Author Archives: J Christian Adams

George Will: “Supreme Court can rescue another freedom in a campaign cash case”

The introduction by George Will to the McCutcheon case say it all:

The Supreme Court must feel as though it is plowing an ocean as it
repeatedly reminds Congress that the anodyne label “campaign finance
reform” can encompass a multitude of sins. Come Tuesday,  the court will have another occasion to consider that not all regulations of the indispensable means of disseminating political speech — money — are constitutional just because they are presented as means of preventing corruption or its “appearance.”
By siding with Shaun McCutcheon,
a conservative Alabama entrepreneur, the court can continue rescuing
the freedoms of political speech and association from abridgements
written by, and for, the political class.  More at the link.

Why is it that freedom always stirs the reform movement to fits?

NC Governor: “Attorney General Cooper compromised his ability to represent North Carolina by making himself a witness against the State”

Gov. Pat McCrory says Attorney General Roy Cooper could wind up a
witness against the state of North Carolina in a lawsuit the US
Department of Justice filed against the state’s new voter ID law. Political statements by an attorney general or by any lawyer can
have a detriment(al) impact on their ability to defend our state,”
McCrory said.  Link to full story

DOJ Seeks to Stay TX Voter ID Case

The Justice Department is seeking a stay in the Texas voter ID case, claiming the government shutdown warrants a stay in the case.  Of course the motion for a stay could be filed in the shutdown.  Justice could also file a voluntary dismissal of the case if the DOJ is unable to pursue the matter.

Fifth Circuit Rejects Project Vote

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld Texas election integrity laws.  The laws were designed to crack down on abuses by groups like ACORN in the registration process.  The laws were passed with bipartisan support, though you will no doubt hear them referred to as GOP-supported legislation. Non-Texans were prohibited from becoming deputy registrars.  It required registrars to be from the county where they were appointed.  And it required voter registration forms to be delivered rather than dumped in the mail.  These are the provisions that Project Vote felt compelled to challenge.  The presser from the TX AG:











Federal Court Rejects Project Vote’s Challenge to Texas Election Integrity Laws


 


AUSTIN – Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected Project Vote’s challenge to the election-integrity measures passed with overwhelming bipartisan support by the Texas Legislature in 2011. The Texas Attorney General’s office released the following statement from Lauren Bean, spokeswoman for the Texas Attorney General’s Office:

“The Attorney General’s Office is pleased that the courts have once again reaffirmed the Texas Legislature’s ability to adopt common-sense election laws that are designed to instill confidence in our electoral process and prevent election fraud. Decisions like this one are reminders that these cases are nothing more than political stunts that are brought by plaintiffs—who simply oppose election integrity on political grounds—and their lawyers, who seek to reap attorneys’ fees at the taxpayers’ expense.”

Website for the Presidential Commission on Election Administration is hard down for lack of funding, but ObamaCare website is up and running

Federal Government Hypocrisy.  The Presidential Commission on Election Administration (PCEA) website at www.supportthevoter.com is down, apparently a result of the Government slowdown with a pointed notice “Due to the lapse in federal government funding, this website is not available. We sincerely regret this inconvenience.”  Interesting, the website for the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) which has been operating in a zombie state for years, seems to be working just fine.  Of course, this is just theatrics as the White House shows off the holy national healthcare website found at www.healthcare.gov.  Clearly that website must be up and running.  No problem with funding there. 

Just in Time for New Jersey Election: Section 7 Lawsuit Threats

“The letter — from the NAACP’s New Jersey state conference as well as attorneys from Rutgers Constitutional Law Clinic, Project Vote, Demos and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law — says social services agencies have bad policies and are not consistently providing registration forms when required to do so.

Since 1995, the letter says, there has been a decline in the number of voters registered at public assistance agencies in New Jersey, even as the number of people seeking assistance increased.”

Link.  A decline in the number of voters registered at public assistance agencies, even as the numbers seeking assistance has increased, can be explained any number of ways.  Here’s two. First, the number of people who want to participate in the political process is tapped out.  Plenty of people voluntarily decide not to participate, and that is their right.  Second, in the stagnating economy, those seeking public assistance are coming from the formerly-working word, and in that world, they were already registered to vote. So when they are asked to register at a government welfare agency, they don’t use the opportunity. 

But those possibilities would have muddied up the NAACP press release.