(1) Trump likes to say that he is bringing enthusiasm to the GOP and people are voting in the Republican race in massive numbers, which means that Democrats should be worried about the general election. Is he right? He is not. As many have pointed out, voter turnout is an indication of the competitiveness of a primary contest, not of what will … Read More
How Conservatives Plan To Redistrict In Their Favor
There is a case before the Supreme Court right now called Evenwel v. Abbott, and it is the most important voting rights case since the Court’s conservative majority gutted the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in 2013. The case deals with redistricting — how you draw the lines to determine who votes in what congressional district. What the conservatives want to do … Read More
70 Years Ago Today (UPDATE: And 50 Years Ago Today)
UPDATE: Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed 50 years ago today…. Sadly, much of the key components were eviscerated by the Supreme Court in 2013.
Fifth Circuit Strikes Down Texas Voter ID Laws
Oh, well. Nice try, Texas — trying to prevent minorities from voting. Among other things, the State of Texas tried to impose Voter ID laws because (they said) illegal immigrants were voting. Of course, there was no evidence of this. Just the opppsite — illegal immigrants (as the Fifth Circuit noted) try to AVOID government officials since the last thing they … Read More
SCOTUS Round-up: Three More Five-To-Four Decisions Today
Today is the last day of the SCOTUS term, and so they issued the last of their opinions. The two biggest cases — on Obamacare and sames-sex marriage — came out at the end of last week, so a lot fewer people were paying attention this morning. Here’s what happened: (1) DEATH PENALTY – The 5-4 decision in Glossip v. … Read More
North Carolina GOP-Controlled Legislature Punishes NC Law School For Not Firing Professor
WRAL: A last-minute amendment by Senate leaders Wednesday docked the University of North Carolina School of Law budget by $3 million. Democrats say it’s political payback for the school’s employment of legislative critic Gene Nichol. Despite the fact that Republican Senate leaders have been working on the budget behind closed doors for nearly three weeks, Senate Rules Committee Chairmam Tom … Read More
SCOTUS Sends NC Redistricting Map Back To NC
Yesterday, the Supreme Court rejected a Republican-drawn map of congressional districts in North Carolina. The justices ordered the NC Supreme Court reconsider whether North Carolina lawmakers inappropriately redrew the electoral map to consign large populations of black voters, a Democratic constituency, to a disproportionately small number of districts, the effect of which gives Republicans a clear electoral advantage.
Doubling Down on NC Voter Suppression
ust hours after Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed a broad bill to massively restrict voting rights in North Carolina, localities moved to make it harder for students to vote. The moves come on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 June ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act and destroying the provisions that had long required North Carolina and other states with a history of … Read More
It’s Official: NC Passes Worst Voter ID Law Ever
From The Nation: Late last night, the North Carolina legislature passed the country’s worst voter suppression law after only three days of debate. Rick Hasen of Election Law Blog called it “the most sweeping anti-voter law in at least decades” The bill mandates strict voter ID to cast a ballot (no student IDs, no public employee IDs, etc), even though 318,000 registered voters lack the narrow … Read More