National Review

"Texas recently won a major battle in its congressional and state-legislative redistricting fight. On January 20, the Supreme Court threw out interim maps that had been created out of whole cloth by a three-judge panel in San Antonio, and that, in addition to heavily favoring Democrats, basically ignored the plans drawn by the state legislature. The war goes on in federal court in Texas and the District of Columbia, but the decision was a defeat not only for the NAACP, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and other seekers of racial spoils, but also for Eric Holder’s Justice Department."

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Sources within DOJ tell ElectionLawCenter that Voting Section Chief Chris Herren will reverse course and inform election officials that enforcement of the MOVE Act will be the top enforcement priority of the Voting Section in the 2012 election.  This is a reversal of current policy where Voting Section and political appointees in the Civil Rights Division have previously indicated states should expect investigations and lawsuits over the motor voter laws. After the 2010 debacle by DOJ, the status quo was not acceptable.  

Sources indicate that Voting Section Chief Herren has already started the process of laying out the new "priorities" in earlier meetings this year with election officials. If this reversal turns out to be correct and made publicly, it would be quite different from the earlier speeches by Assistant Attorney General Perez and other Voting Section staff harping on motor voter law enforcement.

In those meetings with election officials, DOJ specifically undercut initial Department of Defense guidance to states on prompt implementation of the MOVE Act, causing confusion and ambiguity in how the law was to be enforced.

So it is January 2012 and the MOVE Act was adopted in 2009. It would have been nice to have the Holder DOJ actively enforcing the MOVE Act from day one when it was adopted. Instead, confusion reigned for years as jurisdictions received conflicting or no guidance from DOJ. The result was thousands of military and overseas voters being disenfranchised while DOJ viewed the mess from afar. ... << MORE >>

Republican legislators plan to take their case for a photo ID requirement for voters directly to the voters themselves.

Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, who oversaw Minnesota's voting system as secretary of state from 1999 to 2007, and Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson, have introduced the photo ID concept as a proposed constitutional amendment. It would require all voters to produce an "approved form of photographic identification prior to voting.''

If it passes the Republican-controlled House and Senate, the proposal would go directly onto the November ballot for voters to decide. Unlike bills and budgets, where the governor can use his veto pen, Gov. Mark Dayton has no way of blocking or changing a proposed constitutional amendment approved by the Legislature

Full story here. ... << MORE >>

Secretary of State Matt Schultz renewed his push Thursday for a law requiring voters to show identification before they can cast ballots at polling places, but critics say such a measure isn't necessary and would lead to disenfranchisement.

Schultz made voter identification the key issue of his 2010 campaign and supported a similar bill last session that was approved 60-40 in the Republican-controlled House but never taken up in the Democratic Senate

Full story at the Chicago Tribune
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The Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday shows 66 percent of 701 registered voters favor the law. Thirty-two percent oppose it.

link here.
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New S.C. voters would have to show proof of their U.S. citizenship, under a bill that advanced at the State House Thursday.

A Senate subcommittee signed off on the measure requiring South Carolinians registering to vote to present a driver’s license, birth certificate, passport or tribal verification when registering to vote.

Currently, new voters do not have to show any proof of U.S. citizenship. They attest to their citizenship when filling out paperwork to become a voter.

Full story here. ... << MORE >>

Jack Park at the American Spectator discusses the Texas redistricting opinion and DOJ:

When Texas sought preclearance from the court in Washington, D.C., USDOJ balked, and it was joined by Democratic-leaning individuals and groups. USDOJ was OK with the state senate plan, but the interveners weren't. Moreover, USDOJ and the interveners had specific objections to different districts, and both suggested that the plans were the product of discriminatory motives. Now, Texas has to go through a trial to prove that its plans don't have the purpose or effect of "denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color."

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Here is the link

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Tom Fitton at BigGovernment has more.

"On February 23, 2011, Rogers wrote to Associate Deputy Attorney General Robert Weiner, asking him to “make some headway with Attorney General [Eric] Holder in enforcing Section 7 of the NVRA.” The email notes that the DOJ had not yet filed any Section 7 lawsuits, which Rogers dubbed “deeply disappointing.” The first such DOJ lawsuit (against Rhode Island) was filed on March 18, 2011, less than one month later. Of particular note, is Rogers’ comment that “We have received oral assurances from [Assistant Attorney General Thomas] Perez on several occasions that enforcement action was imminent,” suggesting that Rogers was privy to internal discussions inside the DOJ regarding pending legal action."

Perhaps Louisiana and other states sued under Section 7 of NVRA will now seek more documents of this nature in discovery.

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At the link. The DC court tries to wrap up its work to have an impact on the San Antonio Court. What a dance this has become between the two courts. It works wonders when the Supreme Court lights a fire under your....

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This article has an update on the case where two of the Defendants, an Elections Commissioner and a Troy City Councilman, had been indicted on 116 counts of allegedly forging or being in possession of forged absentee ballots and/or ballot envelopes.

So what is the status of the case.

A jury was seated last week.

Former City Councilman Michael LoPorto and Elections Commissioner Edward McDonough are accused of forging absentee ballots to show more support for the Working Families party primary back in September 2009.

Four other people have already pleaded guilty in this case.

Two others have pleaded not guilty

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Six individuals are suspected of voter fraud in the 2010 election, according to Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

Based on a comparison of voting records between Kansas and Colorado, the individuals appear to have cast ballots in both states. The information has been turned over to the FBI for investigation.

“Voter fraud undermines our electoral system,” Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler said in a statement Monday. “I will continue to be vigilant and undertake these kinds of anti-fraud measures. These state crosschecks are an important component in ensuring the integrity of our election process.”

Full Story here

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Another example of crying wolf by racial name-calling. Back in December, a coalition of NAACP, Hispanic and Union activists all predictably sued, claiming that Republican lawmakers had nefariously designed racially-charged plans that showed a pattern of discrimination and disenfranchised minorities.

Segregation. Dilution. Cracking. Racial gerrymandering.

Apparently, the exodus out of Detroit was not a reason to reduce its representation at all.

The Michigan SOS and AG wisely sued the Department of Justice in federal court in a dual track submission and won.

In January, the Department of Justice preclears the Michigan plan. Cold water on heated rhetoric.

It is hard to remember that Michigan is under Section 5. No, it really is.
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Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler told The Daily Caller that the federal Motor Voter law was set up to “ensure controversy” and that the Obama administration is using it “to advance a political agenda.”

“I think it’s time for someone in the states to stand up against this foolishness coming out of Washington D.C.,” he said.

Schedler’s concerns echo those of a former Justice Department civil rights lawyer who recently told a Tulane Law School audience that the Obama administration is selectively choosing which parts of the National Voter Registration Act to enforce, in order to expand the voter rolls in every way possible.

... In his book “Injustice,” Adams described how Obama’s top DOJ appointees scuttled Section 8 investigations that could have limited the opportunity for fraudulent voting.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes made it clear during a “brown bag” meeting in November 2009, he wrote, that the agency had “no interest in enforcing that provision of the law” since it was not related to boosting voter turnout.

Christopher Coates, the former chief of the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section, testified in September 2010 before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, saying that there were eight U.S. states with more voter names listed on some counties’ registration forms than there were citizens of eligible voting age. This, he said, put those states out of compliance with Section 8 requirements.

Full story at DailyCaller.com ... << MORE >>

The House and Senate remained deadlocked Monday on a congressional redistricting plan, making it almost certain that the Jan. 31 filing deadline for those offices will be delayed. Talks to resolve the impasse that broke off Friday have not yet resumed. And as of late Monday no time for resumption of talks had been scheduled

Full story here.
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"The distinction between proven voter fraud and alleged voter "discrimination" is clear. Unfortunately for Eric Holder and his "cause," 900 dead people in South Carolina won't be voting for President Obama this year." Link.

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Link here. ... << MORE >>

 

I will be speaking at the University of Wyoming School of Law Wednesday at 12:15.

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AG Alan Wilson makes a move against Eric Holder. Fraudlent voting in a federal election is a federal crime. Wilson informs DOJ that hundreds of dead may have voted.   Will Holder act while at the same time blocking SC Voter ID? ... << MORE >>

 Here.   Sounds like Texas is going to go after Section 5 as unconstitutional, unless the Voting Section preclears Texas voter ID, quick:

Alabama has already filed suit claiming that the preclearance requirement under the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional, and Abbott asked the court to consider that possibility in this case. In the statement announcing the lawsuit, he said his goal is to have either the Justice Department or the court allow the immediate enforcement of the new law.

"If the Department of Justice approves the law, the state will dismiss its lawsuit," the statement said.

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