Voting Newsletter: Commission Can Modernize Elections, March on Washington's Voting Rights Focus
Latest Developments
Presidential Voting Commission Can Modernize Elections
The Presidential Commission on Election Administration held its fourth public meeting Wednesday in Philadelphia, hearing testimony from election officials, political scientists, and voting experts, including Brennan Center Counsel Jonathan Brater, who offered four key reforms to improve voting and reduce long lines.
- Modernize Voter Registration: Leveraging existing technology, such as online registration, will simplify registration and enhance the security and accuracy of our voter rolls.
- Expand Early Voting: More opportunities to vote will reduce congestion and stress on Election Day.
- Improve Polling Place Resource Management: Appropriate distribution of machines and poll workers will reduce long lines.
- Simplify Ballots and Voting Machines: Resolving recurring voting machine problems and making election materials more clear will make elections run more smoothly.
Learn more on Voter Registration Modernization.
Voting Rights at Center of March on Washington Rally
The nation’s top political leaders called for renewed voting rights protections during last week’s March on Washington 50th anniversary rally.
We need to challenge “those who erect new barriers to the vote,” President Barack Obama proclaimed, and guarantee “the scales of justice work equally for all.” In an interview after his speech, Obama said he would work with both parties in Congress to fix the Voting Rights Act, but, in the meantime, direct the Justice Department to enforce the law “in jurisdictions that seem to be intent on preventing people from voting.”
Watch Myrna Pérez discuss the March on Washington and the Voting Rights Act on PBS.
State Updates
Florida – Gov. Rick Scott (R) has renewed his effort to purge the voter rolls, which was halted before last year’s election. Purportedly intended to remove non-citizens from the voting lists, purges can disproportionately affect duly-registered minority voters. This process will likely be fairer than the one last year, said Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida ACLU, because county election officials “got burned last time and are more skeptical now.” Watch Wendy Weiser discuss the initiative on MSNBC’s “Hardball.”
Kansas – Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) and Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett (R) have filed suit demanding the Election Assistance Commission revise federal voter registration rules. Kansas and Arizona both have laws requiring proof of citizenship to register. Arizona’s law was invalidated after a June Supreme Court ruling. Kansas’s similar measure, which the ACLU has threatened to challenge, has already caused problems for more than 15,000 voters this year who tried to register at motor vehicle offices.
New York – Use of ancient lever-pull voting machines in New York City’s primary elections next Tuesday could cause serious problems if a mayoral runoff is necessary. The machines are prone to breakdowns, and it’s possible the tallies could be in dispute as the runoff approaches.
North Carolina – The governor signed a sweeping package of voting restrictions last month, which experts have called “the most restrictive voting law” since the enactment of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Watch Myrna Pérez discuss the laws on C-SPAN.
Ohio – In a Cleveland Plain Dealer op-ed, Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) endorsed online voter registration as a key tool to “make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
Pennsylvania – The state’s voter ID law will not be in effect for the November 2013 election, Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley ruled last month. The judge is still considering whether to block the law permanently.
Texas – The Justice Department is suing Texas to block the state’s voter ID law, arguing it discriminates against minorities.
Click here for the Brennan Center’s comprehensive list of 2013 state voting proposals.
New Data and Research
Lining Up: Ensuring Equal Access to the Right to Vote
The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Advancement Project released a new report on last year’s voting rights fight, the problems experienced by voters of color in 2012, and recommended reforms. It also highlights new voting measures in 2013 and explains why the war on voting is not over, particularly after the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder.
Media Round-Up
- Journalists made a mistake by trying to present “both sides” of the civil rights struggle. They’re doing the same with the recent fight over voting rights, wrote Brennan Center Fellow Andrew Cohen in The Atlantic.
- Federal voting protections go far beyond the Voting Rights Act. Legal scholars are taking a new look at the Constitution’s elections clause, which can help ensure fairness in voting, reported The New York Times.
- As Congress considers fixing the Voting Rights Act, it should focus on combating discrimination, not general election reform, argued George Washington Law Professor Spencer Overton in The American Prospect. A bipartisan agreement on fighting discrimination is more likely to be attained than overall reform measures, which are viewed through a partisan lens, he said.
- The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee launched a “50-state initiative to promote voting reforms that would make it easier to cast a ballot,” reported Reid Wilson in The Washington Post.
