NC Gov: “DOJ opposition to Voter ID and early voting law is political move”

MSNBC reports:


North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory defended the controversial
voter ID law he signed into law in August, arguing that opposition is
purely political. “Voter ID laws are common sense,” McCrory told The Daily Rundown’s Chuck
Todd on Wednesday from Scottsdale, Ariz., where he is attending the
Republican Governors Association meeting. “We require an ID to get
Sudafed in North Carolina, to get food stamps in North Carolina.”


The Department of Justice has filed to block the law, but the GOP governor even argued that too was a political move.  “Some of the voter ID controversy is more created than real,”
said McCrory, who pointed out that it was “ironic”they were being sued
by the DOJ even though other states, like New York, don’t even offer
early voting.

Wisconsin Supreme Court intervenes in Voter ID wars

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has stayed on the sidelines while state litigation has delayed implementation of the voter ID law.  Finally, they agree to step in.

Madison — The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to take
up two separate cases over the state’s voter ID law, which has been
blocked since shortly after it took effect in 2012.  The move by the high court cancels oral arguments that were to be
held next month before the District 2 Court of Appeals in Waukesha in
one case. In the second case, the Supreme Court is agreeing to review a
decision by the Madison-based District 4 Court of Appeals.

The Supreme Court’s action comes six days after the Republican-run state Assembly voted to soften the voter ID law
in hopes of overcoming four legal challenges. The state Senate is also
controlled by Republicans, but leaders in that house have said they want
to see how courts react to the cases before deciding whether to tweak
the voter ID requirement. The short orders issued Wednesday by the Supreme Court put the two
state cases before it and clear a path for decisions to be rendered by
June.

Link to story at Journal Sentinel.

Campaign Finance Laws Used to Threaten Political Opponents

This is why the speech regulators can never be given power to regulate political speech – it is a power to be abused.  The Wall Street Journal:


The subpoena demand for the names of donors to nonprofit groups that aren’t legally required to disclose them is especially troubling. Readers may recall that the Cincinnati office of the IRS sent the tax-exempt applications of several conservative groups to the ProPublica news website in 2012.


The subpoenas don’t spell out a specific allegation, but the demands suggest the government may be pursuing a theory of illegal campaign coordination by independent groups during the recall elections. If prosecutors are pursuing a theory that independent conservative groups coordinated with candidate campaigns during the recall, their goal may be to transform the independent expenditures into candidate committees after the fact, requiring revision of campaign-finance disclosures and possible criminal charges.


***


Another reason for skepticism is the probe’s timing as Mr. Walker’s 2014 re-election campaign looms. This is the second such investigation against Mr. Walker in three and a half years, following one that began in the office of Milwaukee County Democratic District Attorney John Chisholm in spring 2010.

Voter fraud charges leveled at Working Families Party in New York



As the Clinton County Board of Elections begins counting absentee ballots, Plattsburgh police are investigating alleged absentee ballot fraud by the Working Families Party:


 


Republican candidates are charging that possibly hundreds of absentee ballots may have been improperly cast in the Nov. 5 election.  They claim that members of the Working Families Party may have contributed to voters falsely filling out applications for absentee ballots.


 


Many of the ballot applications were marked that the voter would be out of town on Election Day, but, in several instances, that was not the case, according to some of the people who filled out the applications.  Republicans also believe that, in some cases, voters just signed the actual absentee ballot and other people marked the votes for them.


 


WCAX has more.


 


Earlier this year, four Democrats were sentenced for their roles in a 2009 voter fraud scandal involving forged absentee ballots in the Working Families Party primary.


Missouri Establishes Elections Integrity Unit



Press Release:


 


Secretary of State Jason Kander today announced he has established the Elections Integrity Unit, a new program in the Elections Division of his office that will help protect Missouri elections and the rights of Missouri voters.




“As the state’s chief election officer, it’s my job to make sure that only eligible voters vote, but also that every eligible voter has the opportunity to vote,” Kander said in a web video announcing the unit’s creation.


 


Since he took office in January, Kander has shown zero tolerance for voter fraud, and his office has already reviewed numerous complaints and assisted local prosecutors with elections-related cases. Kander is the first secretary of state in Missouri to formalize this process and make his office’s findings available to Missourians.


 


“Upholding the integrity of the voting process is essential,” Kander said. “We believe the Elections Integrity Unit will help elections remain fair, open and accurate by providing greater oversight and more transparency.”


 


More information about the Elections Integrity Unit—including its reporting procedure and copies of its completed reviews—is available at www.sos.mo.gov/integrity on Kander’s website.