Less Time for Electoral Mischief

Ballots cast today are under scrutiny, and with 2014 mid-term elections fast approaching, we must be aware of potential abuses of our most basic right. We saw with the 2012 general election a glut of voter fraud. From Florida and Ohio to Pennsylvania and Texas, there have been reports of voting machine malfunctions, dead people on voter rolls and 99 percent of votes cast going to President Obama in some counties. This should be a concern for both parties and a non-partisan issue because no freedom-loving patriot wants the outcome of an election to be falsely skewed.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:38:07+00:00May 22nd, 2014|ACRU Commentary, Early Voting, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

ACLU Sues over Pullback on Early Voting in Ohio

COLUMBUS - The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups filed a federal lawsuit on May 8 against Ohio's elections chief over limits to when voters can cast an early ballot in the perennial battleground state. Ohioans can cast an absentee ballot by mail or in person before Election Day without giving any reason. About 33 percent of those who voted in the 2012 presidential election cast an early ballot. The lawsuit filed in Columbus federal court claims that recent cuts to early voting will make it difficult for tens of thousands of residents to vote and will unfairly affect black voters, who the groups say are more likely to use weekend and evening hours to vote early in elections.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:38:07+00:00May 12th, 2014|Absentee / Mail-in Voting, Early Voting, In the Courts, News, Voter ID|

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