Author Archives: J Christian Adams

Speech Regulators “Latest Attempt to Censor Political Speech”

“The proposed regulation would redefine what the IRS considers “candidate-related political activity” for §501(c)(4) organizations.  It is a thinly veiled attempt to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United by executive fiat, after the administration failed in a similar attempt when it couldn’t get the DISCLOSE Act  passed by Congress.  The regulation would seriously infringe the First Amendment rights of advocacy organizations.”

Human Events.

“Texas Residents Who Support Voter ID Denied Intervention in DOJ Lawsuit—Will the Same Thing Happen in North Carolina?”

 National Review:

It is not surprising that the Justice Department opposed the intervention of True the Vote, but it is unprecedented. The Justice Department has a policy of not opposing motions to intervene by citizen groups interested in voting issues, such as the NAACP, LULAC, ACLU, MALDEF, and the League of Women Voters.

But all of those organizations are liberal advocacy organizations that oppose all election-integrity efforts. True the Vote is a conservative organization that is made up of Texas residents and voters. Apparently if you are a political ally of the Obama administration, your participation in attacking voter ID is welcome. But if you oppose the administration, then the Justice Department’s lawyers will vigorously oppose your intervention.

In addition to individual plaintiffs, the Texas case has the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Texas League of Young Voters, the Brennan Center, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, and the Texas Association of Hispanic County Judges and County Commissioners (TAHCJCC) on the other side, joined with the Justice Department in going after Texas. Illustrating the complete hypocrisy and potential bias of the Justice Department is the fact that at almost the same time that Justice was opposing True the Vote’s intervention, it filed a response to the motion to intervene of the TAHCJCC and Maria Longoria Benevides saying it did “not oppose permissive intervention.”

In fact, Justice told the judge that “Courts have routinely allowed intervention by persons [similarly] situated” to Ms. Benevides, who is “a resident and registered voter of Texas” and to the TAHCJCC which is “an association of elected county officials.” “As such,” according to Justice, “they may possess relevant knowledge and a useful ‘local perspective on the current and historical facts’ at issue in this litigation.”

That perfectly describes True the Vote and Catherine Engelbrecht, a resident and registered voter in Texas, who were not allowed into the case even though Judge Ramos granted the motion of intervention that was filed by the TAHCJCC and Ms. Benevides.

“Guilty pleas resolve all five voter fraud convictions in Iowa”

…efforts to seek out and prosecute voter fraud cases have yielded five convictions.  The cases represent a range of voting infractions, although there are definite patterns. Three of the cases involve felons whose voting rights had not been restored. All five were resolved with guilty pleas rather than trials — three to misdemeanors, two to felonies — and generally with lesser charges than those initially filed by county attorneys.  More details at the Des Moines Register here.
Nickie Perkins

Mandela’s South Africa voter ID requirement tougher than Wisconsin law

Media trackers compare the two electoral systems and use of ID.
An October story from a South African news outlet explains in advance of the nation’s 2014 elections, “aspirant voters must produce a valid South African identity document when registering to vote and when voting.” That means procuring one of “three forms of official identification.”  One of those identification forms is new: a so-called “smartcard ID.” Although a new addition to the process, one election official said that “[a]ccommodating the new smartcard IDs has not been difficult.”

….The South African system stands in stark contrast to Wisconsin’s own election system. Voter registration is always available – including on election day – and early voting in some areas extends the amount of time voters have to cast ballots. No form of identification is required to cast a ballot and proof of residency is not always required to register to vote.

Denver Post: “Group files suit against Colorado county clerks over voter rolls”

True the Vote vs two counties with inflated voter rolls.  I am working on this case along with Chris Coates and Jessica Peck.  The Denver Post:


“A national conservative organization that aims to address voter fraud filed lawsuits Monday against two Colorado county clerks for what it says is improper maintenance of voter rolls.


True the Vote alleges clerks from Gilpin and Mineral counties have voter registration rates — according to the group’s analysis — of more than 100 percent, which it says signifies a problem.


As a result, the group argues the clerks have not complied with the Voter Registration Act of 1993 by not making “a reasonable effort to conduct voter list maintenance programs in elections for federal office.”


Moreover, the lawsuits looks to suspend in those counties a new elections law that requires ballots to be mailed to all eligible Colorado voters.


According to lawsuit, implementation of the elections law “will exacerbate and intensify the violations.”


Gilpin County Clerk Colleen Stewart and Mineral County Clerk Eryn Wintz , who are both Democrats, declined to comment.”

“Judicial Watch Defends North Carolina Voter ID Law, Additional Protections against Voter Fraud”

Judicial Watch press release:  Judicial Watch announced today that it has filed a Motion for Intervention with its client Christina Kelley Gallegos-Merrill to defend North Carolina against an Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit. The DOJ seeks to prevent enforcement of HB 589, which requires, among other election integrity measures, that voters present a photo ID before casting a ballot.  In addition to representing Judicial Watch members in North Carolina, the Intervention seeks to protect the interests of Ms. Gallegos-Merrill, who was a Republican candidate for local office in North Carolina who likely lost her race because of voting irregularities that would be addressed by HB 589.
In its Motion for Intervention, Judicial Watch argues:
The photo ID law at issue seeks, among other things, to prevent voter fraud.  Where there is such fraud, North Carolina voters are harmed by having their votes diluted.  In considering Indiana’s photo ID law, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit noted that “[t]he purpose of the Indiana law is to reduce voting fraud, and voting fraud impairs the right of legitimate voters to vote by diluting their votes – dilution being recognized to be an impairment of the right to vote.”… North Carolina’s voters, including Merrill, are threatened with the same kind of injury.

Kansas Wins on NVRA Citizenship Form

Round One goes to Kansas in the state’s effort to have the Election Assistance Commission revised the federal form for Kansas to permit an inquiry into citizenship.

“A U.S. District Court judge in Wichita has ordered a federal agency to act on a request by Kansas and Arizona to modify a national voter registration form to reflect the states’ proof-of-citizenship laws.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren said Friday that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission must make a decision by Jan. 17, saying the matter had been unreasonably delayed and could begin to interfere with Kansas’ election cycle.



Melgren also told a courtroom full of lawyers, who had been arguing the issue all morning, that he would retain jurisdiction over the case, anticipating that no matter what the federal commission decides, “someone in this room won’t like it.”