Text of the speech: One of the lessons of the flag controversy is that if we stop shouting and start listening, we get more accomplished. We should all listen to each other more – we will all benefit from walking … Continue reading
I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, one of the most important pieces of legislation in U.S. history. It contained key protections for minority voters, especially blacks, who had been effectively … Continue reading
HuffPo: The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Monday that proposed budget cuts would force it to close all but four driver’s license offices, even though the state requires government-issued photo identification, like a driver’s license, to vote in elections. The … Continue reading
You can read the petition for en banc review here. The effect of this filing is to stay the mandate and to put the remand of the case on hold, at least for now. It is not clear if the … Continue reading
San Antonio Express News: The Obama administration and several civil rights groups are urging a federal appeals court to fast track the process of temporarily fixing Texas’ voter ID law in time for the upcoming Nov. 3 elections. In court … Continue reading
As I assume many readers of this blog noticed right away, E.J. Dionne wrongly described part of the 5th Circuit’s decision on Texas’ voter ID law in his recent piece, here, on voting rights. While correctly noting that the Court … Continue reading
Read. … Continue reading
Woah: But there may be room for compromise, according to a joint status report that plaintiffs filed Monday. In the report, they said “Plaintiffs’ pending photo ID claims may be able to be resolved through discussion and negotiations with Defendants.” … Continue reading
National Journal reports. … Continue reading
The Austin Chronicle reports. … Continue reading
You can read the report from BNA’s US Law Week at this link. Reproduced with permission from The United States Law Week,84 U.S.L.W. 157 (August 11, 2015). Copyright 2015 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) <http://www.bna.com> … Continue reading
Lincoln Caplan writes for The New Yorker on the Texas ruling. … Continue reading
Cristian Farias writes for HuffPo. … Continue reading
Here’s the audio of my talk with Texas Standard. … Continue reading
Mimi Marziani at ACS on the 5th Circuit’s voter id decision. … Continue reading
Erik Eckholm reports for the NYT. … Continue reading
The Texas Tribune reports. … Continue reading
[bumping to top] A unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has issued an opinion which is a great (but not complete) victory for those challenging Texas’s strict voter id law. The court affirms … Continue reading
The latest from the NC voting trial. … Continue reading
Would have loved to see Sean Trende testify and Dale Ho cross-examine him. … Continue reading
NYT editorial: The trial over North Carolina’s law may be the biggest test yet of the remaining strength of the Voting Rights Act. Already, the court has heard from citizens who voted for years without difficulty, but whose votes were … Continue reading
Erik Eckholm reports for the NYT. … Continue reading
The News & Observer reports. … Continue reading
Re-upping my Harvard Law Review Forum piece as the North Carolina voting right trial starts today. … Continue reading
AP trial curtain-raiser. … Continue reading
DocDawg at Daily Kos. … Continue reading
The Star reports. … Continue reading
Release: Today, as Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) introduce the Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA) on the eve of the second anniversary of Shelby County v. Holder, the Campaign Legal Center is releasing a short film … Continue reading
WRAL reports. … Continue reading
Fascinating piece called Better Judgment: Posner’s attention to consequences can lead him, like other empirically minded judges, to change his thinking. Eight years ago in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, an early challenge to a state law requiring voters to … Continue reading
News and Observer: Thursday’s change to the rule brought lukewarm support from opponents of voter ID laws and quick criticism from advocates. “It’s a shame to lose a court case without ever walking into court,” said Francis De Luca, president … Continue reading
Think Progress: “We are pleased that the legislature has taken steps to make North Carolina’s voter ID requirement less onerous than originally designed, said Bob Phillips with Common Cause North Carolina, while noting that he and others are “still deeply … Continue reading
Press release via email from the Southern Coalition for Social Justice: On the eve of trial in the legal challenge to North Carolina’s oppressive Voter ID law, the General Assembly has capitulated, voting overwhelmingly in both houses to allow qualified … Continue reading
Mary Lou Miller: When I was 7 years old, the 19th Amendment granting the right to vote for women was ratified, and I availed myself of that right and privilege as soon as I turned 21 in 1934. Over the … Continue reading
WaPo: In addition, Elias is behind challenges to Virginia’s elections maps at the state and congressional levels, which could force the state to redraw district boundaries this fall. “I have a lot of clients. I have brought other lawsuits in … Continue reading
Maggie Haberman reports for the NYT. … Continue reading
Via Maggie Haberman comes news of a new case filed by Marc Elias (the latest in a series of cases). The suit is Lee v. Virginia Board of Elections, and this time the Democratic Party is a party. You can … Continue reading
Now following up on GAB Responds to Think Progress on WI Voter ID Funding Question, Think Progress sends along the following response: Last Wednesday, as part of our ongoing coverage of voting rights across the country, our reporter attended the GAB’s … Continue reading
Following up on my post, WI Has Inadequate Funding for Voter ID Education Campaign, GAB public information officer Reid Magney reached out to say that he had issues with the facts as reported in the Think Progress piece I linked to. … Continue reading
In an earlier post, WI GAB Has Only Tiny Budget to Get Out Word About New Voter ID Requirements, I described problems with getting the word out about Wisconsin’s new voter id law [corrected]. The GAB spokesperson responded with a pretty … Continue reading
Back in 2012, I had a post , Allegation of Actual Impersonation Voter Fraud Attempt in Texas…and An Illustration of Why Such Fraud is Rare and Stupid, with a follow-up, More on the Voter Impersonation Fraud Case in Fort Worth about a woman … Continue reading
In response to an earlier post, WI GAB Has Only Tiny Budget to Get Out Word About New Voter ID Requirements, Reid Magney, public information officer for the GAB writes: Your tweet about GAB generated a call from MSNBC. … Continue reading
Troubling report from the GAB, indicating a budget of only $34,000 to get out the word about mandatory voter id requirements: The G.A.B. staff does not believe that voluntary efforts and free media will be adequate to the task of … Continue reading
Toledo Blade editorial: Ohioans face serious threats to the integrity of our democracy: income inequality, partisan gerrymandering, big-money politics. Voter fraud is not among these threats. Yet rather than address such pressing concerns, Republicans in the state House are again … Continue reading
Here. UPDATE: Here is the Texas Tribune report from oral argument. … Continue reading
The Texas Tribune reports. More from Kuff’s World, linking to this Tim Eaton piece (in which I’m quoted) behind the Statesman paywall. … Continue reading
AP reports. … Continue reading
Ari Berman writes for The Nation. … Continue reading
HuffPo reports. … Continue reading
Via Michael Li, here is the order. Chief Judge Carl Stewart (a Clinton appointee profiled here), Catharina Haynes (a GWB appointee) and federal district court judge Nannette Brown (sitting by designation), an Obama appointee. The 5th Circuit is among the most … Continue reading