Author Archives: ELECTIONLAWCENTER.COM

Neither party objects to Nevada redistricting plan

Here.  It appears that neither the Democratic or Republican Party in Nevada objected to the redistricting maps adopted by the special master appointed by a federal judge.

An analysis of the panel’s reapportionment plan by the Sun’s David
McGrath Schwartz shows the Democrats would have an edge in two of the
four Congressional Districts with one favoring Republicans and one a
toss-up.

Democrats now have an 11-10 edge in the state Senate. An analysis of
the new Senate Districts shows nine safe Democratic seats, three leaning
Democrat, four safe Republican, one leaning Republican and four tossup
seats.

The makeup of the Assembly, according to the examination, shows 22
safe Democrat, four leaning Democrat, nine safe Republican, two leaning
Republican and five tossups. The makeup now is 22 Democrats and 12
Republicans.

and this:  Secretary of State Ross Miller raised the question of what standards
were used by the panel in drawing up a Congressional District in
Southern Nevada that has nearly 43 percent Hispanic. He said the panel
should make it clear whether the figure was based on total population,
voting age population or citizen voting age population or some
combination. He said it was not clear what data the panel relied upon.


La Secretary of State’s website crashes during election

That’s the headline and story in Louisiana where Republican Schedler edged out fellow Republican Turner for the position.  The large number of hits on the website by media and the general public with smartphones brought down the site.  Schedler won by about 9,000 votes according to complete but unofficial
returns. He had 50.53 percent of the vote in the two-man race.  With a race that close, the new Secretary will have an appreciation for the next recount. 

Injustice: A Washington Post Bookworm Bestseller

The Washington Post puts Injustice on the political bookworm bestseller list.

“Rounding out the list is a new title from conservative publishing house Regnery, taking on the Obama Justice Department (a litany of accusations with overtly racial overtones from a former Justice attorney).”

Stop the press!  A bestseller with “overtly racial overtones” to discuss “overtly racial” policies!  Who could imagine such a thing? 

Kentucky Secretary of State candidates clash on photo ID and felon voting in debate


Kentucky candidates debates photo id and other issues at the link.  The two differ on a range of election-related issues. 


Johnson opposes efforts to change the state Constitution to restore voting rights for felons once they have served their sentences. Felons now can have their right to vote restored in Kentucky only by getting the governor’s approval.


Johnson sums up his position by saying that people who commit “very violent crimes never really fully repay their debt to society.”


Grimes sees it differently, saying ex-cons who “have paid their debt to society should be able to participate in the political process.”


But she said it’s up to state lawmakers to decide whether to put the measure on the ballot. The proposal has come up for years but stalled in the General Assembly




 

Are voter ID laws protective or restrictive?

@ UPI.  Voter identification — considered a safeguard against fraud by some and an effort to disenfranchise voters by others — was a hot topic in state legislatures this year.



The story then quotes the two sides:

“Current laws work and ensure the voting process is fair, just, secure and accessible”, the LWV said.  “[Evidence] proves that illegal voting is extremely low,” the league said on its Web site. “At the federal level, only 24 people were convicted of voter fraud between 2002 and 2005. Indeed, Americans are twice as likely to get hit by lighting as to have their vote canceled out by a fraudulently cast vote.”


In a commentary in The National Review, however, Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Hans A. von Spakovsky said, “The fraud denialists also must have missed the recent news coverage of the double voters in North Carolina and the fraudster in Tunica County, Miss., … who was sentenced in April to five years in prison for voting in the names of 10 voters, including four who were deceased.”


Also untrue, von Spakovsky said, were claims that new voter ID laws and other reforms “designed to protect the integrity of the democratic process” were meant to suppress the votes of Democrats and minorities. Von Spakovsky, a former Federal Election Commission commissioner and a former voting counsel at the U.S. Justice Department, called the Brennan study “dubious” and said the center was a “partisan and unobjective advocacy organization

Absentees: Early ballots bring victories, sometimes fraud

excerpt @ the link: 

In Bridgeport, a hallmark of Democratic Party politics has been the aggressive use of absentee ballots — so aggressive, in fact, that more than a dozen consent decrees have been signed since 1988 with the State Elections Enforcement Commission stemming from allegations of wrongdoing by party operatives.


Nearly all the cases involved a Democrat helping someone apply, vote or submit their absentee ballot.


Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said she’d like to make reforms that could prevent absentee voter fraud. She said the problems could be resolved if Connecticut took advantage of new technology. One area she is considering is keeping electronic copies of voter signatures on file so they could be compared to what appears on the ballot or application.


Additionally, she is proposing a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to explore methods of increasing voter turnout by such practices as early voting, thus eliminating reasons for voting by absentee ballot

Pa. Debating New Voter ID Rules

@ the link.  Under the House bill, a free photo ID would be available through the state Department of Transportation. The bill would allow people without sufficient identification to cast provisional ballots, and then return to the county courthouse within six days to prove who they are.

The compromise bill will likely include a longer list of acceptable identification and is expected to be signed by the Republican governor. 

Mayoral Aide indicted for absentee ballot voter fraud

At the link.  Mike Marshall, the man in charge of soliciting absentee ballots in the re-election campaign of Jeffersonville Mayor Tom Galligan, resigned Friday after being indicted on vote fraud, perjury and forgery charges.

A Jennings County Grand Jury issued 66 indictments on Marshall, his son Christopher Marshall and a third Jennings resident, John Cook on Friday. The charges follow an investigation by the Indiana State Police, according to a press release from special prosecutor Aaron Negangard. The investigation stemmed from voter fraud issues regarding absentee ballots and applications submitted in Jennings County in 2010

The Democrat response:  Pate (Democratic Party Chairman) said he believed the indictment was political in nature.  “People make accusations all the time,” he said. “It’s like farting in an elevator and blaming it on the guy next to you,” he said.

the story gives a synopsis of what happened….

WHAT HAPPENED

McCauley questioned why there were so many counts listed on the indictment considering early media reports that the allegations came from only one absentee ballot last year.  Negangard said that one ballot brought the activity to light but multiple discrepancies were brought forth after police investigated.

Republicans in Jennings County challenged several absentee ballots that were submitted in 2010, according to Negangard. Democrats subsequently ran an advertisement in the North Vernon Plain Dealer accusing the Republicans of trying to deny those absentee voters their constitutional rights. One of those voters identified in the ad was a Marine named Ben Cook, who later signed a sworn affidavit stating he’d never cast a ballot. That initiated the larger investigation.  Negangard said none of Marshall’s charges were related to the Ben Cook matter, but actually to later findings.

Marshall faces 12 counts of forgery, a class C felony that could carry a maximum of eight years in prison; 20 counts of voter fraud and 13 counts of perjury – both of which are class D felonies, punishable by up to three years in prison each. Negangard said arrest warrants would be issued Monday if they haven’t already. Once those indicted are arrested, an initial hearing date will be set and the case would move through the legal system like any other.

Injustice Audiobook Ships

The audiobook version of Injustice is shipping.  I received mine yesterday.  What a thrill to hear a pro like Johnny Heller read about the goings on in the Voting Section, the Justice Department and Noxubee County.  Heller is a top shelf audiobook talent, and he nails every bit of emphasis the author intended.  He cranks up the humor where intended, and horror where appropriate.  His bio:

Johnny Heller is a two time winner of the prestigious Audie Award, was named the top voice of 2008 and 2009 and selected as one of the Top 50 Narrators of the Twentieth Century by AudioFile magazine.  His adult and childrens book narrations have earned him multiple AudioFile Earphone Awards.