Motley Moose – Archive

This week we are watching for news out of the Supreme Court.

UPDATE 2: Emergency Stay Granted to Stop Implementation of Wisconsin Voter ID

… the basis was the Purcell objection, the proximity to the upcoming election and the risk of electoral chaos.

PDF of order (“Justices” Alito, Scalia, and Thomas dissented) is here:

the Seventh Circuit’s stay of the district court’s permanent injunction is vacated

Texas: A federal district court struck down the Texas Voter Id Law. The ruling issued an injunction, Texas said that they will appeal, so now we watch again.

UPDATE: 4th Circuit overturned by SCOTUS, extended registration in NC cancelled

… the full slate of changes passed by North Carolina this year, increasing restrictions on the voting process, is now back in effect for the election.

Justices Ginsberg and Sotomayor dissented (PDF) noting that the courts removal of pre-clearance in the VRA led directly to this outcome:

These measures likely would not have survived federal pre-clearance. The Court of Appeals determined that at least two of the measures – elimination of same-day registration and termination of out-of-precinct voting – risked significantly reducing opportunities for black voters to exercise the franchise in violation of §2 of the Voting Rights Act.

There are two important election related emergency requests that are pending. One is for North Carolina and is in the hands of Chief Justice Roberts. The other is for Wisconsin and is in the hands of Justice Kagan. Both matters have been fully briefed. Court watchers expect the North Carolina ruling to go in favor of the state and the Wisconsin ruling to go in favor of the voters. But tea leaf readers are really just guessing because as they say, the law is an ass, and the Supreme Court does whatever the heck it wants.

More below …

Why is this man smiling?

Federal Appeals Court Blocks North Carolina Voting Restrictions in Time for Midterm Election

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today reversed a lower court ruling that had allowed provisions of North Carolina’s restrictive voting law to go into effect before the midterm election. Today’s order restores same-day registration and reinstates out-of-precinct provisional voting on Voting Rights Act grounds. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice are challenging those provisions, as well as the elimination of a week of early voting.

“The court’s order safeguards the vote for tens of thousands of North Carolinians. It means they will be able to continue to use same-day registration, just as they have during the last three federal elections,” said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project.

“This is a victory for voters in the state of North Carolina,” said Southern Coalition for Social Justice staff attorney Allison Riggs. “The court has rebuked attempts to undermine voter participation.”

The ruling

Judge James Wynn, an Obama appointee, begins his opinion with a simple declaration – “[t]he right to vote is fundamental.” He then holds that two provisions of the new voter suppression law, the provision eliminating same-day registration and the provision calling for a voter’s ballots to be tossed out if they vote in the wrong precinct, must be suspended pending a full trial of this case on the merits.

Judge Wynn’s opinion reverses the decision of a George W. Bush appointed judge who allowed the entire law to take effect.

PDF of the ruling is here (PDF): NC-Opinion

The Reverend William Barber III deserves credit for not letting up on demanding the right to vote.

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UPDATED: October 2, 2014 8:20am CDT

The ACLU has requested an emergency stay of the voter id requirement for next month’s election

PDF of the brief is here: EMERGENCY APPLICATION TO VACATE SEVENTH CIRCUIT STAY OF PERMANENT INJUNCTION

Yesterday’s Marquette University Poll of the Wisconsin governors race included polling on voter id. Roughly 30% of those polled did NOT realize that the voter id law was going into affect for this election and 1.2% of registered voters, about 44,000, do not have an id.

On Thursday, Justice Kagan asked for a response brief from the State of Wisconsin, due Tuesday, 10/7 at 5pm.

More good voting news below …

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— Caroline Duble (@CarolineDuble) February 8, 2014