Alabama: Legislative districts ruled unconstitutional | Montgomery Adevertiser

A federal court ruled that 12 of Alabama’s legislative districts were unconstitutional, citing an improper use of race in their composition. The three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals enjoined the use of the districts in future elections but stopped short of intervening in the drawing of new districts. “It is this court’s expectation that the state legislature will adopt a remedy in a timely and effective manner, correcting the constitutional deficiencies in its plans in sufficient time for conducting the 2018 primary and general elections, without the need for court intervention,” the judges wrote in a separate order. The decision ends a chapter in a nearly five-year battle over the district lines – which has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court – and adds another item to a lengthy punch list awaiting state lawmakers next month.

Arizona: Legislator takes aim at University students in first week of session | The State Press

The Arizona State Legislature drew statewide backlash last week when Republican State Representative Bob Thorpe filed two bills aimed at changing the voting rights and cutting social justice classes for college students in Arizona. House Bill 2260 would in effect disallow any student living in a “dormitory address or other temporary college or university address,” to use that address to register to vote. Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes, who oversees voter registration in Maricopa County, said that the bill is both unconstitutional and unenforceable. “It violates the First Amendment, it violates the due process clause and it violates the equal protections clause,” Fontes said. “I would think a constitutional conservative like Thorpe would have looked at these things.” Fontes, who made student polling locations and voting rights priorities in his campaign, said that he would stay committed to those goals and staunchly opposed the bill. “This is disenfranchisement on its face,” he said. “It treats one particular class of eligible voter different then another eligible class of voters.”

Iowa: Pate focuses on tech upgrades in voter integrity bill | The Courier

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate stepped right into the middle of a heated debate over voting rights at a time when it is burning brightest. Former President Barack Obama called voter fraud a “fake news” story in his final press conference, while the term “hacking” gets thrown around with abandon after the 2016 election. The debate is happening as some states have ramped up efforts to limit the franchise after parts of the Voting Rights Act were struck down in 2013, and yet others have worked to expand participation. But Pate, a Republican, is hoping — probably in vain, if the early indications are correct — some of the “political nonsense” will die down once people get a good look at his Voter Integrity Act proposal.

Kansas: Voting rights advocates seek to rein in Kansas election laws | Lawrence Journal World

hen Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach set out to make Kansas a national model for fighting voter fraud, he found conservative allies in the Legislature willing to enact some of the most restrictive election laws in the country. The state passed laws requiring voters to show identification to vote and requiring people to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register. Lawmakers made Kobach the only secretary of state in the country with power to prosecute voter fraud. And they made violations of state election laws a felony. But in the 2017 Kansas Legislature, with about two dozen new lawmakers elected in a moderate wave last fall, a backlash against the restrictive election laws may be brewing. Democrats are expected to push to repeal the proof-of-citizen registration requirement, which Kobach is defending on several fronts in court. One bill seeks to allow same-day registration so people can register when they go to the polls to vote. Another bill seeks to remove Kobach’s prosecutorial power and make penalties for election law violations misdemeanors rather than felonies.

New York: Cuomo Embraces Voting Reform Agenda, But Implementation Poses Challenges | Gotham Gazette

During his State of the State tour early this month, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a trio of major reforms hailed as important steps toward modernizing New York’s antiquated electoral system and increasing the state’s paltry voter turnout. While they are long-called for proposals that many are pleased to see Cuomo promote, implementing these goals could be more complicated than it may seem. Two of the three reforms, early voting and automatic voter registration, were outlined in Cuomo’s 2016 agenda, but the initiatives failed to move through the Legislature last year due to opposition from Senate Republicans, who control that chamber. It is a power structure that continues into the 2017 session, meaning the road to passage is uphill, and steeply so. New York is one of only about a dozen states without some semblance of early voting. While the state already has a form of automatic voter registration through the Department of Motor Vehicles, Cuomo’s proposal is to streamline and expand the practice. If passed, it would amount to more widespread automatic registration, but not universal.

North Carolina: After voter fraud claims, legislature could change election laws | The Charlotte Observer

Legislators are expected to revisit election laws this year in the wake of voter-fraud allegations made by former Gov. Pat McCrory’s campaign after the November election. McCrory’s campaign and Republican allies filed protests about voters who they suspected were either dead, serving felony sentences or voted more than once. They also challenged community groups funded by the N.C. Democratic Party that assisted voters with casting absentee ballots.

North Dakota: Election officials warn of equipment failures, seek state funding | Jamestown Sun

North Dakota county officials are warning the state’s aging election system could be “unworkable” by the next presidential contest and are seeking state funding for new equipment. But legislators who are trying to fund state agencies and programs with significantly less tax revenue than they had just a few years ago are hesitant to meet the request. House Bill 1123, introduced at the request of the Secretary of State, would appropriate $9 million from the general fund to replace equipment such as ballot scanners across the state. House Bill 1122 would appropriate $3 million to place electronic poll books, which are currently used by only eight counties to check in voters, in every polling location in North Dakota.

Texas: SB 14 gets second chance: With Trump in office, feds may alter course in Texas Voter ID case | Salon

Hours after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, the Department of Justice filed to postpone a hearing on the Texas Voter ID law. The request was granted. The DOJ had previously argued that the law intentionally discriminated against minority voters, but told the court it needed additional time for the new administration to “brief the new leadership of the Department on this case and the issues to be addressed at that hearing before making any representations to the Court.” Chad Dunn, attorney for the plaintiffs in the case, expects Trump’s Department of Justice to reverse course. “I figure the government will spend the next 30 days figuring out how to change its mind,” he said, adding that now he expects the DOJ to argue on behalf of the state of Texas, which has held that there was no intent to discriminate against minorities. “The facts did not change — just the personnel.” The new hearing date has been set for Feb. 28.

Wyoming: House committee advances voting rights bill, more | Wyoming Tribune Eagle

The House Judiciary Committee advanced bills Thursday that would expand automatic restoration of voting rights to nonviolent felons, create a more defined system for returning a victim’s property held as evidence and allow the state Department of Enterprise Technology Services to conduct background checks on employees. A bill introduced by Rep. James Byrd, D-Cheyenne, would automatically restore voting rights to more nonviolent felons. House Bill 75 eliminates the application process for nonviolent felons who have completed their sentence to have their voting rights restored. Instead, it directs the Wyoming Department of Corrections to automatically issue certificates of voting rights restoration to affected people if their conviction was in Wyoming. Felons convicted outside of Wyoming or by a federal law would have to submit a request to the Department of Corrections.

France: In Primaries, Dire Predictions for the Left | VoA News

Five years after a triumphant electoral sweep that returned it to power for the first time in a decade, France’s ruling Socialist Party is weak, deeply unpopular and ideologically divided ahead of the first round Sunday of presidential primaries. Some even warn it risks implosion. Voters are seeking other faces and parties after a leftist tenure that saw three major terrorist attacks, record unemployment and the fallout of Europe’s migrant crisis, which left its mark on the streets of Paris and in Calais’ now-dismantled Jungle camp. The far-right National Front party is widely expected to dominate the first round of presidential elections in April, reflecting a wider populist backlash in Europe and the U.S., where President Donald Trump took office Friday. “There’s a distrust, a dearth of support for the left for a number of reasons,” said analyst Jean Petaux of Sciences Po Bordeaux University. “Some believe it betrayed its leftist ideals, others that it didn’t go far enough in enacting reforms.”

The Gambia: New era of democracy under Adama Barrow | The Guardian

West African troops entered the Gambia’s capital, Banjul, on Sunday, to cheers from the city’s residents, a Reuters witness said, as part of efforts to allow the new president, Adama Barrow, to take office after the country’s former ruler fled overnight. Yahya Jammeh, who led the Gambia for 22 years but refused to accept defeat in a December election, flew out of Banjul late on Saturday en route to Equatorial Guinea as the regional force was poised to remove him. A convoy of around 15 vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers mounted with heavy machine guns and pick-up trucks full of soldiers, rolled down one Banjul street in the late afternoon, according to a Reuters journalist who saw them. City residents lined the road, applauding and shouting “thank you” as the soldiers smiled and waved back. Troops were later seen entering the presidential compound, State House.

Nepal: Government to announce election date in consultation with Election Commission | My Republica

The State Affairs Sub-Committee (SASC) under the Legislature-Parliament on Monday suggested that the government announce the election date in consultation with the Election Commission (EC) A meeting of the Sub-Committee held in Singha Durbar today has tweaked the election-related bills making it mandatory for the political parties and election candidates to submit the expenditure details spent in the course of election. According to the changes made by the Sub-Committee in the Bill, Clause (2) of the revised Bill Designed to Amend and Integrate Laws Related to the Works, Duties and Responsibilities of the Election Commission-2016, the political parties and election candidates cannot spend more than Rs 500,000 as election expenditure during the elections.

Turkey: Erdogan buoyed by vote for powerful presidency | Associated Press

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday began campaigning for constitutional reforms that would greatly expand the powers of his office, only hours after a vote in parliament cleared the way for a national referendum on the issue. Speaking in Istanbul, he hailed the assembly’s early-morning decision saying a more powerful presidency will catapult Turkey to a position of strength. “God willing the people will give the true decision, the final decision,” Erdogan said. After an all-night session capping almost two weeks of acrimonious debate, Turkish lawmakers passed the controversial set of 18 articles. The measures still need to be approved in a national plebiscite slated for April. The bill would abolish the role of the prime minister and introduce a presidential system that critics fear lacks effective checks and balances. A change to the presidential system would be a crowning achievement for Erdogan, who has outmaneuvered and crushed all his major foes. The reforms would potentially allow him to remain in power until 2029.

Uganda: New Electoral Commission Membership, Same Age-Old Problems | allAfrica

In his inaugural speech, after being sworn in as the new Electoral Commission chairperson, Justice Simon Byabakama made a passionate plea to Ugandans especially critics to give him time to deliver on his mandate. In making the plea, Justice Byabakama was well aware of the documented lack of confidence in the electoral body and did not shy away from taking note of this, before stating his credentials of being “independent”. “I am coming from a background were being independent is a prerequisite of exercise of the judicial power. Fortunately or unfortunately, I am not about to throw off that gown and leave it in court,” he said. Unfortunately for him, Justice Byabakama has in the past been found to have thrown off that “gown” particularly during his time at the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The Voting News Weekly: The Voting News Weekly for January 16-22 2017

The FBI and five other law enforcement and intelligence agencies have collaborated for months in an investigation into Russian attempts to influence the November election, including whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided President-elect Donald Trump. As the nation marked the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., USA Today considered the future of civil rights in this country will soon rest in the hands of a new president and in large part his attorney general, who must champion the rights of all Americans. A three-judge federal court panel has blocked Alabama from using in next year’s elections 12 legislative districts challenged as unconstitutional by black political groups. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach asked for a bill to be introduced Tuesday that would give him authority to hold “bifurcated” elections so that potentially tens of thousands of registered voters could not vote in state or local elections. The U.S. Supreme Court justices offered no clue Thursday as to whether special elections ordered for North Carolina in 2017 will move ahead. Within hours of Donald Trump being sworn in as president Friday, a federal court in Corpus Christi postponed a scheduled hearing in the Texas voter ID case until next month at the request of the Justice Department. Yahya Jammeh, the former Gambian president, has left the country after he finally agreed to step down following 22 years of rule and with eight months until Germans go to the polls, the country’s intelligence agencies believe foreign actors – namely Russia – may use similar tactics to those allegedly deployed during the US presidential election to divide public opinion and boost the fortunes of non-mainstream parties.

National: FBI, 5 other agencies investigating Kremlin aid in hacking, sources say | McClatchy

The FBI and five other law enforcement and intelligence agencies have collaborated for months in an investigation into Russian attempts to influence the November election, including whether money from the Kremlin covertly aided President-elect Donald Trump, two people familiar with the matter said. The agencies involved in the inquiry are the FBI, the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Justice Department, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and representatives of the director of national intelligence, the sources said. Investigators are examining how money may have moved from the Kremlin to covertly help Trump win, the two sources said. One of the allegations involves whether a system for routinely paying thousands of Russian-American pensioners may have been used to pay some email hackers in the United States or to supply money to intermediaries who would then pay the hackers, the two sources said. The informal, inter-agency working group began to explore possible Russian interference last spring, long before the FBI received information from a former British spy hired to develop politically damaging and unverified research about Trump, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the inquiry.

Editorials: Jeff Sessions and Martin Luther King | USA Today

As the nation marks the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, the future of civil rights in this country will soon rest in the hands of a new president and in large part his attorney general, who must champion the rights of all Americans. President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for that job, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is a troubling one on that score. While Sessions’ confirmation seems almost inevitable after a polished performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, the nominee’s encouraging promises cannot erase his often hostile record on civil rights, nor grave concerns about whether he will rise to the toughest challenges of the job. At times in the recent past, Sessions’ initial instincts have been the opposite of what one would seek in the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. Asked in October about Trump’s remarks that he could grab women by their genitals, Sessions said it would be “a stretch” to “characterize that as sexual assault.” In 2015, he decried the Supreme Court ruling granting same-sex couples the right to marry, while two years earlier he celebrated the Supreme Court ruling obliterating the central enforcement tool in the Voting Rights Act.

Alabama: Federal judges rule Alabama must redraw legislative districts | AL.com

A three-judge federal court panel has blocked Alabama from using in next year’s elections 12 legislative districts challenged as unconstitutional by black political groups. The districts are part of the district map drawn and approved by the Republican-led Alabama Legislature after the 2010 Census and were used in the 2014 election. The judges ruled for the plaintiffs on 12 of the 36 districts in dispute and enjoined the state from using those district lines again. The court ruled in favor of the state on the other 24 districts that were challenged. All 140 seats in the Alabama Legislature will be up for election next year. One of the three judges, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, issued a separate order dissenting, in part, from the other two judges, Circuit Judge Bill Pryor and Chief District Judge Keith Watkins.

Kansas: Kobach seeks authority for bifurcated elections; downplays issue of missing registrations | Lawrence Journal World

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach asked for a bill to be introduced Tuesday that would give him authority to hold “bifurcated” elections so that potentially tens of thousands of registered voters could not vote in state or local elections. It would apply to people who register to vote using a federal process that does not require people to show proof of citizenship, ensuring that they could only vote in federal elections, not state or local elections. “It’s sort of an interim bill during litigation to keep the integrity of the (proof of citizenship) law while it’s being litigated,” Kobach told the Senate Committee on Ethics, Elections and Local Government. The bill comes in response to a string of state and federal court rulings leading up to the 2016 elections that all but nullified the proof of citizenship law that he championed in 2011.

North Carolina: US Supreme Court makes no decision on redistricting case requiring 2017 elections | News & Observer

The U.S. Supreme Court justices offered no clue Thursday as to whether special elections ordered for North Carolina in 2017 will move ahead. The justices went behind closed doors together in the morning. Materials had been distributed to the eight Supreme Court members on the North Carolina redistricting case in which a federal three-judge panel found 28 state House and Senate districts to be unconstitutional racial gerrymanders. The justices issued no order – leaving uncertainty about whether the high court would take up the case, and if so how quickly it would be heard and decided. The three-judge panel issued its ruling in August. In November, after voters went to the polls to elect candidates in the districts that had been declared unconstitutional, the judges ordered new maps to be drawn for the 28 flawed districts by March and elections held in any of the altered districts this year.

Texas: Court grants request to delay Texas voter ID hearing | San Antonio Express-News

Within hours of Donald Trump being sworn in as president Friday, a federal court in Corpus Christi postponed a scheduled hearing in the Texas voter ID case until next month at the request of the Justice Department. Lawyers for the department asked for a delay in the hearing scheduled for Tuesday, citing the change in presidential administrations.“Because of the change in administration, the Department of Justice also experienced a transition in leadership,” the department’s petition states. “The United States requires additional time to brief the new leadership of the department on this case and the issues to be addressed at that hearing before making any representations to the court.”In the past, the agency has asked that hearings in the case be expedited because of the issues involved.

The Gambia: Yahya Jammeh leaves the Gambia after 22 years of rule | The Guardian

Yahya Jammeh, the former Gambian president, has left the country after he finally agreed to step down following 22 years of rule. Jammeh and his family headed into political exile on Saturday night, ending a 22-year reign of fear and a post-election political standoff that threatened to provoke a regional military intervention when he clung to power. As he mounted the stairs to the plane, he turned to the crowd, kissed his Qur’an and waved one last time to supporters, including soldiers who cried at his departure. The flight came almost 24 hours after Jammeh announced on state television he was ceding power to the newly inaugurated Adama Barrow, in response to mounting international pressure calling for his departure. Though tens of thousands of Gambians had fled the country during his rule, Jammeh supporters flocked to the airport to see him walk the red carpet to his plane. Jammeh landed in Guinea an hour later and members of his family emerged from the plane, though the country might not be his final destination.

Germany: How to influence voters and tamper with the German election | Deutsche Welle

With eight months until Germans go to the polls, it seems not only politicians will be vying for voters’ attention. The country’s intelligence agencies believe foreign actors – namely Russia – may use similar tactics to those allegedly deployed during the US presidential election to divide public opinion and boost the fortunes of non-mainstream parties. In a report late last year, the Atlantic Council think-tank warned that Moscow viewed what it said were “the West’s best virtues – pluralism and openness – as vulnerabilities to be exploited.” It detailed a Kremlin “toolkit of influence,” which sought to undermine healthy democracies in Europe and elsewhere, by using information warfare to undermine the public’s trust in the political system. DW spoke to Dr. Stefan Meister, a Russian foreign policy analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations, and learned of six main tactics that the Kremlin appears to have already put in place.

National: Intercepted Russian Communications Part of Inquiry Into Trump Associates | The New York Times

American law enforcement and intelligence agencies are examining intercepted communications and financial transactions as part of a broad investigation into possible links between Russian officials and associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, current and former senior American officials said. The continuing counterintelligence investigation means that Mr. Trump will take the oath of office on Friday with his associates under investigation and after the intelligence agencies concluded that the Russian government had worked to help elect him. As president, Mr. Trump will oversee those agencies and have the authority to redirect or stop at least some of these efforts. It is not clear whether the intercepted communications had anything to do with Mr. Trump’s campaign, or Mr. Trump himself. It is also unclear whether the inquiry has anything to do with an investigation into the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s computers and other attempts to disrupt the elections in November. The American government has concluded that the Russian government was responsible for a broad computer hacking campaign, including the operation against the D.N.C. The counterintelligence investigation centers at least in part on the business dealings that some of the president-elect’s past and present advisers have had with Russia. Mr. Manafort has done business in Ukraine and Russia. Some of his contacts there were under surveillance by the National Security Agency for suspected links to Russia’s Federal Security Service, one of the officials said.

National: U.S. counterintelligence officials are examining possible ties between Russia and Trump associates | The Washington Post

U.S. counterintelligence officials are sifting through intercepted communications and financial data as part of a wider look at possible ties between the Russian government and associates of President-elect Donald Trump, officials said. But while it has been clear for months that a broad investigation is underway, what remains murky — even to lawmakers receiving closed briefings — is its scope and target. It is unclear if the intercepts being examined have any connection to the Trump campaign. But the investigation adds to the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s relationship with Russia even as he is sworn in as president. U.S. intelligence agencies have already concluded that Russia interfered in the election to help Trump win. FBI Director James B. Comey has been chastised by Democratic lawmakers for refusing to even acknowledge that it was investigating alleged links between Trump or his associates and the Kremlin. Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has been under FBI scrutiny for some time, including for allegations of illegal financial dealings in Ukraine, current and former U.S. officials said. Manafort has done business in Russia and Ukraine.

National: International observers recommend changes to U.S. electoral system | McClatchy

On the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration, a group of international election experts who observed the Nov. 8 election have suggested overhauling the United States’ “particularly unique” Electoral College system, which gave Trump the presidency. The changes, the group from the Organization of American States said, should be made to keep candidates from focusing just on battleground states. The group also raised concerns about the rise in polarizing and divisive rhetoric in U.S. campaigning and criticized Trump for making threats to restrict journalists’ access and for threatening legal action against them for expressing their views. The group’s report noted the claims of Russian interference in the election, but made no assessment of their accuracy or impact on the outcome. The report was similar in tone to those that U.S. observers make on elections in foreign nations and was noteworthy primarily because it was the first time OAS experts had monitored a U.S. election – something that resonated deeply in Latin America, where the United States has long advocated OAS monitoring for other nations.

California: Los Angeles County Voting System Redesign Enters Solicitation Phase | Government Technology

Work to redesign the process of how residents vote in Los Angeles County, the largest local election jurisdiction in the U.S., is entering a critical but transformational stage after eight years of research and conceptualization. The county’s Voting Systems Assessment Project (VSAP), which began in 2009 at Caltech essentially as a research project, has been in design for the past three years. But in October, officials signed an agreement with technology researcher and adviser Gartner Inc. to do a sourcing strategy and readiness assessment over a five-month period. Gartner finished its preliminary work at the end of 2016 and should begin reaching out to members of the IT community during the next few weeks to get feedback, likely finishing its assessment by the end of February.

Iowa: Democrats irked by Pate presentation without details of voter ID bill | The Gazette

With Secretary of State Paul Pate’s Election Integrity Act still in draft stage, Democrats on the House State Government Committee on Thursday complained it was hard to ask questions about his proposal to require all voters to present ID cards before casting their ballots. “We were hoping today to have the bill before us … so we could ask about what it does and about problems and pitfalls,” Rep. Mary Mascher, D-Iowa City, said about the bill still being drafted by the Legislative Services Agency. “Part of the concern and angst we have about opening this up today is there are so many questions we have.”

Ohio: Lawmakers try again to eliminate unnecessary elections | Journal News

Two Statehouse bills in the last legislative session that would have prevented a recurrence of a one-candidate special congressional primary — which cost taxpayers more than $340,800 — didn’t have the time for the Ohio House to take action. Now similar bills will be introduced by next month in the new legislative session. “That’s a lot of money for an uncontested race,” said Ohio Rep. Wes Retherford, R-Hamilton, who will jointly sponsor a new bill with Ohio Rep. Dorothy Pelanda. Retherford attempted to introduce a similar bill last year, but Pelanda’s was introduced first. Pelanda, R-Marysville, called that “a very unique circumstance” and introduced a bill just days after Ohio Sen. Frank LaRose, R-Hudson introduced a similar bill.

Texas: Voting rights case unsettles Pasadena as elections loom | Houston Chronicle

On the surface, at least, Pasadena’s City Hall was a happy place Tuesday evening as elected officials, city employees and residents filed in for a City Council meeting. Handshakes, hugs and small talk created a glow of bonhomie as everyone waited for the show to start. Yet a shadow hung over this sunny facade. These are troubled days for Harris County’s second-largest city as it absorbs the effects of ongoing voting rights litigation and prepares for a municipal election in May amid continued uncertainty about what the electoral map will look like. A blistering opinion by a federal judge, after a trial that drew national attention, depicted Pasadena as a place where public officials used taxpayer-funded time and resources in a relentless campaign to weaken Latino political influence; where Anglos enjoy superior public services; where residents referred to a Latino candidate seeking their votes as a “wetback;” and where another candidate felt obliged to conceal his Hispanic ethnicity to get elected.