In reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court's Shelby County v. Holder decision last June, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R., Wis.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) have introduced the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014. The stated purpose is to prevent racial discrimination. But what it would really do is force racial gerrymandering, make race the predominant factor in the election process, and advance the partisan interests of one political party.
North Carolinians marching to protest voter-ID laws had to present a valid photo ID to participate in an NAACP-hosted protest against voter-ID laws in Raleigh on Feb. 8. The central claim among the protesters is that the voter-ID laws disenfranchise certain segments of the voting population, particularly minority voters and poor voters. According to official NAACP flyers passed out at the rally, protesters had to carry the precise kind of ID that they would be expected to present at the voting booth.
President Obama's commission on election administration recently issued a final report containing some terrible recommendations. The worst idea in the report is a call for states to expand early voting. Some states already open polls weeks in advance of Election Day. In Wyoming, polls open in September, even before the end of Major League Baseball's regular season. Mr. Obama's federal commission wants American elections to start earlier and last longer. Here's eight reasons why the early-voting fad is a bad idea. First, early voting produces less-informed voters. After they cast an early ballot, they check out of the national debate. They won't care about the televised debates, won't consider options, and won't fully participate in the political process.
The next major confirmation battle will be over Debo Adegbile, President Barack Obama's choice to head the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, according to sources in the U.S. Senate. The pending showdown over Adegbile -- onetime child star on TV's "Sesame Street" and former acting president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund -- is nothing short of high-stakes political poker. To the left, the choice of Adegbile, 46, is an unmistakable signal from the president and Attorney General Eric Holder that the administration is going to fight states over imposing voter identification laws which they are convinced disenfranchises minorities. Now senior counsel to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, Adegbile is considered a reliable leader in the fight over voter I.D. laws that are sure to emerge from state capitals in 2014. In addition, as head of the Legal Defense Fund, Adegbile defended the constitutionality of the 1965 Voting Rights Act before the Supreme Court.
SANDERSON, TX (Jan. 28, 2014) – The has filed suit [...]
SANDERSON, TX (Jan. 28, 2014) – The (ACRU) has sued [...]
With voter-ID laws and other reforms taking center stage, a conservative group said Wednesday it is launching a new super PAC to fund state secretary of state candidates willing to go toe-to-toe with Democrats and defend more rigorous voter roll rules and stiffer election requirements.
States are vowing to go to the courts for permission to ask newly registered voters to show proof of citizenship after a federal commission ruled late Friday that it's up to the national government, not states, to decide what to include on registration forms. Under the motor-voter law, federal officials distribute voter-registration forms in all of the states. Arizona, Kansas and Georgia all asked that those forms request proof of citizenship, but the federal Election Assistance Commission rejected that in a 46-page ruling released late Friday, just ahead of a court-imposed deadline.
A Pennsylvania judge on Jan. 17 struck down the state's voter ID law, which was signed in early 2012 and is one of the strictest in the nation, ruling that the statute "unreasonably burdens the right to vote." "Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal," Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley wrote.Pennsylvania's law requires all voters to bring to the polls identification issued by the state government or the U.S. government, or another valid credential such as a student ID with an expiration date, in order to cast their vote. If a would-be voter does not have an appropriate ID, that person can cast a provisional ballot and the vote will be counted if an adequate ID is brought to the local elections office within six days. The state's Republican-led Legislature passed the law in spring 2012, saying it would help prevent voter fraud, and GOP Gov. Tom Corbett signed it shortly thereafter.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) this week announced his intention to pass a bill "reforming" the Voting Rights Act. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act last year. As J. Christian Adams reported: " [Sensenbrenner's bill would] radically expand federal power over state elections. It would give Attorney General Eric Holder expansive new federal powers over state elections, including the ability to barge into polling places to monitor the use of foreign language election materials. It would also give Holder the power to block election integrity measures like Voter ID and citizenship verification." Holder has earned a reputation for being one of the most partisan attorneys general in American history, litigating against states that have chosen to adopt election security reforms including voter ID. On Friday, Jan. 17, Sensenbrenner was to hold a conference call to discuss his bill. He was to be joined on the call by far-left leaders, including Nancy Zirkin of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Deborah Vagins of the ACLU, and Tanya Clay House, from the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law.