The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly for September 28 – October 4 2015
A district court judge dismissed four corruption charges against Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and his donor Salomon Melgen, but denied motions to toss out other charges including, notably, the senator’s solicitation of contributions for a super PAC. In a Newsweek Op-Ed, William Galston and E.J. Dionne consider the arguments in favor of compulsory voting. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have criticized a decision by Alabama officials to close dozens of driver’s license offices, a move that disproportionately affects government ID services in black Democratic areas of the state. The Florida House and Senate announced that they had reached agreement on how to move forward with a process to draw new lines for the state Senate in a special session starting next month. A special 12-member study committee convened at the Indiana Statehouse to begin a two-year investigation into the state’s redistricting process. Kansas election officials began removing the names of more than 31,000 prospective voters from their registration records in line with the state’s tough voter identification law, which requires applicants to prove their citizenship before casting a ballot. A ban on long-term expatriates voting from abroad has drawn the ire of Canadian business groups in Asia, who argue the measure runs contrary to both their rights and the country’s interests and pro-independence victories in regional elections in Catalonia have posed a constitutional crisis in Spain.