Voting Newsletter: Michigan Gov. Vetoes Restrictive Voting Bill
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Michigan Governor Vetoes Restrictive Voting Bill
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) vetoed a package of restrictive voting laws today. One bill would have restricted voter registration drives, using a provision similar to one in Florida that was blocked by a federal judge last month.
“Gov. Snyder did the right thing by vetoing this restrictive bill, which would have been bad for Michigan voters and could have violated federal law,” said Diana Kasdan, counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program. “In the past two years, a wave of restrictive laws has passed across the country that could make it harder for millions of eligible Americans to vote. These measures, like the one in Michigan, are bad policy and must be rejected. It is good Gov. Snyder recognized that fact.”
At least 180 restrictive voting measures have been introduced since the beginning of 2011. Gov. Snyder is the first Republican to veto one of these bills. Recently, former Republican elected officials, including Charlie Crist of Florida and Arne Carlson of Minnesota, have come out against these measures.
Read an op-ed in The Detroit News from the Brennan Center and the League of Women Voters of Michigan explaining our opposition to the bill.
Florida Stops Purging, but Could Resume
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle (right) rejected an emergency request from the Department of Justice to stop Florida’s voter purge, which threatens to remove eligible citizens from the rolls.
News reports indicated this was a loss for the anti-purge side. But Hinkle denied the request only because Secretary of State Ken Detzner (R) “has unequivocally said he will not continue” the purge program. Hinkle found Florida’s methodology for creating the list was so flawed it was “hardly surprising” the state “identified many properly registered citizens as potential noncitizens.” Read more at The Nation.
Election officials indicated in court, however, that the Sunshine State may restart the purge program if it gains access to a federal database. This leaves voting rights advocates waiting for the state’s next move.
In a letter to Detzner, the Brennan Center and the League of Women Voters of Florida called on the state to ensure no eligible voters were removed from the rolls and restore those who were. “The state must also prevent any remaining confusion by notifying all supervisors and voters that the purge has ceased,” wrote the Center’s Jonathan Brater and the League’s Elizabeth Pines in The Miami Herald. “It needs to institute Election Day safeguards that will help registered voters mistakenly placed on the purge list to cast a ballot. Further, the state must release the complete criteria used to generate its list of potential noncitizens, so that proper oversight is possible.”
For more information on the history of voter purges, see the Brennan Center’s 2008 report, one of the first systematic examinations of the chaotic and largely unseen world of purges.
Victory in Arizona: Proof of Citizenship Thrown Out
The Supreme Court made big news Thursday, and not just on the health care decision.
In April, a Ninth Circuit panel voted 9-2 to overturn an Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. Last month, Justice Anthony Kennedy issued a temporary order reviving the law, but on Thursday the full Court threw out that order. This means voters “will be able to register without first having to produce additional documentary proof of their citizenship beyond what is currently required on the federal voter registration card,” wrote the Brennan Center’s Keesha Gaskins.
The Ninth Circuit Court decision found the proof-of-citizenship requirement conflicts with the National Voter Registration Act, which “allows voters to fill out a mail-in voter registration card and swear they are citizens under penalty of perjury,” but does not require proof-of-citizenship, the Associated Press reported. At least 7 percent of voting-age Americans do not have such documentation readily available, according to Center research.
California – A bill to implement same-day voter registration in California elections moved forward in the legislature.
Delaware – The state Senate passed a measure to allow people with past criminal convictions “to vote after completing their sentences instead of having to wait an additional five years.”
Florida – There is movement in two lawsuits challenging election law changes. One suit, where the Brennan Center is challenging voter registration restrictions because they violate federal law, may be close to a settlement. The Center is intervening in a second case, which looks at whether the registration restrictions and limits on early voting violate the Voting Rights Act. A federal court heard arguments in that suit last week. Meanwhile, new reports indicate that supervisors of elections warned the state its purge data was inaccurate. Voting rights groups, including the Center, have called on Florida to release its larger, 182,000 person list of potential non-citizens, but the state has refused.
Iowa – After Gov. Terry Branstad (R) issued an executive order last year, Iowa is now “one of the most difficult states in the nation” for people with past criminal convictions to vote. Thousands of people have already been disenfranchised. The “new process requires applicants to submit a credit report,” which critics have called inappropriate. Read more here, here, and here.
Maine – The Secretary of State’s office “is running low” on the kind of voter registration cards “used by candidates, political parties and civic organizations to conduct” drives.
Maryland – Election Integrity Maryland says it wants to help clean up the voter rolls and will look for problems at the polls this November, “but critics say the effort is a smoke screen for a political agenda,” The Baltimore Sun reported. Modernizing voter registration would be “a much better way of cleaning up and ensuring the accuracy of voter rolls than private-citizen challenges,” said Brennan Center Counsel Nicolas Riley.
Minnesota – Both sides are gearing up for the voter ID battle on the November ballot. Former Vice President Walter Mondale, a Democrat, and former Gov. Arne Carlson, a Republican, wrote to oppose the measure in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The pro-ID side recruited former Minnesota Vikings star Matt Birk. The state Supreme Court is currently considering the wording of the ID amendment. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie asked the court for a decision by August 27th so he can prepare ballots in time. Read how Missouri offers a “tutorial for Minnesota in the photo ID battle.” Also see election expert and Minnesota native Norm Ornstein’s take on the measure. In a separate case, conservative activists are challenging Minnesota’s popular Election Day Registration program. Read more here.
Mississippi – The Secretary of State’s office plans to help voters get a photo ID for voting, “though no money was set aside” to provide free IDs. Read more here.
New Hampshire – The state passed a voter ID law last week when lawmakers, despite opposition from town clerks who run elections, voted to override Gov. John Lynch’s (D) veto. The law will allow voters to use a number of different photo IDs this fall. But starting in 2013 the bill would exclude state employee and student IDs, and make it harder for poll workers to accept other IDs that reasonably identify a voter. Some jurisdictions in New Hampshire require federal approval before the law can go into effect. Read more here.
North Carolina – A voter ID measure failed in the House.
Pennsylvania – At a Republican State Committee meeting last weekend, House Majority Leader Mike Turzai bragged about passing the voter ID bill, saying it “is going to allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania.” Many opponents of the law condemned this statement. Watch Brennan Center President Michael Waldman discuss the comments and Pennsylvania’s ID law on MSNBC. Meanwhile, other reports show state colleges are scrambling to make their student IDs acceptable for voting. Read more here.
South Carolina – For the second time in six months, the Justice Department refused to approve South Carolina’s restrictive voter ID law, which will most likely not be in effect in time for the November election. The state sued in D.C. federal court to win approval of the voter ID provision. The trial was originally set to begin July 30th, but since South Carolina was unable to meet key deadlines, the court moved the trial to September 24th. The Brennan Center intervened in the case on behalf of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina and others.
Tennessee – With controversy brewing over Florida’s voter purge, Tennessee election officials agreed to “stop purging inactive voters” until after the election.
Texas – The state Republican Party’s official 2012 platform includes a plank to repeal the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a cornerstone of U.S. civil rights law. Under the VRA, certain states, including Texas, must get federal approval for all election law changes. The Department of Justice blocked Texas’ voter ID law the matter is set for a trial before a three-judge panel in Washington, D.C. July 9th.
Wisconsin – The state’s voter ID law is currently tied up in court and is unlikely to be decided by Election Day, WUWM-FM reported. State Rep. Robin Vos (R), who supports the measure, had to withdraw his name from one of the lawsuits after a group alleged it was a conflict of interest for him to receive free legal help to intervene in the matter.
And don’t forget our up-to-date online summary of all pending and passed voting laws.
- Jonathan Alter at Bloomberg wrote about the current “voter suppression project,” citing the Brennan Center’s research on restrictive voting laws. “Even those with no dog in this fight should recognize that a great democracy doesn’t sully itself by suppressing the precious right to vote,” he wrote.
- Nicole Austin-Hillery, Director of the Center’s D.C. office, appeared on Washington Watch with Roland Martin to discuss what voters should ask of politicians this election. Her question: What will you do to put voters, not powerful interests, in charge of our democracy?
- The Obama campaign is hiring thousands of lawyers for Election Day to help combat restrictive voting laws and allegations of voter fraud, the Associated Press reported.
- “Convinced that Republicans are scheming to steal the election from President Barack Obama by suppressing the liberal vote,” several labor and civil rights are mounting extensive efforts to the polls on Election Day. Among the groups involved are the Communication Workers of America, the AFL-CIO, the NAACP, National Council of La Raza, and Generational Alliance, Politico reported.
- Maria Teresa Kumar, President of Voto Latino, published a letter in The New York Times on how restrictive laws “deny us our rightful place at the table.”
- “Tens of thousands of military service members attempting to vote by absentee ballot in recent years haven’t had their votes counted because of various problems with the [absentee balloting] system,” according to a McClatchy report.
- Reps. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) joined the Brennan Center’s Keesha Gaskins for a media conference call on the challenge of restrictive voter ID laws. The call was hosted by New America Media.
- The National Conference of State Legislatures reported on voting technology for this month’s version of “The Canvass.”
- An interesting blog post from Fair Vote: “Why James Madison Wanted to Change the Way We Vote for President.”
- ElectionOnline Weekly reported on a new web tool from the U.S. Vote Foundation that will allow “U.S. voters anywhere in the world to download a complete a state-specific absentee ballot request.”
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