The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly – July 1-7 2013
The Supreme Ruling effectively invalidating Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act will force voting rights advocates to rely on Section 2 to challenge election procedures which might impede voters. Section 3 is also being used to challenge redistricting maps in Texas. A bi-partisan pair of Senators are working to eliminate waivers in the MOVE Act of 2009 for states that that fail to mail ballots to military and overseas 45 days before elections. The New Jersey legislature has passed a bill that would consolidate the general election and the special election to replace US Senator Frank Lautenberg. Freed from Federal pre-clearance requirements by the Supreme Court, North Carolina’s GOP-led legislature is poised to establish a voter ID requirement and eliminate in-person early voting. Attorney Steve Hamm presented a report explaining the election meltdown in Richland County South Carolina last November. The Egyptian military removed the country’s first democratically-elected President and vowed to hold new elections later this year, while the Russia government has begun arresting popular opposition leaders ahead of scheduled elections.