Tag Archives: voter suppression

The Guardian reports: A powerful new conservative organization fighting to restrict voting in the 2020 presidential election is really just a rebranded group that is part of a dark money network already helping Donald Trump’s unprecedented effort to remake the US federal judiciary, the Guardian and OpenSecrets reveal. The organization, which calls itself the Honest Elections Project, seemed to emerge …

Via press release from the Justice Department: The Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest Monday in an Alabama federal court to promote the proper and uniform interpretation of the Voting Rights Act. The Statement of Interest is part of the Department of Justice’s continuing efforts around the country to enforce our nation’s federal voting rights laws. The lawsuit …

Bloomberg News reports: The Republican National Committee and two other groups filed a lawsuit against California Governor Gavin Newsom to block his executive order allowing mail-in ballots at the November polls, calling it an “illegal and brazen power grab.” Following the coronavirus outbreak, the Democratic governor said earlier this month that every registered voter in the state would receive a …

The Texas Tribune reports: A federal judge opened a path for a massive expansion in absentee voting in Texas by ordering Tuesday that all state voters, regardless of age, qualify for mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic. Days after a two-hour preliminary injunction hearing in San Antonio, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery agreed with individual Texas voters and the Texas …

The New York Times reports: The Republican program, which has gained steam in recent weeks, envisions recruiting up to 50,000 volunteers in 15 key states to monitor polling places and challenge ballots and voters deemed suspicious. That is part of a $20 million plan that also allots millions to challenge lawsuits by Democrats and voting-rights advocates seeking to loosen state …

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports: Nevada plaintiffs backed by a conservative voting-watch group are trying again to block the state’s all vote-by-mail June 9 primary, arguing that mail-only balloting is no longer necessary to limit the risk of COVID-19 spreading among voters. The True the Vote group’s revised complaint seeking an injunction also argues that Clark County’s procedures for distributing …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump has been increasingly engaged in the legal battles unfolding across the country over the issue of vote-by-mail, urging his political advisers to take an aggressive posture to counter Democratic lawsuits on the issue. Trump met with his political aides on Thursday at the White House about the legal efforts, a source familiar with the meeting …

The Associated Press reports: A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that a Kansas law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote is unconstitutional, upholding a judge’s injunction that had banned its use. A 10th Circuit Court of Appeals panel in Salt Lake City found in two consolidated appeals challenging the Kansas statute that the state law violates the …

The Independent reports: Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill used his personal Twitter account this week to mock a voter who asked about Alabama’s strict photo ID requirement for absentee voting. A constituent tweeted at Merrill Tuesday morning to ask about voting in Alabama’s July 14 runoff. “I have found the PDF of the application and am fortunate enough to …

The Dallas Morning News reports: A state judge said Wednesday afternoon that all voters in Texas afraid of contracting COVID-19 through in-person voting should be allowed to vote by mail during the pandemic. State District Judge Tim Sulak said he will issue a temporary injunction allowing voters who fear catching the new coronavirus to qualify for mail-in voting through the …

Vox reports: Kentucky’s heavily Republican legislature voted Tuesday to require voters to show a government-issued photo ID, overriding Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto in the process. Meanwhile, if a Kentucky voter heads to the state’s webpage hoping to learn how to obtain such an ID, they will encounter a message telling them ID-issuing offices are closed. Strict voter ID laws …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: Dane County Circuit Judge Jill Karofsky won the race for Wisconsin Supreme Court, narrowing the conservative majority after a tumultuous election conducted in the midst of a global pandemic, according to unofficial results released Monday. Karofsky’s victory marked the first time in a dozen years that a Supreme Court challenger beat an incumbent — and just …

Greater Milwaukee Today reports: Wisconsin Republicans asked the U.S. Supreme Court late Saturday to block extended absentee voting in Tuesday’s primary, despite public health fears about in-person voting amid the coronavirus pandemic. Republicans are asking the high court to undo a federal judge’s ruling this week that declined to postpone the election but added six days, to April 13, for …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump on Monday morning became the latest in a procession of Republicans to say making it easier for more people to vote would hurt his party politically. In an interview on “Fox & Friends,” Trump referenced proposals from Democrats in the coronavirus stimulus negotiations that would have vastly increased funding for absentee and vote-by-mail options. …

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports: A Wisconsin appeals court Friday struck down an Ozaukee County judge’s ruling that thousands of people had to be quickly removed from the state’s voter rolls because they are believed to have moved. The appeals judges also unanimously overturned a finding that state election officials were in contempt of court for not taking people off …

“The idea that you would have to have a basic knowledge of America’s Constitution, for example, to vote, I don’t see that as a horrible idea. I really don’t. I mean, it seems to me that having people — you know, the system that we have right now, which is you pick up a bunch of people at a bus …

Courthouse News reports: Three voters and two nonprofits brought a federal complaint Tuesday that says the failure by Texas to register voters through its online driver’s license application is illegal. The lawsuit comes eight days after a cadre of Democrats sued the Texas secretary of state on voter-suppression claims; thousands of Texans were improperly barred from voting in the 2018 …

The Associated Press reports: A conservative law firm on Thursday asked a judge to find the Wisconsin Elections Commission in contempt and fine its members $2,000 a day until it immediately purges more than 200,000 voters from the rolls, a move Democrats are fighting in the key battleground state. A judge last month ordered the purge of voters who may …

The Associated Press reports: One of President Donald Trump’s top re-election advisers told influential Republicans in swing state Wisconsin that the party has “traditionally” relied on voter suppression to compete in battleground states but will be able to “start playing offense” in 2020 due to relaxed Election Day rules, according to an audio recording of a private event obtained by …

The New York Times reports: Stacey Abrams, the Georgia politician who captured national attention during her unsuccessful run for governor in 2018, has decided not to run for president after publicly contemplating a bid for months, according to people familiar with her thinking. Ms. Abrams, a Democrat, will instead focus her efforts on preventing voter suppression with a new initiative …