Monthly Archives: January 2016

A controversial proposal aiming to change the way New Jersey redraws its legislative districts will not be voted on Monday as state lawmakers gather for the final votes of the two-year legislative session, according to the measure’s top sponsor in the state Senate. Instead, state Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-N.J.) said, Democratic lawmakers pushing the resolution need more time to work on it. “It’s dead for today,” Scutari told NJ Advance Media. The resolution seeks to put a question on November’s ballot asking New Jersey voters to amend the state constitution to make a number of changes to redistricting — including one that would require at least 10 of the state’s 40 districts be deemed “competitive.”

South Dakota: Secretary of State approves nonpartisan election measure for ballot | Associated Press

Secretary of State Shantel Krebs says an initiated amendment to the South Dakota Constitution establishing nonpartisan elections will appear on the November ballot. Krebs says the measure’s sponsor turned in more than 44,000 signatures to her office. A 5-percent random sampling determined that 67.8 percent of the signatures the 29,924 signatures were in good standing, more than 2,000 above what is necessary for an amendment.

Virginia: Judge adds state GOP as defendant in suit against primary oath | The Daily Progress

A federal judge in Richmond on Monday added the Republican Party of Virginia as a defendant in a lawsuit challenging the GOP’s “statement of affiliation” in the March 1 GOP presidential primary. Also Monday, the State Board of Elections, the original defendants, asked U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck to dismiss the suit. Lauck has set a Wednesday hearing in the case. Three black pastors from the Richmond area who support Donald Trump filed suit last week against the State Board of Elections in an effort to block the requirement under which voters would fill out a form that says: “My signature below indicates that I am a Republican.” The State Board of Elections approved the requirement Dec. 16 at the request of the GOP’s State Central Committee. Trump says his campaign is not part of the suit, but supports its go

Central African Republic: Vote recount demanded | AFP

A top candidate in presidential elections in the Central African Republic, Martin Ziguele, wants a manual recount of first-round votes because of alleged irregularities, his party said on Monday. Ziguele, a former prime minister who came fourth out of 30 hopefuls in the December 30 vote, plans to go to the Constitutional Court to “demand a manual recount of the voting slips”, according to the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People (MLPC). The party accused the National Authority for Elections (ANE) of breaching the electoral code as it released figures “each day muddling up different (administrative districts) with varying rates of vote counting, rendering any checks and follow-up impossible.”

Haiti: Martelly’s one-man rule comes to an end in Haiti | Miami Herald

As a paralyzing political crisis pushed Haiti into an uncertain phase a year ago this month, a stoic President Michel Martelly assured the Haitian people and the international community that he had no interest in governing without the checks and balances of a parliament. “The only decree that I would take is one to organize elections,” Martelly said on the fifth anniversary of the devastating Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake as the terms of the entire lower house and a second tier of the 30-member Senate expired because of overdue legislative elections. Now as Haiti prepares to mark another quake anniversary, it is also preparing to welcome back a functioning Senate and lower house after 14 new Senators and 92 Deputies were elected in the much-criticized Aug. 9 and Oct. 25 election

Italy: Prime Minister Renzi makes progress with constitutional reform | Reuters

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Monday moved one step closer to passing a constitutional reform aimed at streamlining the lawmaking process when the lower house of parliament approved the bill in its fourth reading. Renzi has staked his political future on the reform to cut the size and powers of the upper house Senate. The Chamber of Deputies approved it by 367 votes to 194. Under the lengthy procedures required for constitutional changes, both houses now must pass the reform again. It will then face what promises to be a fiercely contested national referendum which Renzi hopes to hold in October.

Japan: Administration looks to let people vote in major train stations, other high-traffic locations | The Japan Times

Hoping to raise voter turnout, the Abe administration plans to allow people to cast their ballots at major train stations and commercial complexes, according to a government source. The administration will try to get the necessary change to the public offices election law by the end of March so it will be in effect for the Upper House election this summer, the source said Monday. People are currently allowed to vote at only one place, usually a school or public office in the neighborhood where they live, designated by the election council. The bill would permit setting up “common voting stations” in high-traffic places, such as train and subway stations, shopping centers and other public facilities, in addition to current polling stations.

Niger: Presidential candidate denied release from prison | Reuters

Hama Amadou, a major opposition figure approved to stand in Niger’s February elections just two days ago, failed on Monday in an attempt to gain release from prison in a plea to the country’s appeals court. President Mahamadou Issoufou, a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist militancy in the fragile Sahara region, is expected to win a second term; but critics accuse him of becoming increasingly authoritarian, especially after uncovering what he described as an aborted coup in December. Amadou, a one-time ally to the president, was jailed in November for alleged complicity in a baby trafficking ring upon return from a year-long exile. He has publicly denied the charges, which he says are politically motivated.

Portugal: Campaigning begins for presidential election | AFP

Campaigning for Portugal’s presidency officially got underway Sunday, with a record 10 candidates, led by conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, contending the Jan. 24 ballot. De Sousa, a 67-year-old professor of law and veteran TV political commentator, is backed by 52.9 percent of the public, according to an opinion poll of 600 voters, published Sunday by the newspaper Correio da Manha. If so, he could be elected in the first round. A runoff will be held Feb. 14 if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of votes cast.

Editorials: Free and fair elections attract investment, no matter who’s elected. Here’s why. | Mike Touchton/The Washington Post

If developing countries want to be prosperous and attract international investment, they should hold free and fair elections. That’s the takeaway from my analysis of data on elections and net investment flows in 157 countries between 1990 and 2013, which I presented in a recent paper in International Interactions. Over the past years, illiberal democracy has been spreading across the developing world. By “illiberal democracy” I mean countries like Venezuela, Argentina, and Hungary, which hold elections but curtail civil liberties, where constitutions limit power in theory but where in practice the rule of law is flexible at best, and no one holds leaders to account. For them, it may be useful to know that simply holding free and fair elections makes a big difference in attracting investment, whether a right- or left-leaning party wins the election or whether the country has a broader commitment to political rights. Let’s look at why.

Editorials: Steve Israel: Confessions of a Congressman | The New York Times

It’s now safe to pick up your phones and read your emails. That’s right, I won’t be calling to ask you to donate to my congressional campaign. As I announced on Tuesday, I’ll be leaving Congress at the end of this term — sentimental about many things, but liberated from a fund-raising regime that’s never been more dangerous to our democracy. In the days after my first election to Congress, in 2000, I attended several orientation sessions in Washington, eager to absorb the lessons of history. I wanted to learn what Congressman Abraham Lincoln had learned, to hear the wisdom of predecessors like John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster and Joseph Gurney Cannon. The romance was crushed by lesson No. 1: Get re-elected. A fund-raising consultant advised that if I didn’t raise at least $10,000 a week (in pre-Citizens United dollars), I wouldn’t be back.

Editorials: Initiative 55: Giving Colorado’s unaffiliated voters a voice | Thomas E. Cronin and Robert D. Loevy/The Denver Post

Designing legislative districts that favor one political party or the other is one of the unseen back-room political maneuvers that can have a major influence on the outcome of state elections. But that sort of gerrymander, as the process is often called, may be harder to pull off if an initiated constitutional amendment — Initiative 55 — were to pass. The amendment, which has not yet been certified for the 2016 ballot, could benefit unaffiliated voters in Colorado. Under consideration is a proposal to give them a major role in legislative and congressional redistricting, the drawing of the boundary lines of the districts from which state representatives, state senators, and members of the U.S. House are elected.

Florida: The next redistricting fight: Who pays the attorneys? | Florida Politics

The Florida Legislature is continuing to oppose an effort by the plaintiffs’ attorneys to get their fees paid by state government now that the congressional redistricting case has been closed. Lawyers for House and Senate filed more legal authority with the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday to support their position that the opposing lawyers are “not entitled to an award of attorney’s fees.” Last month, the court gave its final OK to a redrawn version of the state’s 27 congressional districts, three years after a lawsuit alleged they were unconstitutional. The court eventually agreed and ordered a do-over of the map.

Editorials: Guam deserves voting right | Pacific Daily News

A sudden gust of icy wind howls across the bay and into the darkened streets of Boston. The year is 1773, just a week before Christmas Eve. Snow begins to fall from the sky as a small group of colonial men emerge from the shadows. Moving quickly, they board a British vessel carrying a shipment of tea. The story is a familiar one; no American history book would be complete without the account of the Boston Tea Party. This single event is seen by many as the beginning of America’s fight for independence. This act of rebellion sent our battle cry across the Atlantic and into the ears of the king: “No taxation without representation!” Hundreds of years later, every American reaps the benefits of our founder’s actions. Because of the bravery of these men, every single American citizen is allowed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Every American is given a say in who represents them. But that’s not completely true, is it?

Maine: Libertarian Mainers sue state over rejection of bid to create party | Bangor Daily News

A group of Mainers attempting to establish an official Libertarian Party here has sued the secretary of state’s office, claiming that Maine’s rules for establishing a political party are unconstitutional and that there is not an adequate process for appealing decisions by the state. The suit centers on failed efforts last year by the Libertarian Party of Maine Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Brunswick, to become the fourth recognized political party in Maine. It alleges that Maine law violates First and 14th Amendment constitutional rights. Filed Jan. 4 in U.S. District Court by Portland-based attorney John Branson, the suit names as defendants Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, Deputy Secretary of State Julie Flynn and Assistant Director of Elections Tracy Willett, all in their official capacities.

Michigan: Clerks weigh in on legislation to eliminate straight party voting | Source Newspapers

The signing by Gov. Rick Snyder of legislation to eliminate straight party voting in Michigan on Jan. 5 has received support from some local clerks, who say the measure would force voters to “do their homework” about individual candidates instead of automatically voting for all Democrats or all Republicans on the ballot, while others criticize the bill. “It takes the politics out of voting, and I’m in support of it,” Shelby Township Clerk Stanley Grot said. “While it will be more of a challenge for voters to study the candidates, I think it’s a good thing. It may take a little more time, but I think it’s a good thing because the voters will have to do their homework before they head to the polls.”

Missouri: Voting on trial: ACLU case against Ferguson-Florissant goes to court | St. Louis Public Radio

Are African-American voters in the Ferguson-Florissant school district shortchanged because board members there are elected at-large? Or would dividing the district into subdistricts actually weaken the clout of black voters, not increase it? U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel will hear arguments for both sides of the issue this week in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU claims that the racial history of the makeup of the board shows that African Americans do not have representation proportional to their population. Dale Ho, an attorney from New York who handles voting rights cases nationwide for the ACLU, says the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014 brought a sharper focus to the issue. But, he added, it really has been present since the 1970s, when the Ferguson-Florissant school district was created from the Ferguson, Berkeley and Kinloch districts under a federal court order.

Pennsylvania: Old voting machines are sticking around | WITF

Pennsylvania’s top elections official says the commonwealth is heading into a big election year with outdated voting machines.
Most of the state’s voting systems were purchased around 10 years ago. They weren’t made to last a decade, creating the possibility of faulty vote tallies and long lines on Election Day. “By some accounts, some of those systems… are at the point at the end of their useful life,” Secretary of State Pedro Cortés told reporters last month. “Some of the vendors may no longer have replacement parts, and you’re setting yourself for potential issues going forward.”

Wisconsin: Two agencies at odds on whether law allows secret donations | Milwaukee Sentinel Journal

A nonpartisan attorney for the Legislature and one of the state’s foremost experts on campaign finance law are disputing a contention by the state’s elections agency that political parties don’t have to publicly disclose contributions they receive from corporations. It is the latest incident in which conclusions of the state Government Accountability Board have been disputed. Frustrated with the agency, Gov. Scott Walker and his fellow Republicans in the Legislature have approved dissolving the agency this year and replacing it with two new commissions. “This is just another clear example of why the Government Accountability Board needs to be replaced,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said Friday.

Bermuda: No vote for long-term overseas residents | The Royal Gazette

The Bermuda Government has no plans to extend voting rights to Bermudians living permanently abroad. At the end of last year, absentee ballots allowing students to vote were proposed for the new legislative year by the One Bermuda Alliance. However, Michael Fahy, the Minister of Home Affairs, told The Royal Gazette that the Government has no immediate plans to widen it out to include those living overseas long-term. “Because they have moved their place of residence, the constitution is clear, as is the Parliamentary Election Act, that those ordinarily living outside Bermuda cannot vote in Bermuda elections,” Mr Fahy said.

Editorials: Permanent Canadian residents should have the vote | Winnipeg Free Press

Perhaps no country has had greater success than Canada in welcoming newcomers. This is particularly so in our big cities, which have become some of the most harmoniously diverse places in the world. But for a country that celebrates diversity — Canada was the first country in the world to make multiculturalism official policy, and we are now the world’s second-most-heterogeneous society — we are less committed to the backbone of democratic society: voting rights. Recognizing permanent residents pay local taxes and use city services, some 50 countries around the world — including Ireland, New Zealand and Belgium — allow resident non-citizens to vote in municipal elections. Despite a growing movement among Canadian cities to enfranchise permanent residents — the decision lies with provincial legislatures, not municipal councils — Canada is not among them.

Central African Republic: UN Envoy Hails First-Round Election Results, Urges Calm As Process Continues | allAfrica.com

Welcoming today’s announcement of the results of the first round of the presidential elections in the Central African Republic (CAR), the United Nations envoy for the country has invited the two candidates that will participate in an upcoming run-off poll, “to maintain the spirit of peace and restraint that has prevailed” throughout the process thus far. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, officially appointed today as the UN Secretary-General’s Special representative in the CAR, hailed the results of the first round of the presidential election announced by the National Elections Authority (ANE).

Spain: Deal reached in Catalonia region to avoid new elections | AFP

A fiercely secessionist leader was elected president of the wealthy region of Catalonia thanks to a last-minute show of unity, giving fresh impetus to attempts to break away from Spain after months of infighting. The appointment of Carles Puigdemont, just hours before a deadline which would have forced fresh regional elections, drew an immediate rebuke from Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. “The government won’t allow a single act that could harm the unity and sovereignty of Spain,” Rajoy warned in a live televised appearance in Madrid. Rajoy’s remarks came after Catalonia’s pro-independence faction that won regional parliamentary elections in September finally came to an agreement this weekend over who should lead the new local government.

The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly for January 4-10 2016

January 10, 2016

catalonia_260 The Guardian profiled Edward Blum, the former stockbroker who over the past two decades has orchestrated lawsuits to challenge and, in some instances, dramatically reverse legal principles on voting rights, the drawing of electoral districts, and, in a case currently pending before the Supreme Court, the entire basis of electoral representation. That case, Evenwell v. Abbott is discussed in a New York Times editorial by Emily Bazelon and Jim Rutenberg. The Atlantic investigated the impact of California’s “top-two” primary that allows the two leading finishers in a primary to proceed to the general election regardless of party affiliation. The Michigan Senate in December broke a pair of bills apart to avoid passing no-reason absentee voting, but now they’re facing calls to pass that bill from Gov. Rick Snyder and Secretary of State Ruth Johnson. A U.S. District Court judge signed an order modifying the deadlines for discovery in the case so a trial on North Carolina’s photo ID requirement can begin Jan. 25. A federal court has picked a new congressional map for Virginia that significantly changes the racial makeup of two districts, but could be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Haiti President Michel Martelly issued a presidential order officially scheduling the country’s postponed presidential and partial legislative runoffs for Jan. 24 and the decision of Catalan far-left party CUP not to support acting regional head Artur Mas in his bid for another term, forces new local elections and increases the likelihood of a new elections in Spain later this year.

National: Man behind gutting of Voting Rights Act: states may have ‘gone too far’ since decision | The Guardian

To his detractors, Edward Blum is one of the most dangerous men in America, a human wrecking ball on a mission to destroy the landmark achievements of the civil rights era and send the country back to a dark age of discrimination and harassment of minorities – in the workplace, in higher education and at the ballot box. That’s some reputation for a slightly built former stockbroker who answers his own phone, sounds nothing like the bullying demagogues who once held sway over the deep south, and even has some misgivings about the consequences of his actions. If anything, his soft-spoken, self-deprecating, consciously neurotic manner is reminiscent of Woody Allen from his early days in standup. Blum’s impact, though, is beyond question. For more than 20 years, working largely on his own, he has orchestrated lawsuits to challenge and, in some instances, dramatically reverse once sacrosanct legal principles. Case after case that he’s filed – on voting rights, on the drawing of electoral districts, on affirmative action – has made its way to the supreme court, often against the predictions of legal scholars, and found a sympathetic reception from the conservative majority.

Editorials: The Next Big Voting-Rights Fight | Emily Bazelon & Jim Rutenberg/The New York Times

Over the past year, The New York Times Magazine has chronicled the long campaign that led to the Supreme Court’s 2013 nullification of the Voting Rights Act’s most powerful provision — its Section 5 — and the consequences that decision has had for minority voters. As I’ve written in our Disenfranchised series, the gutting of Section 5 facilitated an onslaught of restrictive new laws that made voting disproportionately harder for minorities across the country, marking the biggest setback to minority voting rights in the half-century since President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard a new case, Evenwel v. Abbott, that could also have a significant effect on minority political power — specifically, Hispanic voting power. Evenwel stems from a case first instigated in Texas by the same conservative group — the Project on Fair Representation — that helped bring about the decision gutting Section 5 in 2013. Like all of these big election cases, the issues involved are complicated, which may explain why Evenwel has drawn less media attention than it deserves; it does not reduce easily into sound bites. But the Court’s decision in Evenwel could be among the most important developments in politics in 2016, and well beyond. This series would not be complete for 2015 without a review of the case. My colleague Emily Bazelon and I have done our best to break it down as simply as possible, trading off segments to explain the main legal questions at play, the potential consequences and the likely outcomes. A decision is expected by June of 2016.

California: The Consequences of California’s Top-Two Primary | The Atlantic

In 2009, Abel Maldonado, then a state senator, brought the top-two open primary to California. The change allowed the two leading finishers in a primary to proceed to the general election regardless of party affiliation. It set into motion a system that would reshape the state’s politics. Today, Maldonado is as much vilified as lauded in the state, but he is supremely satisfied with what he did. “You know what, you get a little lazy sometimes, and with a closed primary system, where you keep independents from voting, let me tell you something, you can be lazy,” he told me. “With this open primary, you have to work for the taxpayers.” In an open primary, people vote for any candidate regardless of party affiliation. But in California, a top-two primary system paved the way for two candidates of the same party to confront one another in the general election. As a result, political parties are no longer guaranteed a spot in the general, nor can they dispense with moderates within their own party in a primary election. Louisiana and Washington are the only two other states that have adopted such a system.

Michigan: Senate GOP faces pressure from Governor, SOS on no-reason absentee | MLive.com

The Michigan Senate in December broke a pair of bills apart to avoid passing no-reason absentee voting, but now they’re facing calls to pass that bill from Gov. Rick Snyder and Secretary of State Ruth Johnson. HB 4724 would allow voters to go to their local clerk’s office and either vote in person there or take an absentee ballot home without having a reason to vote absentee. Current Michigan law only allows absentee voting if a person falls into one of six categories, including being over age 60 or expecting to be out of town on election day. The bill was introduced in June, but gained traction when it was tie-barred to a bill that banned straight-ticket voting. That action would have meant that neither bill made it into law unless the other one did. However, the Senate broke that tie-bar in a late night session and the House agreed to it.

North Carolina: Voter ID case will go to trial in January | Winston-Salem Journal