Tag Archives: voter suppression

Courthouse News Service reports: An immigrant rights advocacy group sued Arizona on Thursday to block a new law requiring individuals to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote. House Bill 2492 passed the Republican-controlled Legislature down party lines last week and Governor Doug Ducey signed the bill into law Wednesday. He did so despite pleas from county elections …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge struck down portions of a Florida election law passed last year, saying in a ruling Thursday that the Republican-led government was using subtle tactics to suppress Black voters. The law tightened rules on mailed ballots, drop boxes and other popular election methods — changes that made it more difficult for Black voters who, …

Common Dreams reports: The Arizona Senate on Wednesday passed a Republican-authored bill that advocates warn could prompt “the most extreme voter purge in the country” by requiring state residents to provide proof of citizenship to stay on the rolls. Just one of a slew of voter suppression measures that the GOP-controlled Arizona legislature is currently working to advance—including a bill …

The Associated Press reports: More than 27,000 mail ballots in Texas were flagged for rejection in the first test of new voting restrictions enacted across the U.S., jeopardizing votes cast by Democrats and Republicans alike and in counties big and small, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. It puts the rate of rejected mail ballots in Texas on …

Courthouse News reports: The Republican-controlled Arizona House voted Monday to amend and advance election reform bills that would require voters to furnish proof of citizenship upon registration and prohibit election officials from being on hand counting teams. House Bill 2492 would require all potential voters in Arizona to present an ID at registration or within 30 days of registering to …

Politico reports: Sen. Joni Ernst on Sunday pushed back strongly on the Democratic narrative on voting rights, arguing that Republicans care about the issue as much or more than Democrats. “My point is that we have Democrats that are targeting red states like Iowa again, when our voter policies are far more liberal than blue states’ voting systems,” the Iowa …

Salon reports: The number of rejected mail-in ballot applications is skyrocketing in Texas counties under new Republican-authored voting restrictions recently signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott. The Texas crackdown on mail-in voting appears to be hitting hardest in the state’s most densely populated counties, which also tend to have more voters of color and predominantly vote Democratic. In Travis …

Florida Politics reports: Democratic state attorneys general in 16 states and the District of Columbia who have intervened in litigation challenging Florida’s new law making it harder to vote argue in a legal brief that the state has mounted bogus arguments that the measure fights fraud and boosts voter confidence. That’s because there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud …

The Texas Tribune reports: The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Texas over its new voting law, passed earlier this year in the Legislature. The Texas voting law will “disenfranchise eligible Texas citizens who seek to exercise their right to vote, including voters with limited English proficiency, voters with disabilities, elderly voters, members of the military deployed away from home, …

Playbook reports: Remember when Major League Baseball moved the All-Star Game out of Atlanta in protest of Georgia’s new law imposing restrictions on voting? Well, consider it payback time. Heritage Action is launching a new six-figure ad buy to air in Georgia and D.C. during Game 3 of the World Series tonight — when the Atlanta Braves will play host …

Politico reports: Florida Republicans this spring insisted a contentious new election law curtailing access to ballot boxes was needed to prevent electoral fraud. It was not, they said, an attempt to gain a partisan advantage. But a raft of internal emails and text messages obtained by POLITICO show the law was drafted with the help of the Republican Party of …

Via press release from the NAACP: Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), Reed Smith LLP, and The Arc filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the Houston Area Urban League, Houston Justice, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and The Arc of Texas challenging S.B. 1, a new Texas law targeting voting rights. S.B. 1 includes a …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday signed into law Senate Bill 1, sweeping legislation that further tightens state election laws and constrains local control of elections by limiting counties’ ability to expand voting options. The governor’s signature ends months of legislative clashes and standoffs during which Democrats — propelled by concerns that the legislation raises new barriers …

The Hill reports: Voting rights advocates on Friday sued to block a restrictive new GOP-crafted Texas voting bill that the challengers say will make it disproportionately harder for people of color to vote. The 74-page complaint, filed in a San Antonio-based federal court, takes aim at Senate Bill 1 (S.B. 1), a sweeping measure passed this week that would tighten …

The Texas Tribune reports: Three months after House Democrats first broke quorum to stymie a previous iteration of the legislation, Republicans in the House and Senate Tuesday signed off on the final version of Senate Bill 1 to further tighten the state’s voting rules and rein in local efforts to widen voting access. Abbott, a Republican, is expected to sign …

Houston’s ABC News affiliate reports: Outbursts and questions about racism along with claims of voter suppression filled the Texas House chamber Thursday as lawmakers debated the controversial election integrity bill. While debating SB-1, the word “racism” came into play. That sparked a reaction by House Speaker Dade Phelan who told lawmakers the word was banned from the chamber. “We can …

The Texas Tribune reports: After months of drama and political resistance, the curtain lowered Thursday night on Democratic attempts to stave off a far-reaching rewrite of the state’s voting laws coveted by Republicans seeking to retain their hold on power in a changing Texas. One week after finally regaining enough members to conduct business, the Texas House slogged through a …

The Guardian reports: After a 38-day walkout,  the Texas House now has the required two-thirds of members necessary for a quorum to conduct legislative business, and Republicans have already scheduled a hearing on the voting bill for Saturday. The standoff reached a tipping point last week after Republicans authorized law enforcement to find and arrest their missing Democratic colleagues and …

Houston’s ABC News affiliate reports: Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan [photo] on Tuesday evening signed civil arrest warrants for 52 House Democrats still missing from the state Capitol as he aimed to regain the quorum needed for the chamber to begin moving legislation during the second special session. The move was confirmed by Phelan spokesperson Enrique Marquez, who said the …

The Texas Tribune reports: Twenty-two Texas House Democrats sued some of the state’s top Republican leaders in federal court in Austin late Friday, alleging that GOP officials’ efforts to bring them home for a special legislative session infringed on their constitutional rights to free speech and to petition the government for redress of grievances. The lawsuit was filed on the …