News

Federal Judge Strikes Down Wisconsin’s Voter ID Law

A federal judge reopened the voter identification debate Tuesday when he struck down a new Wisconsin law, saying it discriminated against blacks and Hispanics, and renewing doubts about the Republican push for stricter voting laws across the country. Democrats hailed the ruling and said they wanted it expanded to other jurisdictions, but Wisconsin vowed to appeal. Some legal analysts said Judge Lynn Adelman's decision appears to contradict a 2008 Supreme Court ruling that upheld a similar law in Indiana. Judge Adelman said up to 300,000 Wisconsin residents -- mostly blacks and Hispanics -- could be turned away from polls as a result of the ID requirement. He said his calculation far outnumbered potential fraudulent votes.

44,000 Registered in Both Md. and Va., Group Finds

A crosscheck of voter rolls in Virginia and Maryland turned up 44,000 people registered in both states, a vote-integrity group reported on April 23. "The Virginia Voters Alliance is investigating how to identify voters who are registered and vote in Virginia but live in the states that surround us," Alliance President Reagan George told the State Board of Elections. George acknowledged that the number of voters who actually cast multiple ballots is relatively small. In the case of Maryland and Virginia, he revealed that 164 people voted in both states during the 2012 election. But George said his group will expand their search for duplicate voters in the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Georgia.

More Vote Fraud Found in Louisiana Mayoral Election

PORT ALLEN - The West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office now says they have found additional people whose signatures were fraudulently submitted during early voting for the mayoral election. In late March, the Sheriff's Office and the Secretary of State began their voter fraud investigation. They're looking into hundreds of applications that were faxed into the West Baton Rouge Registrar for early voting. The applications are a "request for mail-in ballot," and request the Registrar of Voter to send a mail-in ballot.

Obamacare’s California Agency Sent Republican Couple a Voter Registration Marked ‘Democrat’

LA MESA, Calif. - A local couple called 10News concerned after they received an envelope from the state's Obamacare website, Covered California. Inside was a letter discussing voter registration and a registration card pre-marked with an "x" in the box next to Democratic Party. The couple - who did not want their identity revealed - received the letter and voter registration card from their health insurance provider Covered California, the state-run agency that implements President Obama's Affordable Care Act. They have lived in La Mesa for years and they have always been registered to vote Republican. Now, they are perplexed as to how the voter registration card pre-marked Democrat ended up in their mailbox.

Group Calls for Probe of Dropped Charges in Pa. Vote Fraud Sting

A watchdog group is calling for an independent-counsel probe after Pennsylvania's Democratic attorney general dropped the prosecution of four Democratic legislators accused of taking bribes in exchange for votes. The Committee of Seventy, a government ethics group in Philadelphia, urged the Pennsylvania legislature this week to create an independent counsel to conduct "a fair and non-partisan" investigation into the dismissed sting operation. The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing sources familiar with the investigation, said prosecutors amassed 400 hours of audio and videotape documenting at least four Democratic state legislators from Philadelphia taking payments in cash or money orders, and in one case a $2,000 Tiffany bracelet. They reportedly were bribed by a lobbyist who wore a "wire" and tape-recorded the targets to win favorable treatment after his arrest in a fraud case.

D.C., Colorado, Iowa Warned to Clean Up their Voter Rolls

Conservative public interest lawyers sent letters on March 24 giving the District of Columbia, Iowa and Colorado 90 days to prove they are taking steps to delete from their registration lists dead voters and former residents, or else face a lawsuit. Judicial Watch said the District has more people registered to vote than the Census Bureau says would be eligible, based on age. Counties in Iowa and Colorado face the same situation -- an indication, the conservative group said, that those jurisdictions need to clean up their rolls.

California to Send Voter Registration Forms to Obamacare Enrollees

In order to pacify left-leaning voter registration groups, California is now opting to send out voter registration forms to each and every Obamacare enrollee. Several California interest groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and left-wing think tank Demos, threatened legal action, the Washington Post reports. Though a link to voter registration was clearly placed on Covered California's homepage, opponents complained that there was no option for those using a paper application or people who bypass the homepage. "Ensuring that all eligible Americans are registered to vote is key to ensuring a robust democracy," Lisa Danetz, legal director Demos, said in a statement. "If other states follow, millions more Americans will have the opportunity to join the voting rolls."

78% Favor Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Register to Vote

A federal judge has upheld the right of states to require proof of citizenship before allowing someone to register to vote. Voters continue to overwhelmingly support such a requirement. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 78% of Likely U.S. Voters believe everyone should be required to prove his or her citizenship before being allowed to register to vote. That's up from 71% a year ago. Just 19% oppose that requirement.

Judge Rules for Kansas, Arizona in Citizenship Voter ID Case

A U.S. District Court judge ruled Wednesday that Arizona and Kansas can require anyone registering to vote to prove their citizenship and the federal Election Assistance Commission cannot block them. The ruling is a boost for states' rights and marks a setback for President Obama and other liberals who fought stiffer voter ID checks with an argument that they reduce voter turnout.