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Voting Rights & Elections
By Keesha Gaskins – 03/29/12
The Brennan Center applauds the Missouri trial court for striking down the ballot summary for a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would have cleared the way for requiring voters to show photo identification. The court found that the language chosen by proponents of the measure was unfair and confusing to voters.
The summary that voters would have seen on the ballot read: "Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to adopt the Voter Protection Act and allow the General Assembly to provide by general law for advance voting prior to election day, voter photo identification requirements, and voter requirements based on whether one appears to vote in person or by absentee ballot?"
In her written opinion, Judge Joyce objects to the phrase Voter Protection Act. She writes that no such program exists currently or in companion legislation passed by the General Assembly. She also found against the summary statement in its use of the word "allow", because the state already has the authority to enact advanced voting, photo identification balloting and absentee voting.
"The summary statement fails in several respects to accurately inform citizens as to the subject matter on which they are asked to vote, and significant revisions would be required to correct the statement," wrote Joyce.
The Court sent the measure back to the legislature to clarify the language. This will not prevent a voter ID amendment from appearing on the ballot, but it will help ensure the measure is put to voters in a fair and balanced way.
Tags: Democracy, Voting Rights & Elections, Voter ID
By Erik Opsal – 03/27/12
Welcome to the Brennan Center's voting newsletter, the most comprehensive summary of all the latest developments affecting voting. Sign up for all Brennan Center newsletters here.
Latest Developments
New Florida Law Causes Registration Plunge
The New York Times has found that voter registration rates have dropped in Florida since the state curbed community-based drives last year. “In the months since its new law took effect in July, 81,471 fewer Floridians have registered to vote than during the same period four years ago,” the Times reports.
The law is so burdensome that the League of Women Voters of Florida and Rock the Vote have halted their registration drives, which local election officials said “has been a factor in the decline.” In addition, “new registrations dropped sharply in some areas where the voting-age population has been growing,” such as Miami-Dade County and the Orlando area.
The Brennan Center is involved in two separate suits challenging the new registration rules. This month, the Center’s Lee Rowland urged a federal judge to temporarily block the law, saying it was “devastating the work” of her clients.
Voter ID on Minnesota Ballot in November
Minnesota’s House and Senate passed two separate versions of a strict voter ID bill last week, which will create a ballot measure in November 2012 asking voters to make the rules part of the state constitution.
“Until now, Minnesota’s election system has served as a beacon,” said the Brennan Center’s Keesha Gaskins. “The current system provides eligible citizens full and fair access to the ballot, resulting in the highest voter turnout in every national election since 1996.”
Opponents have vowed to fight the ballot measure, saying it could disenfranchise thousands, particularly the elderly, students, and minorities. Proponents say it is needed to prevent voter fraud. (More rare than being struck by lightning, according to Brennan Center research.)
"I willingly admit there is some burden that will be placed on some of our citizens,” the bill's sponsor, Sen. Scott Newman, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
State Democrats said the amendment would also “essentially end same-day voter registration,” a popular measure that has been in place since 1973.
State Updates
South Carolina – The League of Women Voters of South Carolina, represented by the Brennan Center and other groups, asked to join a lawsuit challenging the state’s new voter ID law. After the Justice Department rejected the law because of its discriminatory effect on minority voters, South Carolina sued in federal court. Last week, a panel of federal judges allowed the ACLU to intervene in the case.
Pennsylvania – Pennsylvania’s governor signed a voter ID bill into law, which opponents have vowed to fight. Election officials have begun to worry about the cost and logistics of implementing the law. Some student ID cards were approved as valid voter IDs, while others will not be valid. Activists protested outside Philadelphia DMV offices. Read more here and here.
Texas – While trying to get its voter ID law approved by the federal government, Texas is now directly challenging a piece of the Voting Rights Act, claiming it is unconstitutional. The state is trying to keep legislators from giving depositions on the law, which they claim prevents voter fraud. An analysis from the San Antonio Express-News, however, shows less than five complaints of “illegal voting” out of 13 million votes cast. Opponents of the law called it “another 21st Century poll tax.” Read more here and here. The trial will begin on July 9.
Virginia – A voter ID bill is still awaiting signature from Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has not taken a public position on the measure. State Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said he thought the bill has a ’50-50’ shot at surviving Justice Department review.
Wisconsin – The judge who ruled Wisconsin’s voter ID law violated the state constitution denied a motion to delay the effect of his ruling. The delay was sought by the state Department of Justice, which, in a separate case, requested an appellate court to stay a temporary restraining order blocking the law. Read more here.
Colorado – The state House cleared a bill that would require photo ID to vote. Secretary of State Scott Gessler also asked the Department of Homeland Security to check the citizenship status of 4,500 registered voters.
Connecticut – A bill allowing same-day voter registration advanced in the Senate. Read an op-ed supporting the measure from the Brennan Center’s Nic Riley and Myrna Pérez.
Illinois – In last week’s election, ballots in nearly a quarter of Illinois’ counties were too large for scanning machines. A voter ID proposal failed in a Senate committee.
Kansas – All Kansas college photo IDs are valid for voting, it was determined recently. The state Senate is considering a proposal to move up the start date for a proof of citizenship requirement for registration.
Kentucky – A man who committed a felony 14 years ago and spent nine years in the U.S. Army, wrote an op-ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader urging the state legislature to allow a voter referendum that would automatically restore voting rights to most persons with criminal convictions in their past. Read letters in support from law enforcement and religious leaders.
Maine – The state Senate approved a bill to study voter registration.
Michigan – A House committee approved a bill to require photo ID to get an absentee ballot. Read more here.
Minnesota – Both chambers of the legislature passed a voter ID bill last week. The measure, which amends the state constitution, would go before the voters on the November ballot. Opponents have vowed to fight the new rule, and the Star Tribune calls a court fight “inevitable.”
Mississippi – Mississippi voters approved a constitutional amendment last fall requiring photo ID to vote. The state house passed a bill that would implement voter ID. Opponents are urging the Justice Department to reject the law.
Missouri – Lawmakers have proposed a voter ID constitutional amendment, and a judge is now considering a challenge to the measure.
Nebraska – A county official eliminated half of Omaha’s voting sites, and voting rights advocates have threatened to sue. Read more here and here.
New Hampshire – A bill requiring voters to become state residents (by declaring residency, registering their car, and applying for a New Hampshire driver’s license) passed the Senate.
Ohio – One state lawmakers said “Ohio is not meeting its obligation to update voter registrations when voters change their address with the” Bureau of Motor Vehicles. PolitiFact checks it out and rates it true. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers are trying to repeal the controversial election law passed last year and replace it with a new one. The law will be on the ballot in November.
Tennessee – State lawmakers introduced a bill to repeal Tennessee’s voter ID law. Read more here.
See our up-to-date summary of all pending and passed voting laws.
New Data and Research
Allow ‘Pre-Registration’ at 16
Ceridwen Cherry writes in the University of Michigan of Journal of Law Reform:
“Lagging youth participation rates threaten participatory democracy and undermine the representation of young people’s interests in elected government. However, the percentage of registered youth who actually cast ballots is very high. The correlation between registration and actual voter participation suggests that when given assistance and greater opportunities to register, young citizens will vote. This Note proposes a national pre-registration law that would allow voter registration to begin at age sixteen. Such a law would be feasible, constitutional, and politically viable and may increase not only the voter participation of young people, but also the socioeconomic diversity of the electorate.” Read more.
Media Round-Up
- USA Today editorial: “The biggest problem at the polls isn't unqualified people scheming to vote illegally. It's qualified voters staying home by the millions.”
- Wendy Weiser, director of the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, analyzed voter ID laws on PBS NewsHour.
- The Center’s Myrna Pérez appeared on MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Parry show to discuss restrictive voting laws and restoring the right to vote.
- Andrew Cohen, legal analyst for The Atlantic, explained “how voter ID laws are being used to disenfranchise minorities and the poor.”
- “DOJ Follows Its ‘Conscience’ In Civil Rights Battles,” according to a NPR report.
- As voting law challenges continue to stack up, Ryan J. Reilly at TPM said “the voting wars could get bloody.” Reilly cited the Brennan Center’s new analysis showing 70 percent of the electoral votes needed to win the presidency now come from states with new restrictive voting laws.
- Watch NBC’s interview with Attorney General Eric Holder on voter ID laws.
- The Nation’s Ben Adler wrote about the “assault on the Voting Rights Act,” detailing Texas’ challenge to the landmark civil rights law.
- The Tea Party is launching an effort to challenge voters at the polls, NPR reported.
Other News
Stay Connnected
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Tags: Newsletter, Democracy, Voting Rights & Elections
By Keesha Gaskins – 03/26/12
Today is the 200th Anniversary of the first Gerrymander. The cartoon-map first appeared in the Boston Gazette on March 26, 1812 when Jeffersonian Republicans forced a bill through the Massachusetts legislature rearranging district lines to assure them an advantage in the upcoming senatorial elections. Although Governor Elbridge Gerry had only reluctantly signed the law, a Federalist editor is said to have exclaimed upon seeing the new district lines, "Salamander! Call it a Gerrymander."
So here we are in 2012. As noted by Professor Justin Levitt of Loyola School of Law in California, “every 10 years, redistricting litigation joins death and taxes as one of life's certainties.” Although redistricting is nearly complete in almost every state, there is no shortage of controversy. Professor Levitt notes 113 cases impacting federal or statewide redistricting have been filed so far this cycle, in 31 different states -- with 26 new cases in November and December alone.
New York legislators sued, and lost, attempting to prevent enactment of the prison-based gerrymandering law to finally and fairly count prisoners in their home district rather than at the prisons where they are detained. The state of Texas sought to avoid an interim plan from a federal court while its questionable legislative redistricting plan undergoes the necessary analysis to ensure it does not unfairly negatively impact minority voters.
The voice of the voter is lost in much of the political brouhaha that is redistricting. Certainly, more states are moving toward commissions, or at least less-partisan redistricting processes. The highest profile models for both are California and Florida. California used a non-partisan commission, and Florida’s legislature used newly-enacted constitutional amendments to restrain legislators from using certain types of partisan data or considerations in drawing its new districts. Beyond the states, there are municipalities engaging new methods to attempt to take partisanship and incumbent protectionism out of the redistricting process. It is not clear, yet, how successful these efforts are at (1) removing partisan bias and (2) ensuring that the redistricting outcomes are as inclusive as the processes that produce them.
After 200 years of political wrangling, it is reasonable to wonder what the urgency of the problem is now. 2012 carries with it an urgency to ensure that our democratic system can fulfill its promises to the American voter. We are seeing a concentration of wealth, power, and political strength of the kind our country has never seen before:
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The Brookings Institute recently noted that the country is burdened by high levels of economic inequality and insecurity that the Great Recession amplified, rather than caused.
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Upward mobility, particularly for those at the bottom of the income distribution, continues to fall short as compared to other Western nations.
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As of March 26, 2012, the LA Times reports that a total of 44 super PACs have spent $79 million since February 2012.
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Restrictive voting laws have passed in 13 states. Those states control 189 electoral votes in the upcoming presidential election – totaling 70 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed to elect the next president.
The use of redistricting to shore up political power is part of a crisis undermining the rights, freedoms, and efficacy of individual voters in America. Our time is seeing the playing field flooded with money, political inequity mirroring financial inequity, and laws restricting voting or access to the polls passing nationwide at a rate not seen since the Jim Crow era of the 1890’s. Gerrymandering is 200 years old today — we cannot let it see another birthday.
Tags: Redistricting, Voting Rights & Elections
By Lawrence Norden – 03/22/12
Crossposted on the Open Society Foundations blog.
The past week has seen some real pushback against the wave of new voting laws that has recently swept across the country. To recap, since the beginning of 2011, 21 new voting laws have passed in 16 states. Some states require voters to show government-issued photo identification, often of a type that as many as 1 in 10 voters do not have. Other states have cut back on early voting, a hugely popular innovation used by millions of Americans. Two states reversed earlier reforms and once again disenfranchised millions who have past criminal convictions but who are now taxpaying members of the community. Still others made it more difficult for citizens to register to vote, a prerequisite for voting.
The Brennan Center has estimated that it could be significantly more difficult for 5 million Americans to cast ballots in 2012.
Not all of these restrictions will survive legal scrutiny. This week in Florida, a federal judge is considering whether to block a law that places multiple restrictions on community-based voter registration drives. Already, the Department of Justice, in a separate lawsuit, opposed Florida’s law. And on Monday, the DOJ rejected a voter ID law in Texas (after blocking South Carolina’s law in December), and a judge ruled that Wisconsin’s voter ID law violated the state constitution.
Many of the legal challenges focus on who is disproportionately harmed by these new restrictions: specifically, the young, minority, and low-income voters, as well as on voters with disabilities. After tremendous progress for equality and civil rights over the last century, it feels like the clock is being turned back. President Bill Clinton is among a number of commentators who have likened the phenomenon to the “Jim Crow” laws of the old South. Ostensibly intended to prevent voter fraud — something the Brennan Center and others have repeatedly shown is not a real problem — the legislation we’re seeing today will make it harder for certain groups of citizens, including elderly, minority and low-income Americans, to participate in the political process.
Instead of making voting more difficult, we should be working to improve actual flaws in our electoral system, like our outdated voter registration system. That system wastes millions of dollars and keeps a large percentage of Americans out of the political process. Error-ridden voter rolls are a leading cause of disenfranchisement in every election. If we modernized this system, by, for example, automating the registration process at places like departments of motor vehicles and social service agencies, we could ensure that voter records are accurate and up to date. This could expand the franchise to more than 65 million Americans who are not currently registered, while reducing any risk of fraud.
We should look to take the politics out of election administration, so that it is once again about making voting work, rather than keeping people from the polls.
Tags: Democracy, Voting Rights & Elections, Voter ID, Voter Registration Drives
By John Travis – 03/22/12
Crossposted at ReformNY.
Although both sides have declared victory, the race to replace State Senator Carl Krueger remains too close to call. The preliminary results released by the Board of Elections show David Storobin with a 143 vote lead over Lew Fidler. While several news outlets have focused on the 757 absentee ballots which remain to be counted, recent anomalies with New York's voting machines show that in a very close contest, only a hand count can ensure that the right contestant has won.
Just last month, the results of an upstate City Council race declared to have been won by challenger Augustine Beyer by a single vote were overturned after a full hand recount revealed a two-vote discrepancy that tilted the race in incumbent Richard Slisz’s favor. The voting machine was unable to read one improperly marked ballot where the voting oval had been circled rather than filled in. The hand inspection was enough for election officials to determine that the voter's intent had been to vote for Mr. Slisz. Perhaps more troubling however, was the second ballot with a vote for Mr. Slisz’s that was never scanned or registered by the machine at all.
Furthermore, the results from a Daily News investigation into the exceptionally high overvote rates the Brennan Center uncovered in the South Bronx indicate that these voting machines are far from infallible. The Daily News found that one of the machines used to scan ballots in the South Bronx made errors in reading nearly 70 percent of ballots during the September 2010 primary.
In our report analyzing overvote rates in New York, we listed one of the precincts in Mr. Kruger’s district — AD 46, ED 051— as having Brooklyn’s 8th highest overvote rate in 2010. Many other precincts in this senate district did not provide any data at all, but given the demographics of the district, it seems likely that there were other precincts with high overvote rates both in 2010 and 2012. In some of those cases, voter intent may be clear to the human eye, but not a machine.
Unfortunately, New York City does not publish the number overvotes — as is done in Rockland County— making it virtually impossible for anyone outside the Board of Elections to identify areas where voting machines have registered high rates of uncounted votes.
A provision adopted by the City Board of Elections requires a hand recount of paper ballots in contests where the margin of victory is less than 10 votes or half a percent of the total votes cast. Given the newness of these machines and recent history, even a margin slightly higher may warrant a careful hand recount to ensure that the actual winner is declared the victor. If a recount does happen, look for totals (and maybe even the declared winner) to change.
Tags: Democracy, NY Reform, Voting Rights & Elections, Ballot & Election Material Design, Voting Technology
By Keesha Gaskins – 03/15/12
I had the pleasure of speaking with Kerry Miller of the Daily Circuit on Minnesota Public Radio on the subject of Voter ID laws. Minnesota currently has a proposed constitutional amendment moving through its legislature to impose strict photo ID restrictions on voters and possibly eliminate Election Day registration. I take great pride in the fact that my home state of Minnesota consistently has the highest turnout in the country, and I’m pained by this legislation that is sure to reduce opportunities for voter participation across the state.
I want to correct a common misperception that came up during show, suggesting that voter turnout among Hispanic voters in Georgia has increased since the passage of its restrictive no-photo, no-vote photo ID law.
Motivation for voter turnout is notoriously difficult to measure. It’s a moving target, not lending itself easily to empirical methods of evaluation. But in this case, any assertion that voter turnout among Hispanics increased in Georgia following enactment of its strict voter ID law is simply not true.
According to the GA Secretary of State,Georgia’s Hispanic turnout (calculated as a percentage of registered voters) was lower in 2010 than in 2006, and it was lower in 2008 than in 2004. See table below:
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Registered Hispanic Voters
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Actual Hispanic Voters
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Hispanic Turnout %
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2004
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30,148
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18,240
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60.5%
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2006
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43,514
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11,601
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26.7%
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2008
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73,375
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43,717
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59.6%
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2010
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75,658
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19,320
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25.5%
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The number of Hispanic voters was greater in the 2010 election than in the 2006 election, and in the 2008 election than in the 2004 election, as the total population of registered Hispanic voters increased by 73.9 percent and 144 percent, respectively. However, there was a slight reduction in the percentage of voter turnout for Hispanics between presidential election years 2004 and 2008 and non-presidential election years 2006 and 2010.
While simple turnout numbers from a single state cannot tell us exactly what impact new voter restrictions have on voter turnout, it’s clear that in Georgia, the percentage of minority voter turnout has not increased following enactment of its strict voter ID law.
Strict voter ID laws are absolutely the wrong policy direction for this country. Voter participation rates across all racial, ethnic and socio-economic are dropping each election year. Georgia has seen voter participation rates in the fastest growing ethnic population over the past decade stay flat or decline. As we consider what is best for America, increased voter participation is essential to restoring faith in our democracy and strict voter ID laws that fail to solve any real problems are wrong for America.
Tags: Democracy, Voting Rights & Elections, Voter ID
By Erik Opsal – 03/13/12
This is the Brennan Center's new voting newsletter. Check back for bi-weekly updates on the latest voting news. Encourage your friends to sign up, here.
Latest Developments
Justice Department Rejects Texas Voter ID Law
The Department of Justice objected to Texas’ voter ID law Monday, determining the law would discriminate against minority voters, particularly Hispanics.
“Even using the data most favorable to the state, Hispanics disproportionately lack either a driver’s license or a personal identification card,” Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said in a letter to the Texas director of elections.
The same day, the Brennan Center and other legal groups moved to intervene to stop the restrictive photo ID law, which will also be reviewed in federal court. The motion, on behalf of the Texas NAACP and the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, argues the law erects unnecessary barriers to voting and disenfranchises hundreds of thousands of minority voters.
“Decades ago, our nation passed the Voting Rights Act to combat this kind of discrimination,” said Brennan Center Senior Counsel Myrna Pérez. “We urge the federal court to stand up for voters by blocking this law.”
This news comes just days after a Houston Chronicle analysis found that Texas’ voter ID law “could affect as many as 2.3 million registered voters.” (Image source: Houston Chronicle)
Court Rejects Voter Suppression Efforts
As November approaches, voter intimidation looms as a next battleground. A federal court in Philadelphia last week made clear the limits to what is allowed.
The judge upheld a long-standing consent decree prohibiting the Republican National Committee from using improper election tactics. The consent decree specifically bars the organization from using voter challengers, poll watchers, and a practice known as “vote caging” to target and intimidate voters of color.
“Under the agreement, the Republican National Committee must obtain court approval before implementing certain poll-monitoring activities in minority precincts,” Reuters reports.
The court’s opinion described how poll watchers and poll challengers have the potential to disenfranchise lawful voters by causing delays, crowding, and confusion inside the polling place and creating a charged partisan atmosphere that can intimidate many new voters. Here’s an analysis of these past problems.
With the 2012 election fast approaching, it is important for state officials to ensure other political groups — not just the RNC — follow the law and refrain from using poll watchers to intimidate or discriminate against voters, writes the Brennan Center’s Nic Riley.
State Updates
Pennsylvania – The state Senate passed a voter ID bill, which the House is expected to vote on today. Opponents of the bill are still fighting, saying it limits a basic right. Read more here and here. Read an op-ed opposing the law from Keesha Gaskins, senior counsel at the Brennan Center.
Wisconsin – A Dane County judge ruled Wisconsin’s voter ID law unconstitutional on Monday and “permanently barred further steps” to enforce it. This comes one week after another judge, in a separate lawsuit, temporarily blocked the law before the April 3 presidential primary. Read the Brennan Center’s statement. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced he will appeal the decision.
Meanwhile, after a veteran protested at the polls because they wouldn’t accept his ID, a state Rep. introduced a bill to allow Veterans Affairs cards to vote. Lawmakers are also pushing the Seniors Vote Act, which would require the DMV “to take photos of seniors at their residence” for voter IDs.
Florida – A federal court is expected to make a decision soon on whether to block enforcement of the state’s voting law, which the Brennan Center’s Lee Rowland called “a mess.” Read more here and here. The Department of Justice objected to the law in a filing to the court. A proposal to increase early voting was rejected in the state Senate.
Virginia – A voter ID bill passed the House and is headed to the governor’s desk for signature. Read the Washington Post editorial urging Gov. McDonnell not to sign the bill. Read more here.
Tennessee – Former Rep. Lincoln Davis was denied the right to vote on Super Tuesday after he was incorrectly purged from the rolls. Watch Davis on Current TV fighting back “against voter suppression tactics.”
California – Nonprofit groups filed a lawsuit arguing “convicted felons serving time in county jails should be allowed to vote.”
Colorado – Secretary of State Scott Gessler has repeatedly claimed non-citizens are registered to vote. What do election officials think? “I really have no idea what he is talking about,” Republican Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Sheila Reiner. Read more about Colorado and the voter ID war.
Illinois – A voter ID bill was held up in a Senate committee.
Iowa – The Senate Majority Leader said a proposed voter ID bill will not move forward this year.
Minnesota – State Democrats continue to push electronic poll books as an alternative to voter ID. In the meantime, the Senate Finance Committee advanced the voter ID measure, which could be on the ballot as a referendum this November.
Nebraska – Debate continues on a voter ID bill.
New Hampshire – The state Senate voted 18-5 in favor of a voter ID bill, which now heads to the House.
Ohio – An 86-year-old man with a Veterans Affairs ID was not allowed to vote in the Super Tuesday primary. “My beef is that I had to pay a driver to take me up there because I don’t walk so well and have to use this cane and now I can’t even vote,” said Paul Carroll.
Texas – As detailed above, the Department of Justice objected to the state’s voter ID law because of its disproportionate impact on minority voters. The Brennan Center has sought to intervene in federal court to stop the law. Meanwhile, a Houston Chronicle analysis found that the state’s law “could affect as many as 2.3 million registered voters.”
West Virginia – A House committee debated a voter ID bill.
See our comprehensive update of voting law changes through 2011.
National Landscape
- The New York Times and Washington Post applauded the Justice Department for rejecting the Texas voter ID law.
- Ari Berman at Rolling Stone: “War on Voting Targets Swing States.”
- CQ’s Eliza Newlin Carney wrote a cover story on “The Election’s Second Front” — restrictive voting laws. Also see the follow-up story on groups waging battle over voter ID laws.
- Ms. Magazine also wrote about the war on voting, highlighting the fight in Florida and citing extensively from the Brennan Center’s research.
- Will Oremus at Slate asked: Is Obama letting the Voting Rights Act “die before the Supreme Court kills it?”
- The National Urban League named voting as the number one issue for African Americans in 2012. See more at CNN and MSNBC.
- The NAACP will head to Geneva this week to discuss suppressive voting laws before a UN panel.
- RT News reported on America’s outdated voter registration system, speaking to Brennan Center expert Lawrence Norden.
- The New York Times commented on the lack of “dead voters” in South Carolina.
- Rachel Maddow highlighted a former Marine in Tennessee who challenged the state’s new voter ID law.
- The Nation discussed voting law changes in two swing states — Pennsylvania and Florida.
New Data and Research
Broken Ballots: Will Your Vote Count?
“Whatever the truth may be, the recounts and legal conflicts that followed Election 2000 raised serious doubts about the integrity of our system of elections. We are not interested in re-hashing the outcome of that election, but, like Joseph Harris over 75 years ago, we want to answer two questions: How did the United States come to accept voting systems and systems of election administration that could produce such unclear outcomes? And what can we do to improve things?” Read more about this new book from by Douglas W. Jones and Barbara Simons.
Other News
- A Tennessee Congressman introduced a bill to provide free IDs to vote.
- Election experts Rob Richie and Paul Gronke called for ranked-choice ballots as a way to uphold voter rights.
- Redistricting delays in Texas have caused havoc with the state’s voter registration cards. Read more at electiononlineWeekly.
Stay Connected
Tags: Newsletter, Democracy, Voting Rights & Elections, Challenges, Caging & Vote Suppression, Voter ID, Voter Registration Drives
By Nicolas Riley – 03/12/12
Almost 47 years to the day after a peaceful voting rights march in Selma, Alabama, ended in violence on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a federal court in Philadelphia struck a major blow against modern day voter intimidation tactics.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a long-standing consent decree prohibiting the Republican National Committee (RNC) from engaging in underhanded campaign practices aimed at depressing voter turnout in communities of color. The consent decree, which arose out of a 1981 voting rights lawsuit against the RNC, bars the organization from using voter challengers, poll watchers, and vote caging plans to target and intimidate voters of color. It specifically precludes the RNC’s poll watchers from overstepping their role as election observers and prohibits them from asking voters for identification, filming or recording voters, and distributing literature about voter fraud penalties. After a federal district court denied the RNC’s request to dissolve the consent decree in 2009, the RNC appealed to the Third Circuit.
In unanimously rejecting the RNC’s appeal, the Third Circuit highlighted the continuing threat that voter intimidation poses to our election system. The court’s opinion described how poll watchers and poll challengers have the potential to disenfranchise lawful voters by causing delays, crowding, and confusion inside the polling place and creating a charged partisan atmosphere that can intimidate many new voters. The Brennan Center has highlighted these problems in the past and applauds the court for upholding this important safeguard against voter suppression.
The court’s decision represents a significant victory for voters but also serves as a critical reminder about the need to protect against the kinds of pernicious voter intimidation tactics that the court discussed in its opinion. With the 2012 election fast approaching, it is important that state officials take steps to ensure that other political groups—not just the RNC—follow the law and refrain from using poll watchers to intimidate or discriminate against voters. In 2010, reports surfaced about political campaigns and other private organizations attempting to engage in the kinds of activities that the Third Circuit described. The Department of Justice investigated the poll-watching efforts of one such organization in Harris County, Texas, after fielding complaints that the group’s members were interfering with the voting process in predominantly black and Latino voting precincts. As these organizations ramp up their efforts to recruit poll watchers for the upcoming presidential election, election officials must be prepared to enforce the law and protect voters.
Tags: Democracy, Voting Rights & Elections, Challenges, Caging & Vote Suppression
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