Brennan Center for Justice

Latest Developments

Voter Registration for the 21st Century

Are dead people voting? A South Carolina commissionfound no evidence of deceased citizens casting ballots in recent elections.

“The findings are not a big surprise because what often appears to be ‘dead’ people voting usually involves something else — such as clerical errors — once officials investigate,” NPR reports.

The Palmetto State report comes on the heels of a Pew Center on the States study showing that 1 in 8 voter registration records are flawed and that at least one in four eligible Americans are not registered to vote.

“What all of these alarming numbers show is that our nation’s ramshackle voter registration system is broken and out of date,” said the Brennan Center’s Lawrence Norden. “We need to modernize it. This common sense reform would cost less, add millions to the rolls, and curb any possibility of fraud.”

Read the Brennan Center’s proposal to modernize our voter registration system, our comprehensive study on new voting restrictions that could make it harder for 5 million people to vote, and our report on voter registration around the world. (Image source: Pew Center on the States)

Federal Judge to Review Florida Election Law

Tomorrow, a federal judge in Tallahassee will hold a hearing on Florida’s new election law, which curbs community-based registration drives. The judge will decide whether to freeze the law while the court considers Plaintiffs' claims that it violates the U.S. Constitution and federal statutes. The Brennan Center and others sued on behalf of the League of Women Voters, Rock the Vote, and the Florida PIRG. Read more at The New York Times.

Update in the States

Colorado – A proposed voter ID bill advanced in the state House. Unlike last year, legislators are not pushing a proof of citizenship requirement. Secretary of State Gessler said “he felt he could address the issue outside the halls of the capitol with means available to him through his office.” Also, a group of voters filed a lawsuit claiming the state’s election practices are unconstitutional.

Florida – U.S. Senate Democrats held a hearing on the state’s controversial election law. Read the Brennan Center’s written testimony and other testimony here. Read Jonathan Brater’s op-ed urging Florida to modernize its voter registration system. See more coverage here, here, and here.

Georgia – A state Senator introduced a bill to expand ballot access “through online registration and same day voter registration.”

Illinois – The state Senate introduced a voter ID bill.

Indiana – Voting fraud, found at last! Secretary of State Charlie White was sentenced to one year on home detention after being convicted of six felony charges, including voter fraud. Read more here and here.

Iowa – A proposed voter ID bill received a “tepid response” from legislative leaders. Read an editorial opposing the law.

Kentucky – The state House moved one step closer to restoring voting rights to individuals with past criminal convictions. Editorial boards have pushed for the change. See the Brennan Center’s work on this issue.

Kansas – Secretary of State Kris Kobach may move up the start date of citizenship requirements for voter registration. Opponents are considering a legal challenge to the state’s voter ID law.

Maine – A voter ID bill was tabled in Maine. Read more here and here.

Maryland – To save money and boost turnout, state Del. Jon Cardin urged election officials to conduct special elections by mail. A House committee is also considering a voter ID bill, which has been rejected in past years.

Michigan – The state Senate passed a package of restrictive voting bills, which would require a photo ID to register to vote. The bill would also require training for groups engaging in voter registration drives.

Minnesota – The state is considering a proposed constitutional amendment to require photo ID to vote, which passed out of a key Senate committee. Opponents of the law say one ad in support of the bill is racist. Read more here and here. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie proposed electronic poll books as a possible bipartisan solution. Read more here.

Missouri – A voter ID measure was approved by the state House. Read more here.

Nebraska – A coalition of groups protested a voter ID bill, saying it would “disenfranchise some voters — particularly the poor, the elderly and minorities.” Watch an investigation into who is behind the state's law. Read more here and here.

New Hampshire – The state Senate will vote on a voter ID bill next week. The state House also passed a bill “that would effectively prohibit out-of-state students from voting in New Hampshire unless they maintained legal residence in the state.”

New Mexico – As it has in years past, a House committee voted down a voter ID bill.

North Carolina –The state legislature is considering overriding the governor’s veto of a photo ID bill. A bipartisan group of election officials asked the state to release $4 million in election assistance funds under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

Ohio – Secretary of State Jon Husted urged lawmakers to repeal last year’s voting law and revisit election reform after the election. A majority of voters support the repeal. The law will be on the ballot as a referendum in November. Read more here and here.

Pennsylvania – The state Senate is considering a voter ID bill. Read Keesha Gaskins’ op-ed opposing the bill.

Rhode Island – State officials are providing free photo IDs in advance of April’s election.

South Carolina – The Attorney General filed a lawsuit after the DOJ blocked its voter ID law. Read more here. Lawmakers also introduced a bill making it harder for voter registration groups to conduct registration drives. And after initially claiming hundreds of dead voters cast ballots in recent elections, state officials found no evidence supporting the claim.

South Dakota – A Native American tribe sued over early voting.

Tennessee – Disability advocates urged repeal of the state’s voter ID law, saying it is “unfair to the disabled because it raises hurdles to their casting their ballots in person.” In response to the law, dozens of ministers are launching a drive to make sure all eligible voters are able to cast a ballot. Read more here.

Texas – Attorney General Greg Abbott filed a lawsuit asking the D.C. District Court to allow the state to implement its voter ID law, which the Department of Justice is currently reviewing. A voting rights group also filed a lawsuit, claiming the state’s restrictive voting practices have suppressed the voter rolls. 

Virginia – The state Senate passed a voter ID bill, which heads back to the House for approval. Read the Washington Post editorial and Virginian-Pilot column opposing the measure. The Commonwealth Institute reported that one version of the bill would cost the state millions of dollars to implement.

Wisconsin – A state judge will rule on March 9 on whether a lawsuit challenging the state’s voter ID law can proceed. Church leaders got the word out about the new ID law, which first went into effect for the February 21 primary. And the state Senate passed a bill that could make it harder for high school students to register to vote.

See our comprehensive update of voting law changes through 2011.

National Opinion

• USA Today detailed the spread of voter ID laws — and the lawsuits challenging the laws. MSNBC also wrote an in-depth rundown. See the Brennan Center’s research on how 11 percent of Americans don’t have government-issued ID.
• David Firestone of The New York Times asked: “Will Voter ID Laws Disenfranchise Democratic Voters?”
• The Los Angeles Times editorialized in favor of modernizing our voter registration system.
• In response to Pew’s voter registration report, Michael Scherer at Time noted, “The United States of America Still Doesn’t Know How To Vote.”
• New York Times Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal wrote about the Minnesota ACLU’s offer to provide a $1,000 reward for providing an example of voter impersonation in the last 10 years. Read the Brennan Center’s study, The Truth About Voter Fraud.
• Professor Alexander Keyssar wrote on “The Strange Career of Voter Suppression.”
• The New York Times editorialized on voting and racial history, focusing on the attacks on Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
• In the Boston Review, the Brennan Center’s Jonathan Brater wrote about why we still need Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act
• The Washington Post called for voting rights to be restored to individuals with past criminal convictions. Also see op-ed’s from former Nixon Special Counsel Charles Colson and Rev. H. David Schuringa.

New Data and Research

Voter ID in Virginia: An Expensive Mistake

“While requirements for voter ID may sound reasonable at first glance, the bills being pushed in Virginia go beyond any reasonable requirements and are far too restrictive and expensive to deserve support.” Read more.

Other News

• The president of Chile signed a law to automatically register citizens to vote. But the United States — where up to 35 percent of citizens who are eligible to vote are not registered — does not have this policy in place.
• Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced the Democracy Restoration Act, a bill to restore voting rights in federal elections to individuals with criminal convictions. Check out this piece in The Hill from the Brennan Center's Nicole Austin-Hillery and Nic Riley. Read more about the Democracy Restoration Act here.
• The electionlineWeekly reports on the Overseas Vote Foundation’s Sixth Annual Summit “where participants highlighted progress made and noted the challenges that still remain in ensuring that military and overseas voters can successfully cast their absentee ballots.”