Editorials: Unexpected consequences of ending federal voting oversight | Jim Ellis/Washington Times

The United States Supreme Court will soon begin conference deliberations on the Shelby County Voting Rights Act case, which could change the face of American politics.

The Alabama county is challenging the constitutionality of Sections 4 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act, specifically the “triggering mechanism” for federal intervention, which is based on the population of eligible voters in the 1964, ‘68 and ‘72 general elections. When Congress reauthorized Section 5 in 2006, the triggering mechanism was not updated.

It is apparent from the U.S. Supreme Court justices’ questions during oral arguments that the Shelby County plaintiffs have a reasonable chance for victory in their efforts to end federal oversight. Devastating consequences, however, for minority officeholders and Republicans will result.

Section 5 requires jurisdictions covered by the Voting Rights Act to obtain Justice Department “pre-clearance” for all election code changes, but this does not invalidate any state laws. Instead, the affected laws become unenforceable. Section 5 essentially acts as a statutory injunction. If Shelby County succeeds, the injunction will be lifted and the laws previously stayed will become enforceable.

Let’s use the state of Florida’s congressional plan as an example of what could happen in Voting Rights Act jurisdictions over the next decade without Section 5.

Florida’s political maps are being litigated over a 2010 voter-passed redistricting initiative. Should the plaintiffs in the case win a strong likelihood if the Supreme Court sides with Shelby County all of the Sunshine State maps probably will be redrawn before the 2014 elections.

Included in the Florida ballot proposition is a provision that maintains whole counties unless the principle of one person, one vote or the Voting Rights Act requires otherwise. The state has seven big counties, such as Miami-Dade, that exceed the population requirement for a congressional district. If Shelby County wins, 10 seats would be fully contained within the counties. Today, only two complete districts reside within those particular confines. If the state criteria are enforced without the tempering effect of the Voting Rights Act, then two of Florida’s three protected black districts likely will disappear.

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California: Online voting registration’s influence set to expand in California | California Forward

As more and more data is analyzed from last November’s election, the impact of the recently-enacted Online Voter Registration (OVR) in California continues to crystallize. Paul Mitchell of Political Data, Inc. (PDI) is one of the most respected number crunchers in the state. He’s a bit like our own Nate Silver, except he specializes in reading the tea leaves after the fact instead of making predictions beforehand. In a recent blog post tied to the annual convening of California Democrats last weekend, Mitchell breaks down the OVR data that likely helped secure Dems their current supermajority.

Colorado: Elections bill gets personal as fliers link Republican clerks to Obama | Denver Post

Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Sheila Reiner, a Republican, was called out for the Colorado County Clerks Association’s support of an elections bill that has divided the Colorado General Assembly the past week. So far, the bill has passed two House committees and a floor vote entirely along party lins — Democrats for, Republicans against. The mailer suggests she’s in cahoots with President Obama and state Democrats. “I never thought that my name would be associated with the president,” Reiner told Charles.

Florida: Voting rights groups criticize Senate’s elections bill | Tampa Bay Times

Local and national voting rights groups voiced opposition Monday to an elections bill that’s awaiting a final vote in the Senate on Wednesday. The groups zeroed in on a provision in the bill (HB 7013) that changes the law for voters who need assistance at the polls. Under the change, sponsored by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, a person seeking to assist a voter at the polls must already know the person, and no one may assist more than 10 voters in an election. “These restrictions on assistors will make it harder to vote, particularly for rmany of Florida’s Latino and Hispanic residents,” the groups said in advance of a conference call with Florida reporters.

Massachusetts: State to investigate election irregularities – recounts to be held next week | South Coast Today

The state Elections Division is investigating “irregularities” in the town election April 1 and the way the ballots were handled in the days afterward. “As you are aware, serious problems have been reported in connection with the town election,” wrote Michelle K. Tassinari, director and legal counsel, in a letter to Town Clerk Eileen Lowney April 10. Ms. Tassinari said “certain matters concerning standards, practices and procedures of election officials during the administration of the Town Election may be contrary to election laws.”

Montana: Legislators refer big changes in elections to Montana voters | Great Falls Tribune

Come 2014, it’s up to voters to decide the fate of Montana’s primary election system and late voter registration date. The Montana House and Senate cleared two referendums last week that could change the state’s voting laws. The measures passed largely along party lines, with Republicans voting in favor. Senate bills 408 and 405 are the same proposals that led Senate Democrats to pound on their desks and shout at the Republican Senate president earlier this month as they sought to halt legislation’s passage. The first of those measures, SB 408, would establish a “top-two” primary in Montana elections. Under such a system, voters would not have to choose which party’s primary ballot to fill out; rather, they would receive a single ballot and could vote for candidates from any party. The two people receiving the most votes — regardless of party affiliation — would advance to the general election. … If enacted, Montana would become the second state behind Washington to hold top-two primaries.

North Carolina: Democrats file ‘voter empowerment act’ to counter GOP’s voter ID push | Port City Daily

House and Senate Democrats recently filed a bill in response to the GOP leadership’s push for voter ID in North Carolina. The Ella Baker Voter Empowerment Act is named after Baker, a black civil rights leader who graduated from Shaw University in Raleigh and was a contemporary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The House version (HB 689) and Senate version (SB 708) both seek to extend early voting, including Sunday voting. The bills also seek to increase poll hours during early voting, create an online voter registration and increase one-stop polling locations, according to The Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Pennsylvania: Online voter registration OK’d by Senate, authorization goes to House | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

You can already shop, take care of your banking or chat with your friends online. Is registering to vote next? A bill that passed the state Senate last week proposes just that. “I think it is a common-sense change that encourages people to participate in the process. It’s hard to argue against that,” said Sen. Lloyd Smucker, R-Lancaster, the legislation’s main sponsor. The bill passed the Senate unanimously; it now moves to the House. Currently, eligible Pennsylvania voters can go online and print out a registration form that they must fill out and mail, but Senate Bill 37 would make the registration process completely available online. It also would allow current voters to switch their address or party affiliation online.

Iraq: Iraqis see some irregularities in provincial vote | Alarabiya

Iraqi election monitors on Sunday reported multiple irregularities in the country’s first provincial vote since U.S. troops left but were unclear as to whether results would be affected. In an initial report, two non-governmental organizations, Shams and Tamoz, said over 300 irregularities had been recorded by the seven thousand monitors they had sent across Iraq to cover Saturday’s polls. The vote was a key test of Iraq’s short experience with democratic elections because it was the first one run since the U.S. withdrawal in December 2011. Allegations of vote fixing are not uncommon following elections in the country.

Japan: Diet OKs Internet election campaigns | The Japan Times

A bill to permit the use of the Internet during election campaigns was passed into law by the Upper House on Friday, clearing the way for more robust online interaction between candidates and voters, beginning with July’s House of Councilors poll. The revision to the Public Offices Election Law will allow political parties and candidates to electioneer online by updating their home pages or blogs and using social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter to post comments, among other things.

Russia: Top court rules citizens can contest election results | RT

Russian Constitutional Court has confirmed that ordinary citizens can contest election results, but specified that this only concerns the particular constituencies in which they cast their votes. The top Russian court on Monday announced the decision of a major check into the Procedural Code and the federal laws concerning the elections and the guarantees of the voters’ rights. The move was prompted by an address from the plenipotentiary for Human Rights Vladimir Lukin of the Voronezh city branch of the opposition party Fair Russia, and also a group of citizens from the Voronezh Region and St. Petersburg city.

Venezuela: Election Officials Agree to Full Recount | Latin American Herald Tribune

Amid persistent political tension in Venezuela, the CNE election authority accepted opposition candidate Henrique Capriles’s request for a review of 100 percent of the ballots cast in last weekend’s special presidential election. CNE chair Tibisay Lucena said in a televised statement late Thursday that authorities would proceed to audit the 46 percent of ballot boxes that were not subject to a recount on election day. The Venezuelan electoral system relies on electronic voting backed up by paper ballots and the CNE automatically reviews a random sample of 54 percent of the votes to detect discrepancies between the electronic tabulation and the paper records.

Venezuela: Maduro threatens oil trade in row with US over disputed presidential election | AFP

Venezuela stepped up attacks on the United States, threatening retaliatory measures affecting trade and energy if Washington resorts to sanctions in a row over the country’s disputed presidential election. Vowing not to go back on the late Hugo Chavez’s revolution, President Nicolas Maduro said at a swearing-in ceremony for his new cabinet, “There will be no pact here of any kind with the bourgeoisie. Make no mistake.” He accused the United States of threatening Venezuela, and spoke with approval of the warning to Washington leveled earlier in the day by Foreign Minister Elias Jaua in Guayaquil, Ecuador. “If the United States takes recourse to economic sanctions, or sanctions of any other kind, we will take measures of a commercial, energy, economic and political order that we consider necessary,” Jaua said in a television interview.

Venezuela: New Venezuela President Sworn In, but Vote to Be Audited | NYTimes.com

In the carnival-mirror world of Venezuelan politics, Nicolás Maduro was sworn in as president on Friday, just hours after election officials agreed to carry out a partial recount of the vote result, which opponents hoped could lead to its being overturned. Women with fake mustaches showed support for Mr. Maduro during the swearing-in ceremonies. His win is being contested. Mr. Maduro was elected Sunday by a narrow margin less than six weeks after the death of his mentor, Hugo Chávez, the charismatic socialist. He beat Henrique Capriles Radonski, who refused to recognize the results and called for a recount, claiming that he was the true winner. Tensions ran high afterward, with protests, scattered violence and both sides blaming the other for several deaths. The inauguration was delayed for hours because Mr. Maduro had been in Lima, Peru, until well past midnight at a special meeting of the Union of South American Nations, which had been called to discuss the situation in Venezuela.

The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly – April 15-21 2013

Spencer Overton considered recent remarks by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia concerning the Voting Rights Act. Partisan disagreements flared over a sweeping election reform bill in Colorado. Culminating a two-year process requiring passage in two consecutive General Assemblies, the Delaware legislature has voted to restore voting rights to non-violent offenders who have completed their sentences. A proposal to require witness signatures on absentee ballots is opposed by county election supervisors who fear it would disenfranchise voters — especially military personnel. Maryland lawmakers and voter advocacy groups were alarmed by State Board of Elections plans to spend up to $1.2 million to hire just five contractors working for nine months as part of the state’s transition from touch-screen voting to paper ballots. Election officials in North Carolina say a proposed Voter ID requirement would cost the State $3.6 Million to implement. North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple is expected to sign voter ID legislation sent to him this week. Amid violent protests, Venezuela agreed to an audit of last week’s election, but only after Chavez heir Nicholas Maduro is sworn in as President.

Editorials: Justice Scalia’s Latest ‘Racial Entitlement’ Remark | Spencer Overton/Huffington Post

A few weeks ago, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said that a key provision of the Voting Rights Act was motivated by a “perpetuation of racial entitlement.” Now comes word that on Monday night, Scalia told a group of students that the provision is an “embedded” form of “racial preferment.” He believes the provision is a racial entitlement because the federal government does not take a similar interest in protecting the voting rights of whites. Even aside from improperly commenting on a pending case, Scalia is wrong. Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act — currently under review by the Court — is not a quota system to elect minority candidates. Instead, it is an enforcement tool to prevent voting discrimination. Section 5 requires that covered states “preclear” their proposed election law changes with federal officials to ensure the changes are not discriminatory. Nine states plus parts of six others are “covered.” States and localities that maintain a clean record for 10 years can “bail out” of coverage.

Editorials: A Simple Plan to Drastically Improve Voting, Stop Fraud, and Save Money | Trevor Potter/The Atlantic

Bipartisan agreements seem possible on immigration and perhaps even on guns. Could election reform be next? Is there an opportunity to move past the partisan rancor of the voting wars and modernize America’s out-of-date election system? We all know it needs improvement. Long lines on Election Day are only the most visible symptom, as some voters from Florida to Virginia to Ohio waited up to seven hours to make their voice heard in last year’s election. The culprit often turns out to be the old-fashioned, paper-based registration system used across the country. According to the Pew Center on the States, approximately 51 million Americans are not registered to vote but should qualify to do so. One in eight registrations contain errors or are no longer valid. Nearly 2 million dead people appear on the voter rolls. In 2008, estimates are that at least 3 million voters who thought they were registered showed up at the polls, only to be turned away because of registration problems.

Editorials: Scalia’s take on Voting Rights Act a slap in the face to civil rights advocates | theGrio

Is the U.S. Supreme Court ready to kill the Voting Rights Act?  If Justice Antonin Scalia’s recent comments are any indication, we’re in for some trouble. On Monday at the University of California Washington Center, the high court judge said that the law an “embedded” form of “racial preferment.”  According to Scalia’s interpretation, the Voting Rights Act was enacted as an emergency measure, but now amounts to a federal racial preference system for black people that discriminates against whites. “Whenever a society adopts racial entitlements, it is very difficult to get out of them through the normal political processes,” Scalia said. “Even the name of it is wonderful, the Voting Rights Act. Who’s going to vote against that?”

Arizona: Senate kills measure to make recall election changes | East Valley Tribune

A plan to revamp the state’s recall laws for all future elections fell apart Thursday as some Republican senators broke party ranks. On an 18-10 vote the Senate killed a House-passed measure which would have required both a primary and a general election in the event of a recall. Foes said they saw no reason to alter a system that has been in place since the early days of Arizona statehood. And its fate may have been sealed by a late alteration that created an even more convoluted system where a recalled official actually could be defeated in his or her own partisan primary and yet still be on the general election ballot.

Colorado: Democratic elections overhaul gets initial okay, despite strong GOP resistance | KDVR

House Democrats pushed through a controversial bill that would change how Coloradans vote after more than six hours of debate on the House floor Thursday afternoon. Republicans spend hours arguing against the massive overhaul of elections law, that would send a mail ballot to every registered Colorado voter whether or not they request one, install a state-of-the-art electronic database to monitor registration and voting information and detect fraud in real-time and, most controversially, allow people to register to vote as late as Election Day. But they didn’t have the votes to stop the measure, which got an initial okay on a voice vote and could see a final, recorded vote on Friday. “We need to update our systems into the 21st century,” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, told FOX31 Denver. “We will know when someone’s voted and we will be able to track that.” Pabon has the support of the Colorado Association of County Clerks on his side. The group helped draft the legislation, along with other groups like Common Cause and AFSCME.

Colorado: House to debate elections bill, as party lines hold | Denver Post

The legislation that could either modernize, economize and simplify the state’s election system — or open it up to voter fraud, depending on who you believe — is expected to go to the floor of the state House of Representatives for a vote Thursday. The so-called Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act passed out of its second House committee this week early Wednesday morning. The Appropriations Committee gave it an 8-4 approval on a party-line vote. The House’s State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee gave it a 7-4 party line vote Monday night. Though backers have called it a bipartisan bill, so far it’s yet to pick up a single Republican vote or any endorsement from GOP lawmakers or organizations.

Connecticut: State House calls for constitutional amendment to expand voting options | The Day

The state House of Representatives has passed a joint resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to remove the requirement that people vote in person on Election Day. The resolution passed by a 90-49 vote, with 12 members absent. It goes next to the Senate and then to a public vote in the 2014 election. Currently, the state constitution exempts people from voting in person if they are out of town on Election Day, are sick, have a physical disability or hold religious tenets that prohibit voting on Election Day. The only alternative to voting in person is by absentee ballot.

Florida: Most Former Felons Not Given Back Civil Rights | South Florida Times

Changes under Republican Gov. Rick Scott are making it more difficult for Florida’s former felons to get their voting rights restored, which critics say has suppressed the minority vote and hurt Democratic candidates. As one of his first actions after taking office in 2011, Scott, as chairman of the Florida Board of Executive Clemency, undid automatic restoration of voting rights for nonviolent ex-offenders that previous Gov. Charlie Crist helped adopt in 2007. Since then, the number of former felons who have had their voting rights restored has slowed to a trickle, even compared with the year before Crist and the clemency board helped make the process easier.

Florida: Browning on election bill provisions: “bad public policy” | Palm Beach Post

Former Secretary of State Kurt Browning called a provision included in the Senate’s election package yesterday allowing the secretary of state to dock election supervisors pay and essentially put them on probation “bad public policy.” Browning served more than two decades as the Pasco County supervisor of elections before going to work for Gov. Charlie Crist as secretary of state in 2006. Browning stepped down from the post for the second time last year and was elected Pasco County schools superintendent in November. Browning was in the Capitol on Wednesday for school superintendents’ meeting with his one-time boss, Gov. Rick Scott.

Illinois: Biss bill would abolish local election boards | Evanston Now

State Sen. Daniel Biss of Evanston persuaded a Senate committee today to advance his plan to abolish the local electoral boards that decide whether challenged candidates stay on the ballot. If signed into law, Senate Bill 1689 would assign the controversial panels’ duties to county election officials. “Our ballot access process should be as transparent and easy to navigate as possible, so newcomers and outsiders don’t find themselves at a disadvantage,” said Biss. “The current system, with its unnecessary and inefficient proliferation of boards stocked with incumbents, favors candidates who already know how to play the game.”

Montana: Same-day voter registration debated in Montana Legislature | KRTV

The Montana House of Representatives debated and passed a referendum on Tuesday which would eliminate same day voter registration. Senate Bill 405 lets voters decide if they want people lining up on election day and registering to vote. Republicans say same day voter registration is a bad idea, saying it contributes to long lines, chaos at the polls, and plus they say voters should be more organized and get their paperwork filed early.

North Carolina: After emotional debate, voter ID bill approved by House panel | News Observer

Legislation to require voters to show a photo ID began moving through the state House on Wednesday after a debate that touched on some of the most sensitive subjects in politics – vote stealing, race, newly arrived Hispanic voters, and voter suppression. The House Election Committee, in a party-line Republican 23-11 vote, passed a bill requiring voters to produce a government-approved photo ID before being allowed to vote in the 2016 election. But poll workers would begin asking for photos on a voluntary basis next year under the bill. The measure heads to the House floor next week – after several quick stops in two other House committees – before going to the Senate.

North Dakota: Walsh County struggles with miscount of November election | Grand Forks Herald

The Walsh County election canvassing board spent more than seven hours Tuesday without successfully finding the source of a 301-vote discrepancy in the Nov. 6 general election. That is, there were 4,603 people that voted, but the tally came to 4,904 votes. The board was still working, with no decision, late Tuesday evening. It’s possible, but officials believe unlikely, that one Walsh County Commission seat may hang in the balance.

Texas: Republicans, Democrats clash on redistricting | Abilene Reporter-News

Texas Republicans proposed legislation Thursday that would adopt the current political maps, but Democrats promised to fight the effort. Amarillo Sen. Kel Seliger offered a redistricting bill to the Senate State Affairs Committee that would formally adopt interim maps drawn by a federal court in San Antonio last year. The maps for congressional, state Senate and House districts were used for the 2012 election while a federal court in Washington, D.C., reviewed maps drawn by the Legislature after minority groups filed a lawsuit to block them.

Voting Blogs: Kenya 2013 elections: reflections on the Supreme Court ruling and the role of the judiciary in democratisation | openDemocracy

If the peaceful conduct of Kenya’s recent presidential elections was any kind of test of the development of the country’s new democratic culture, what happened in its aftermath bears even greater testimony to the fact that the culture of rule of law, democracy and constitutionalism may finally be taking root in Kenya as a nation and Kenyans as a people. After Kenya’s election body – the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of Kenya – declared Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Kenya’s first President, the winner of the March 4 presidential elections by a slim margin (50.07%), his main rival, Raila Odinga, seized the Supreme Court, contesting the results. Considering promises by all sides during the campaigns to respect the outcome of the process, Odinga’s unexpected volte face not only froze the electoral process; it also upped anxieties and fears – as people were reminded of the violent experience of the 2007 elections – on what this might mean in the event of a ruling confirming, or voiding, the IEBC results.