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Virginia Voter Photo ID Law Challenged in Court
A Virginia law requiring voters to show photo identification went on trial in federal court on Feb. 22, challenged by Democratic Party activists who allege it throws up barriers to voting by minorities and the poor. Lawyers defending the 2013 Virginia law said it prevented voter fraud. The trial in U.S. District Court is one of several voting rights legal battles as Democrats and Republicans square off before November's presidential and congressional elections. The Democratic Party of Virginia and two party activists are suing the Virginia State Board of Elections and want Judge Henry Hudson to strike down the law. Attorney Bruce Spiva, representing those challenging the measure, said the photo ID law was an effort to hamper the Democratic Party in the state. It creates "irrational hoops that people have to jump through" and has a "disproportional impact on people of color," Spiva said. Mark Hearne, an independent counsel for the state attorney general, dismissed the allegations. "It is impossible to show a suppressive effect on minorities from the photo ID law," Hearne said. He added the law was an effort to protect against voter fraud.
Zavala County Mayor Resigns After Arrest, Recall Petition Certified
CRYSTAL CITY -- A South Texas mayor under a federal corruption indictment resigned from office on Friday after a recall petition was certified and he was arrested over a disturbance that disrupted a city council meeting. In a letter of resignation submitted to the city clerk, Ricardo Lopez said his departure would take effect Friday afternoon. "I appreciate the opportunities I have been given to be mayor of Crystal City. I wish all the citizens of Crystal City success in the future," his letter stated. Lopez and two city council members are named in a federal public corruption indictment returned earlier this month. Another council member has been charged with human trafficking. Crystal City is the county seat of Zavala County, which in January 2015 entered into a federal court consent decree with the to clean up its voter rolls. The county had more than 100 percent of its age-eligible residents registered to vote. Lopez was led from a city council meeting in handcuffs late Tuesday night after an apparent scuffle ended the gathering in pandemonium. The meeting, which was to schedule a recall election for him and two council members, ended prematurely after the mayor's arrest cost the panel a quorum. He was released from the Zavala County Jail the next day after posting a $12,000 bond. However, the rest of the Tuesday council meeting was postponed until Wednesday, then was canceled when Lopez didn't attend and the group again lacked a quorum. Upon his release from jail, Lopez told reporters that he would attend no more council meetings.
Judge Won’t Suspend Alabama Voter Photo ID Law
MONTGOMERY (AP) A federal judge will not suspend Alabama's photo voter identification requirement in the upcoming elections. U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler Wednesday denied Wednesday a preliminary injunction sought by groups that challenged the law requiring voters to present photo identification. The groups had asked the judge to expand the state's alternative identification process so people without photo identification can vote if they present certain documents or identification. Coogler said he would not use a backdoor method to effectively do away with the photo identification requirement that took effect in 2014. Coogler also said plaintiffs offered no convincing reason why obtaining a valid photo ID is an undue burden.
West Virginia House Approves Voter ID Bill
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The West Virginia House has approved a proposal to require voters to show ID at the polls. With a 64-34 vote Friday, the House sent the bill to the Senate. The bill would require a state or federally issued ID featuring a name and photo, ranging from driver's licenses to valid in-state high school IDs. The requirements would be effective January 2018. Voters could also produce Medicare or Social Security cards without photos. The ID can be six months expired on Election Day. Instead of presenting ID, a voter could be accompanied to the polls by an adult who has known the voter at least six months, including poll workers. They would sign affidavits and show IDs with their name, address and photo. Otherwise, voters would cast provisional ballots.
Voter ID in Wisconsin Primary ‘Pretty ‘Simple’
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) - The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board estimated 10 percent of registered voters in Wisconsin cast a ballot in the Spring Primary Election on Tuesday. At the 7th District polling location in [...]
Congressman Seeks to Add Florida to National Voter Database
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch is calling on Florida election officials to participate in a national database aimed at preventing voter fraud -- amid reports that more than two dozen people possibly voted twice in the 2014 general election. The West Boca Democrat penned a letter to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner on Tuesday, urging him to sign up for the Electronic Registration Information Center, a database used by 15 states and the District of Columbia. Deutch says the system known as ERIC would improve the accuracy of voter rolls by allowing Florida to compare its list of voters with other states' at a minimal cost of $50,000. "We have a record when it comes to our elections that is obviously not one we are terribly proud of," he said. "I can't understand why we wouldn't join an effort with a nationwide database that can combat problems of people being registered to vote in two states." Deutch's calls come after election supervisors in Broward and Palm Beach counties launched probes in January into reports of as many as 32 people voting twice in the 2014 general election -- once in Florida and once in their home state up North. It's a felony to vote in the same federal election twice.
Missouri Voter Photo ID Bills Head to Senate Floor
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) Two proposals aimed at requiring Missourians to show photo ID before voting are heading to the Senate floor. Senators voted 8-2 Monday along party lines to advance a bill and a constitutional amendment out of committee. Both measures have already passed the House, though the constitutional amendment would need voter approval.
Ruling May Be Weeks Away in North Carolina Photo Voter ID Case
A federal judge's decision appears to be at least several weeks away in litigation over North Carolina's photo ID mandate for voters, making it likely that the new requirement will begin when early in-person voting begins March 3. Trial ended Monday in multiple lawsuits over the new statute, which is supposed to be implemented for the first time during the March 15 primary. The requirement, first approved by Republican elected officials in 2013 but eased somewhat last summer, makes North Carolina one of more than 30 states with some kind of voter ID requirement now in force. But the U.S. Justice Department, state NAACP and others challenged the requirement in a state with a history of racial discrimination and racially polarized voting. Their lawsuits also challenged other provisions in the 2013 law that in part scaled back early voting and ended same-day registration during the early-vote period. Only voter ID was considered during the six-day trial. The trial judge had refused before the trial to block voter ID from taking effect on schedule. U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder asked both sides to provide additional documentations by Feb. 24. Lawyers who oppose the law pointed in their closing arguments to their expert's report presented last week in court that up to 224,800 registrants lack proper voter ID. The expert also said black voters were more than twice as likely as white voters to lack a qualifying ID and face economic and social obstacles to obtain one. A competing database expert who took the stand Monday as a final defense witness testified that the report had several weaknesses and the number of those lacking ID was inflated. There are more than 6.4 million registered voters in North Carolina.
Closing Arguments Begin in North Carolina Voter ID Trial
Closing arguments are set to begin this afternoon in the closely watched federal trial on North Carolina's photo ID requirement. Janet Thornton, a labor economist at Economic Research Services in Florida, was the last witness that state attorneys called. Plaintiffs, including the N.C. NAACP, rested their case Thursday. The photo ID requirement was passed in 2013 as part of a sweeping elections law that state Republican legislators pushed soon after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a key section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That section required mostly southern states and 40 counties in North Carolina to seek federal approval of major changes in elections laws. Voting rights activists consider North Carolina's election law, known as the Voter Information Verification Act, to be one of the most restrictive in the country. The photo ID requirement didn't take effect until this year and was amended last year just weeks before a federal trial on other provisions of the law. The N.C. NAACP, the U.S. Department of Justice and others filed a federal lawsuit in 2013, alleging that the elections law places undue burdens on blacks and Hispanics, is unconstitutional and violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Thornton was called to criticize the work of one of the plaintiffs' experts -- Charles Stewart, a professor of political science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Stewart testified last week that based on his analysis matching databases from the State Board of Elections and the Department of Motor Vehicles, blacks were twice more likely to lack a photo ID than whites. Thornton testified that Stewart's methodology was flawed and that it was hard to know exactly how many people did not have a photo ID. She also testified that his analysis failed to account for voters who were later removed from voter registration rolls or were considered inactive.
Voter ID Measures Advance in Missouri House
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) - Republicans' decade-long effort to add an ID requirement for voters won initial approval Wednesday in the Missouri House of Representatives. In a voice vote, lawmakers finalized the language of a bill and a constitutional amendment aimed at requiring a photo ID to vote. The measures still need a final vote to pass the chamber, and the constitutional amendment would need voter approval. A Senate committee heard testimony this week on a similar bill and constitutional amendment. House Republicans blocked attempts by Democrats to add more forms of acceptable photo IDs, to register people to vote automatically when they apply for driver's licenses, and to add the phrase "voter suppression" to the amendment's ballot language. Lawmakers are pursuing a constitutional change because in 2006 the Missouri Supreme Court struck down a photo ID requirement, saying such measures weren't narrowly tailored enough and were an undue burden on voters.