Gerrymandering and other voting rights issues (3)
This is a continuation of the topic Gerrymandering and other voting rights issues (2).
TalkPro and Con
Join LibraryThing to post.
1margd
Laurence Tribe đşđŚ âď¸ tribelaw | 1:36 PM ¡ Oct 6, 2024 {X}:
This is a big victory that the far-right Fifth Circuit might well undo. When itâs in Robertsâ Court, whether it can be shamed into legal decency isnât predetermined. The stronger and louder the chorus in support of the 9/28 ruling, the better the odds will be.
Quote
LULAC @LULAC ¡ Sep 28
LULAC was proud to be a part of todayâs historic ruling protecting the freedom to vote of Latino & ALL voters. The decision strikes down as unconstitutional a main TX statute that was used to try to intimidate Hispanic organizers & voters 1/4
https://democracydocket.com/cases/texas-voter-suppression-law-lupe/*
------------------------------------
* The lawsuit ... challenges multiple provisions of S.B. 1 {Senate Bill 1} â including a restriction on providing assistance to voters who need help completing or returning their ballots, the empowerment of partisan poll watchers, a ban on 24-hour and drive-thru voting, the criminalization of many voter outreach efforts, a ballot collection ban, mail-in ballot signature matching rules, new methods to cancel voter registrations and more â for violating the First, 14th and 15th Amendments, the Voting Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act by imposing undue burdens on the right to vote, particularly for voters of color and voters with disabilities. Five other cases challenging S.B. 1 were consolidated with this case.
This is a big victory that the far-right Fifth Circuit might well undo. When itâs in Robertsâ Court, whether it can be shamed into legal decency isnât predetermined. The stronger and louder the chorus in support of the 9/28 ruling, the better the odds will be.
Quote
LULAC @LULAC ¡ Sep 28
LULAC was proud to be a part of todayâs historic ruling protecting the freedom to vote of Latino & ALL voters. The decision strikes down as unconstitutional a main TX statute that was used to try to intimidate Hispanic organizers & voters 1/4
https://democracydocket.com/cases/texas-voter-suppression-law-lupe/*
------------------------------------
* The lawsuit ... challenges multiple provisions of S.B. 1 {Senate Bill 1} â including a restriction on providing assistance to voters who need help completing or returning their ballots, the empowerment of partisan poll watchers, a ban on 24-hour and drive-thru voting, the criminalization of many voter outreach efforts, a ballot collection ban, mail-in ballot signature matching rules, new methods to cancel voter registrations and more â for violating the First, 14th and 15th Amendments, the Voting Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act by imposing undue burdens on the right to vote, particularly for voters of color and voters with disabilities. Five other cases challenging S.B. 1 were consolidated with this case.
2margd
Two states blasted by storms tweak voting rules
Erin Doherty | Oct 10, 2024
...State of play: North Carolina's elections board this week unanimously approved emergency measures for the 13 western counties hit hardest by Helene.
The changes include allowing county election boards to modify early voting days, hours and sites â and open a polling place in another county if their own polling site has been impacted.
Boards also may allow any voter in the county who is unable to get to their Election Day precinct voting site to cast a ballot at the county's elections office.
North Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday also approved legislation to give $5 million to the State Board of Elections for post-storm administration costs â and expand the emergency rules to 25 counties.
The changes could help many North Carolinians vote, but voting isn't likely to be top of mind for those with profound losses.
...In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed an executive order after Helene that authorized election changes in the hardest-hit counties.
The order allows election supervisors to consolidate voting centers or relocate them to a different site if a polling place has been destroyed. It also eases some rules for mail-in ballots.
But some voting rights groups are urging DeSantis to do more, such as re-opening voter registration.
Voting rights advocates also point to what happened after Hurricane Michael, which hit Florida's Panhandle a few weeks before the 2018 midterms. They say consolidating polling centers might have contributed to a drop in voter turnout then...
https://www.axios.com/2024/10/10/elections-hurricanes-florida-north-carolina-vot...
Erin Doherty | Oct 10, 2024
...State of play: North Carolina's elections board this week unanimously approved emergency measures for the 13 western counties hit hardest by Helene.
The changes include allowing county election boards to modify early voting days, hours and sites â and open a polling place in another county if their own polling site has been impacted.
Boards also may allow any voter in the county who is unable to get to their Election Day precinct voting site to cast a ballot at the county's elections office.
North Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday also approved legislation to give $5 million to the State Board of Elections for post-storm administration costs â and expand the emergency rules to 25 counties.
The changes could help many North Carolinians vote, but voting isn't likely to be top of mind for those with profound losses.
...In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed an executive order after Helene that authorized election changes in the hardest-hit counties.
The order allows election supervisors to consolidate voting centers or relocate them to a different site if a polling place has been destroyed. It also eases some rules for mail-in ballots.
But some voting rights groups are urging DeSantis to do more, such as re-opening voter registration.
Voting rights advocates also point to what happened after Hurricane Michael, which hit Florida's Panhandle a few weeks before the 2018 midterms. They say consolidating polling centers might have contributed to a drop in voter turnout then...
https://www.axios.com/2024/10/10/elections-hurricanes-florida-north-carolina-vot...
3margd
Judge strikes down strict voter assistance rules in Texasâ 2021 rewrite of election laws
Natalia Contreras | Oct. 11, 2024
Texas Republicans passed the legislation known as Senate Bill 1 after former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and spread lies about it.
Certain provisions of Texasâ sweeping 2021 voting law that restrict voter assistance violate the federal Voting Rights Act and cannot be enforced, a federal judge in Texas ruled Friday.
Among the rules struck down by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez was a ban on compensation for anyone who assists a voter and a requirement for anyone who assists a voter to sign an oath under penalty of perjury that the voter qualifies to receive help.
Rodriguez based his decision on the section of the 1965 federal Voting Rights Act that guarantees voters with disabilities or literacy limitations the right to receive assistance from whoever they choose.
...Although the judge has blocked any type of prosecution under these provisions, the rules and instructions on forms about requiring voter assisters from signing an oath are technically still in place for the upcoming Nov. 5 presidential election, because it is too close to the election to change the forms themselves.
Rodriguez also blocked provisions that require assisters to make certain disclosures about their relationship to the voter they are helping and a provision that restricts voter assistance given during door-to-door voter outreach operations...
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/11/texas-election-laws-voter-assistance-rul...
Natalia Contreras | Oct. 11, 2024
Texas Republicans passed the legislation known as Senate Bill 1 after former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and spread lies about it.
Certain provisions of Texasâ sweeping 2021 voting law that restrict voter assistance violate the federal Voting Rights Act and cannot be enforced, a federal judge in Texas ruled Friday.
Among the rules struck down by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez was a ban on compensation for anyone who assists a voter and a requirement for anyone who assists a voter to sign an oath under penalty of perjury that the voter qualifies to receive help.
Rodriguez based his decision on the section of the 1965 federal Voting Rights Act that guarantees voters with disabilities or literacy limitations the right to receive assistance from whoever they choose.
...Although the judge has blocked any type of prosecution under these provisions, the rules and instructions on forms about requiring voter assisters from signing an oath are technically still in place for the upcoming Nov. 5 presidential election, because it is too close to the election to change the forms themselves.
Rodriguez also blocked provisions that require assisters to make certain disclosures about their relationship to the voter they are helping and a provision that restricts voter assistance given during door-to-door voter outreach operations...
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/11/texas-election-laws-voter-assistance-rul...
42wonderY
Georgia judge rules county election officials must certify election results
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4933902-georgia-judge-election-resu...
âIf election superintendents were, as Plaintiff urges, free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge and so â because of a unilateral determination of error or fraud â refuse to certify election results, Georgia voters would be silenced,â McBurney wrote. âOur Constitution and our Election Code do not allow for that to happen.â
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4933902-georgia-judge-election-resu...
âIf election superintendents were, as Plaintiff urges, free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge and so â because of a unilateral determination of error or fraud â refuse to certify election results, Georgia voters would be silenced,â McBurney wrote. âOur Constitution and our Election Code do not allow for that to happen.â
52wonderY
Reports in Tennessee of voting machines registering votes for Republicans when the voter wanted Harris and Gloria.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBO8Tl8N07T/?igsh=MTRnYzJ6c3AwYXpuNQ==
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBO8Tl8N07T/?igsh=MTRnYzJ6c3AwYXpuNQ==
6margd
Georgia Supreme Court rejects Republican effort to restore last-minute election rules
Mark Niesse |22 Oct 2024
Decision means that State Election Boardâs rules remain invalid for Nov. 5 election
The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously denied the Republican Partyâs attempt Tuesday to reinstate State Election Board rules for an election night ballot count and a âreasonable inquiryâ requirement before certifying results.
The high courtâs one-page order leaves in place a Fulton County judgeâs decision last week that seven new election rules are âillegal, unconstitutional and void.â...
https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-supreme-court-rejects-republican-effort-to-...
Mark Niesse |22 Oct 2024
Decision means that State Election Boardâs rules remain invalid for Nov. 5 election
The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously denied the Republican Partyâs attempt Tuesday to reinstate State Election Board rules for an election night ballot count and a âreasonable inquiryâ requirement before certifying results.
The high courtâs one-page order leaves in place a Fulton County judgeâs decision last week that seven new election rules are âillegal, unconstitutional and void.â...
https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-supreme-court-rejects-republican-effort-to-...
72wonderY
On a bright note, a Tennessee voter reports her early voting experience:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBdbegou_LR/?igsh=MTJlZjczbDBjMG8yZw==
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBdbegou_LR/?igsh=MTJlZjczbDBjMG8yZw==
8margd
âTake Back the Statesâ: The Far-Right Sheriffs Ready to Disrupt the Election
David Gilbert | Oct 24, 2024
Constitutional Sheriffs are duly elected lawmen who believe they answer only to God. Theyâve spent the last six months preparing to stop a âstolenâ electionâby any means necessary.
...far-right Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, or CSPOA, a group described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-government organization with links to many other extremist groups. Constitutional sheriffs are actual elected sheriffs who also believe they are the ultimate legal power in their county, and that no federal or state authority can usurp their authority. They also believe that a sheriffâs power stems directly from the constitution, and that they can disregard any laws they deem unconstitutional ...
... {Boardmember Dar Leaf, a sheriff from Barry County, Michigan} spent the last four years investigating voter fraud in the 2020 federal election in Barry Countyâeven though Donald Trump won decisively there. He has attempted to seize voting machines, pushed wild conspiracies, and ultimately became the focus of state investigations himself. In at least one case, Leaf appears to have inspired an election official to refuse to verify a voteâan ominous warning ahead of the 2024 US election.
... âIn a swing state like Michigan or Wisconsin, where the difference in the state's outcome is 50,000 to 70,000 votes, if a sheriff becomes an obstacle, then that could undermine that state's credibility, says Will Pelfrey, a professor of criminal justice and homeland security at Virginia Commonwealth University. âIn a swing state, that could undermine the entire national election.â
...Today, one in four sworn law enforcement officers in the US report to a sheriďŹ. In addition to running county jails, sheriďŹs and their deputies make approximately 20 percent of all arrests in the nation, according to one estimate, translating to around 2 million arrests every year. In nearly one in three US counties, sheriďŹ departments are the largest law enforcement agency, meaning sheriffâs offices are the primary law enforcement agency for 56 million people.
âSheriffs are really beholden to nobody,â says Pelfrey. âOnce elected, a sheriff has tremendous power, and there have been sheriffs who have been convicted and still hold office. It's a bizarre thing. It shouldn't exist, but sheriffs are not beholden to a governor or to a president, and the only way to enforce state or federal laws for a recalcitrant sheriff is the National Guard. And that's not a viable system.â...
https://www.wired.com/story/constitutional-sheriffs-disrupt-election/
David Gilbert | Oct 24, 2024
Constitutional Sheriffs are duly elected lawmen who believe they answer only to God. Theyâve spent the last six months preparing to stop a âstolenâ electionâby any means necessary.
...far-right Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, or CSPOA, a group described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-government organization with links to many other extremist groups. Constitutional sheriffs are actual elected sheriffs who also believe they are the ultimate legal power in their county, and that no federal or state authority can usurp their authority. They also believe that a sheriffâs power stems directly from the constitution, and that they can disregard any laws they deem unconstitutional ...
... {Boardmember Dar Leaf, a sheriff from Barry County, Michigan} spent the last four years investigating voter fraud in the 2020 federal election in Barry Countyâeven though Donald Trump won decisively there. He has attempted to seize voting machines, pushed wild conspiracies, and ultimately became the focus of state investigations himself. In at least one case, Leaf appears to have inspired an election official to refuse to verify a voteâan ominous warning ahead of the 2024 US election.
... âIn a swing state like Michigan or Wisconsin, where the difference in the state's outcome is 50,000 to 70,000 votes, if a sheriff becomes an obstacle, then that could undermine that state's credibility, says Will Pelfrey, a professor of criminal justice and homeland security at Virginia Commonwealth University. âIn a swing state, that could undermine the entire national election.â
...Today, one in four sworn law enforcement officers in the US report to a sheriďŹ. In addition to running county jails, sheriďŹs and their deputies make approximately 20 percent of all arrests in the nation, according to one estimate, translating to around 2 million arrests every year. In nearly one in three US counties, sheriďŹ departments are the largest law enforcement agency, meaning sheriffâs offices are the primary law enforcement agency for 56 million people.
âSheriffs are really beholden to nobody,â says Pelfrey. âOnce elected, a sheriff has tremendous power, and there have been sheriffs who have been convicted and still hold office. It's a bizarre thing. It shouldn't exist, but sheriffs are not beholden to a governor or to a president, and the only way to enforce state or federal laws for a recalcitrant sheriff is the National Guard. And that's not a viable system.â...
https://www.wired.com/story/constitutional-sheriffs-disrupt-election/
92wonderY
Paid canvassers in at least three Pennsylvania counties flooded offices with last minute voter registrations. 60% have proved to be fraudulent.
https://lancasteronline.com/news/politics/lancaster-county-da-commissioners-link...
https://lancasteronline.com/news/politics/lancaster-county-da-commissioners-link...
10margd
Appeals court rules against Virginia's effort to block re-instatement of suspected noncitizens to voter rolls
Louis Casiano | October 27, 2024
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vowed to fight the federal judge's order all the way to the Supreme Court
... On Friday, U.S. Judge Patricia Giles issued a preliminary injunction to reinstate all voters who had been removed from state voter rolls in the past 90 days. The judge found that the removals had been "systematic," not individualized, and were thus a violation of federal law.
Her ruling came after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the State of Virginia, Virginia State Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections on Oct. 11, saying that by removing voters from rolls too close to the Nov. 5 general election, the state had violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) ...
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/appeals-court-rules-against-virginias-effort-bl...
Louis Casiano | October 27, 2024
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vowed to fight the federal judge's order all the way to the Supreme Court
... On Friday, U.S. Judge Patricia Giles issued a preliminary injunction to reinstate all voters who had been removed from state voter rolls in the past 90 days. The judge found that the removals had been "systematic," not individualized, and were thus a violation of federal law.
Her ruling came after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the State of Virginia, Virginia State Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections on Oct. 11, saying that by removing voters from rolls too close to the Nov. 5 general election, the state had violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) ...
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/appeals-court-rules-against-virginias-effort-bl...
11margd
Trump Sets Off Election Plot Alarm by Boasting About âLittle Secretâ With House Speaker
David Gardner | October 28, 2024
... Donald Trump claims that he and House Speaker Mike Johnson are hiding a âlittle secretâ that is going to have a âbig impactâ in the election.
The former president told supporters at his MAGA rally at Madison Square Garden: âI think with our little secret we are gonna do really well with the House.â
... morning gossip ... speculated that it might have been a nod to stitching up the election via an antiquated procedure in Congress:
... If neither candidate reaches the 270 votes required to take the Electoral College, the outcome could be decided on Capitol Hill. In a contingent election, each state delegation in the House of Representatives gets a single vote for president and each state delegation in the Senate gets a vote for vice president, irrespective of the size of the states. For example, California with its 52 House representatives gets the same say as Vermont, which has one.
As things stand, more states lean Republican than Democratic...
https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-donald-trump-says-little-131226209.html
David Gardner | October 28, 2024
... Donald Trump claims that he and House Speaker Mike Johnson are hiding a âlittle secretâ that is going to have a âbig impactâ in the election.
The former president told supporters at his MAGA rally at Madison Square Garden: âI think with our little secret we are gonna do really well with the House.â
... morning gossip ... speculated that it might have been a nod to stitching up the election via an antiquated procedure in Congress:
... If neither candidate reaches the 270 votes required to take the Electoral College, the outcome could be decided on Capitol Hill. In a contingent election, each state delegation in the House of Representatives gets a single vote for president and each state delegation in the Senate gets a vote for vice president, irrespective of the size of the states. For example, California with its 52 House representatives gets the same say as Vermont, which has one.
As things stand, more states lean Republican than Democratic...
https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-donald-trump-says-little-131226209.html
12kiparsky
>11 margd: It would be interesting if Trump thought that the thing that he tried to do last time was a "secret".
If he thinks that just because he's forgotten all about what happened in 2021, that means everyone else has, that's two points in favor of the "Demented Trump" hypothesis (which is currently running way out in front of Ezra Klein's "Trump Has Both Of His Marbles" scenario, in my book)
If he thinks that just because he's forgotten all about what happened in 2021, that means everyone else has, that's two points in favor of the "Demented Trump" hypothesis (which is currently running way out in front of Ezra Klein's "Trump Has Both Of His Marbles" scenario, in my book)
