The Voting News Daily: TX photo ID legislation declared emergency measure; Colorado SoS announces plans to pursue private legal practice
In Texas, the Governor has declared that photo ID legislation is an emergency measure, and the Texas Senate has made an exception to a two-thirds-majority requirement for a photo ID bill. Colorado’s Secretary of State has announced that he will engage in a private law practice during his term. Photo ID legislation is being sharply debated in Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. And the EAC calls attention to a discussion of vendors and election officials last month. The panel looked at voting system life cycles, state and local budget cuts; and other critcal voting system issues.
All this and more in today’s Voting News below. Enjoy your weekend!
CA: Ledger-Dispatch.com | Gaines introduces measure to cut election costs
“My bill will help cut the costs counties incur to conduct special elections by eliminating the mandate to open polling places and hire staff for these elections,” Gaines said. Read More
Colorado‘s newly elected secretary of state says the job doesn’t pay enough and he’ll take a side job with his old law firm. Scott Gessler insists the side job won’t conflict with his official job overseeing state elections. Read More
CO: Secretary of State plans to moonlight with old firm – The Denver Post
Less than two weeks on the job, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler says the $68,500 a year salary doesn’t pay enough.
That’s why Gessler, a Republican, says he is going to be moonlighting as a lawyer for his old law firm – a firm known for representing clients on elections and campaign law issues, the very areas Gessler is now charged with policing as secretary of state. Read More
Attorney General John Suthers, who is tasked to work with Gessler to help him avoid Hackstaff-related conflicts of interest, said attorney-client privileges prevent him from speaking on the topic.
This legally proscribed silence is a big problem and points to the bigger problem going forward, according to Luis Toro, director of government watchdog group Colorado Ethics Watch and a man who has argued cases against Gessler in the past. The public is being forced to simply accept that the secretary of state will be acting in good faith without any way to really ask questions or get answers to confirm that’s the case, he said. Read More
IA: Bill would require photo ID to vote in Iowa
The change is necessary to protect the integrity of elections, according to House File 8 floor manager Rep. Renee Schulte, R-Cedar Rapids. Current law allows election officials to ask for a photo ID. HF 8, Schulte said, will remove that subjectivity from state law. Read More
Under this Republican proposal, photo identification would always be required to vote.