The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly for November 9-15 2015
Drawing on data from a recently-released report from the Brennan Center, an article in Government Technology surveyed the state of voter registration in the United States. Seth Flaxman considered the importance of investing in new voting technology. At its 20th session in Brussels, Belgium, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization formally voted to accept the District of Columbia as a new member. A Leon County Circuit Court Judge has rejected a request by the Florida Senate to have the court hire a redistricting expert to redraw the Senate maps, saying “we just don’t have enough time left” to hire a newcomer to the process and get the boundaries set in time for the 2016 election. U.S. citizens living in Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have filed a lawsuit in Illinois’ northern district court arguing that statutes allowing them to vote in particular areas but not certain U.S. territories are a violation of their equal protection rights, according to court documents. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed legislation that would have would have established automatic registration and online registration, as well as creating more opportunities for in-person early voting. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy has won a majority in Myanmar’s parliament, and foreign ministers and senior officials from more than a dozen countries agreed to work for a ceasefire in Syria’s civil war, outlining a plan on Saturday for a political process in Syria leading to elections within two years.