Virginia: Expert witness testifies that there is no justification for Va. photo ID law | Richmond Times-Dispatch

An expert witness testified Wednesday in a suit challenging Virginia’s photo ID law that there is no evidence voter fraud is a rational justification for such a requirement in Virginia or any other state. Lorraine C. Minnite, author of “The Myth of Voter Fraud” and co-author of “Keeping Down the Black Vote: Race and the Demobilization of American Voters,” said the sort of fraud that photo ID is meant to prevent is so uncommon there is a concern it would cause more legitimate ballots to be lost than fraudulent ballots cast. “If there is no voter fraud, the question is, what is this all about? ... Why are the two parties fighting so intensely?” asked Minnite, a witness for the plaintiffs, including the Democratic Party of Virginia. Minnite contends parties can win by expanding their own base or by decreasing the other party’s. “It goes to the logic and the strategy of trying to win elections,” she said.

Virginia: Trial begins on lawsuit challenging Virginia voter ID law | Richmond Times-Dispatch

A 69-year-old black woman who grew up in a small, segregated city wept on the witness stand Monday as she testified about the trouble she had voting in 2014 because she could not comply with Virginia’s voter identification law. Josephine Okiakpe said she plucked several forms of ID from her purse — birth certificate, Social Security card, voter registration card, even a bank statement — and handed them over to workers at her Woodbridge polling place. The only things she had with her picture on them were her North Carolina driver’s license and an expired Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles ID card. “They wouldn’t take any of that,” said Okiakpe, who earlier had described attending an all-black public school in Clinton, N.C., that got hand-me-down books when the white schools got new ones.

Virginia: Board of Elections Asks Court To Ignore Pre-1965 Discrimination In Voting Rights Case | TPM

Virginia's State Board of Elections is asking the court weighing a voting rights case being brought in the state to exclude any evidence of the state's history of racial discrimination. The board filed a motion Monday to "exclude expert testimony and other evidence of Virginia’s history of racial discrimination," particularly anything that happened before 1965, when the federal Voting Rights Act was passed. "No one denies Virginia’s troubling history of racial discrimination nor that Virginia was once part of the Confederacy," the motion said. "However, Virginia’s history as a former Confederate state is simply not relevant to the issue this Court is asked to decide." The state's motion focuses on the anticipated testimony of John Douglas Smith, the author of "Managing White Supremacy: Race, Politics and Citizenship in Jim Crow Virginia." It argues that his testimony should not be admitted because much of his initial report covers Virginia's pre-1965 history.

Virginia: Supreme Court rejects GOP petition to block new congressional lines | Washington Post

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a request from Republican members of Congress to put on hold an election map that gives Democrats a chance to pick up a seat in this year’s election. The ruling is the latest in a series of decisions triggered last year by a panel of federal judges who said Virginia’s map illegally packed African American voters into one district at the expense of their influence elsewhere. Last month, the judges sought to change that by imposing a map that increases the number of African American voters, who reliably vote for Democrats, in a district that stretches from Richmond to Norfolk. It is represented by Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R).

Virginia: Elections board officially repeals loyalty pledge at GOP request | The Washington Post

Donald Trump may have come in second in the Iowa caucuses, but the presidential candidate scored a victory in Virginia on Thursday when the state Board of Elections formalized the state GOP’s plans to scrap the loyalty pledge. The board repealed the party’s earlier decision to have voters who want to participate in the March 1 GOP presidential primary sign a statement affirming they were Republicans. Elections officials say the party bowed to pressure from Trump and voters upset by the pledge; the party says it objected to the wording of the statement. Trump put the issue on the national radar in December when he publicly rebuked the state Republican Party on Twitter for making what he called a “suicidal mistake” in requiring the pledge. Some feared the pledge could have put off voters disenchanted with party politics who are attracted to Trump’s un­or­tho­dox candidacy. Activists responded, calling on the party to rescind the pledge in blog posts, letters and an unsuccessful federal lawsuit. On Saturday, the state party held a special meeting, where the governing board reversed its earlier decision to institute the pledge, and unanimously called for its repeal.

Virginia: House panel defeats redistricting bills; Senate panel advances party registration | The Daily Progress

A House of Delegates subcommittee on Tuesday scrapped a series of bills aimed at nonpartisan redistricting. The five measures were defeated 4-3 in a bloc vote in a subcommittee of the House Privileges and Elections panel. Del. Mark J. Cole, R-Spotsylvania, who called for the vote, has said that action on redistricting is premature and that even independent commissions to draw districts require politicians to make appointments. Brian Cannon, executive director of OneVirginia2021, which is pushing for nonpartisan redistricting after the 2020 census, criticized the vote. "This morning was Groundhog Day all over again in the Virginia General Assembly when the members of the House Elections Subcommittee voted to kill five of the most significant redistricting reform bills in recent Virginia history," he said in a statement.

Virginia: State spent more than $62,000 on voting oath Republicans now want scrapped | Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Virginia Department of Elections spent more than $62,000 to print and mail the controversial loyalty oath requested by the Republican Party of Virginia, according to a state official. At nearly $53,000, the largest expense was printing the nearly 3 million forms containing the so-called statement of affiliation, which could be shelved for the March 1 primary after a Republican party committee voted over the weekend to ask the state not to implement the oath. The State Board of Elections has called a special meeting for Thursday morning to discuss the Republicans’ request to stop the oath.

Virginia: GOP drops plan for loyalty pledge, but maybe too late for some voters | The Washington Post

Virginia’s Republican Party on Saturday scrapped plans to use a party loyalty pledge in the March 1 GOP presidential primary, sending elections officials scrambling because absentee voting was already underway. “We unanimously voted to rescind it,” John Whitbeck, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, said after a meeting of the State Central Committee. In September, the party decided to require voters to sign a “statement of intent” before taking part in the primary. That idea, which has been proposed several times in recent years, caused controversy in Virginia, one of about 14 states that hold “open primary” elections in which voters do not register by party. Supporters have said that the measure would cut down on Democrats who want to make mischief by voting in GOP primaries.

Virginia: U.S. Supreme Court sets March 21 arguments in redistricting case | Richmond Times-Dispatch

The U.S. Supreme Court has set arguments for Monday, March 21, in Virginia’s congressional redistricting case. The high court is taking up an appeal by Republicans in Virginia’s congressional delegation. They are challenging rulings by a three-judge panel that in 2012 state legislators unconstitutionally packed too many additional African-Americans into the majority-minority 3rd District, represented by Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, thereby diluting their influence in adjacent districts.

Virginia: Senate panel backs bills to ease absentee voting | Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Virginia Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections passed legislation Tuesday that would allow registered voters to cast absentee ballots in person without providing an excuse for not voting on Election Day. Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Fauquier, the committee chair, joined six Democrats on the committee to advance Senate Bill 106, sponsored by Sen. Rosalyn R. Dance, D-Petersburg. The measure now heads to the full Senate for consideration. “In today’s society, many people are not able to get to their home polling location on Election Day and so the option to vote absentee is crucial to ensuring that we do not disenfranchise these voters,” Dance said in a statement.

Virginia: Attorney General asks Supreme Court to uphold new congressional districts | Richmond Times-Dispatch

Attorney General Mark R. Herring is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a Republican request for a stay to block implementation of Virginia’s new congressional map. Herring’s office, defending the State Board of Elections, says that the harm to Virginians of restoring the old 3rd District, which a three-judge panel has found unconstitutional, and ordering November elections in Virginia’s old districts outweighs any harm the new map poses to Republicans in Virginia’s congressional delegation. Even if Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-4th, or another Republican in Virginia’s congressional delegation “could show irreparable injury” as a result of the new congressional boundaries, any such injury would be outweighed by the public interest and the injury to the plaintiffs and other Virginia voters, lawyers for the Attorney General’s Office write in response to the GOP motion.

Virginia: Election Officials Urge Supreme Court to Let Redistricting Plan Stand | Roll Call

Virginia’s election officials urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to keep in place a new, judge-selected redistricting plan for this year’s congressional elections, putting the officials at odds with 10 current and former members of the state's Republican delegation in Congress. Halting the plan, put in place Jan. 7, would again allow “racial packing" to taint elections following the redistricting that occurred after the 2010 census, the Virginia State Board of Elections said in a brief. The redistricting plan was put in place by a panel of three federal judges. At issue are the lines drawn for the majority-black district held by Virginia Democrat Rep. Robert C. Scott. A lower court in 2014 found that to be an unconstitutional gerrymander.

Virginia: Attempts to expand voting rights are thwarted in General Assembly | The Virginian Pilot

Five days into the 2016 session of the General Assembly, a variety of proposals to expand Virginians’ voting rights are dead on arrival. The ax began falling Tuesday at an early-morning meeting of a House of Delegates subcommittee, where the Republican majority dispatched four voting measures sponsored by Democrats in 35 minutes. Del. Rip Sullivan, D-Arlington County, told the panel his bill, HB68, would “bring Virginia into the 21st century” by allowing universal early voting up to 21 days before a general election. Similar laws are on the books in 32 states, he said. Early voting in Virginia is possible now only by applying for an absentee ballot and stating a specific reason, such as illness or out-of-town travel on Election Day.

Virginia: Judge refuses to block Virginia GOP primary loyalty pledge | Associated Press

Donald Trump supporters have lost the first round in their battle to prevent the Republican Party from requiring voters to sign a statement of GOP affiliation before casting ballots in Virginia’s presidential primary. U.S. District Judge Hannah M. Lauck refused Thursday to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the plan, clearing the way for Virginia election officials to finish mailing absentee ballots by Saturday’s deadline. As it now stands, Virginians voting in person in the March 1 GOP primary also will have to complete a form stating: “My signature below indicates that I am a Republican.” Three black pastors who support Trump claim in a lawsuit that the “loyalty oath” violates their civil and free-speech rights. Those claims remain to be decided, although time is running short. No trial date has been scheduled.

Virginia: Judge denies preliminary injunction to block oath in March 1 GOP primary | Richmond Times-Dispatch

A federal judge in Richmond on Thursday denied a motion by supporters of Donald Trump for a preliminary injunction to block the so-called statement of affiliation in Virginia’s March 1 Republican presidential primary. Later Thursday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied an emergency motion, filed by the three black pastors who brought the suit, seeking an injunction. The rulings mean that unless the plaintiffs win a reprieve in court, or state GOP officials reverse course, anyone who wants to vote in the Republican primary must sign a statement that says: “My signature below indicates that I am a Republican.”

Virginia: Lawmakers Ask Supreme Court to Stop Virginia Redistricting Plan | Roll Call

Ten current and former Republican members of Congress asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to stop a new, judge-selected redistricting plan in Virginia or risk the state having to postpone congressional elections. A lawyer for Reps. Rob Wittman, Robert W. Goodlatte, J. Randy Forbes, Morgan Griffith, Scott Rigell, Robert Hurt, Dave Brat and Barbara Comstock, as well as former members of Congress Eric Cantor and Frank R. Wolf, filed the petition. The lawmakers' warned the justices of "electoral chaos," "mass voter confusion" and "the postponement of congressional general elections until after the nationwide November 8 Election Day in this presidential year" if the Supreme Court doesn't step in. The petition went to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the justice assigned to handle such requests from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which includes Virginia. He can act on it alone or take it to the full court.

Virginia: Democrats Get Access to Docs in Voter I.D. Case | Courthouse News Service

Democrats challenging Virginia's new voter photo I.D. law can inspect correspondence between lawmakers and lobbyists and others, a federal judge ruled. The law, signed by former Governor Bob McDonnell in 2013, requires all voters to provide photo I.D. at the polls. Lawmakers who supported the law claimed it helped prevent fraud in elections. But black and Latino Democrats, as well as voting rights activists Barbara Lee and Gonzalo Aida, claimed in court that the law is nothing more than a bald-faced attempt to keep young people and minorities from participating in elections.

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

Virginia: Judges impose new congressional map, redrawing 3rd, 4th Districts | Richmond Times-Dispatch

A three-judge panel in Richmond on Thursday imposed a new Virginia congressional map that could give blacks a chance to elect candidates of their choice in two districts, not just one. Unless the U.S. Supreme Court halts implementation, the reconfiguration will lower the black voting age population in the 3rd District, represented by Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, a Democrat, from 56.3 percent to 45.3 percent. It will raise the black voting age population in the 4th District, represented by Rep. J. Randy Forbes, a Republican, from 31.3 percent to 40.9 percent. Scott’s district, which meandered from the Richmond area to Newport News, will now be centered in Hampton Roads.

Virginia: Judges pick new congressional map for Virginia | Associated Press

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. A three-judge panel on Thursday ordered the state to implement a new redistricting map for the 2016 election. The move comes after the panel concluded for a second time last year that legislators in 2012 illegally packed black voters into the 3rd Congressional District, represented by Democrat Bobby Scott. The judges initially ordered the General Assembly to redraw the lines, but when lawmakers balked, the judges hired an expert to help them do it themselves.

Virginia: Trump supporters sue Virginia over GOP loyalty pledge | The Washington Post

Three African American pastors who support Donald Trump filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday over a requirement that GOP primary voters sign a statement affirming that they are Republicans — a plan the presidential front-runner has condemned. The plaintiffs say the loyalty pledge will discourage minority voters and those who are poor from casting ballots in Virginia, where voters do not register by party. Signing the vow will create long lines at the polls, imposes “the burden of fear and backlash” and amounts to a literacy test, according to the lawsuit. The Virginia Republican Party recently decided voters who want to help choose the Republican presidential nominee must first sign a statement that says: “My signature below indicates I am a Republican.”

Virginia: Voter ID lawsuit is part of national push by Democrats | The Washington Post

Virginia’s strict voter-identification law will go on trial in a federal court in Richmond in February, part of a national strategy by Democrats to remove what they say are barriers to voting by African American, Latino and poor voters. Although Virginia’s Democratic governor, Terry McAuliffe, is sympathetic to the core issue in the lawsuit brought by two activists and the state Democratic Party, the state must defend its voter-ID law. A statute requiring photo ID was passed in 2013 and signed into law by McAuliffe’s Republican predecessor, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell. To defend against the lawsuit, Attorney General Mark Herring (D) appointed an independent counsel, Mark F. “Thor” Hearne II, who represented the 2004 reelection campaign of then-President George W. Bush.

Virginia: Trump’s campaign threatens legal action against state GOP | Richmond Times Dispatch

Donald Trump’s Virginia campaign chairman on Wednesday threatened legal action against the state GOP to stop the “statement of affiliation” that voters must sign in order to cast ballots in the March 1 Republican primary. Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, said Trump’s campaign believes the requirement is an attempt by the GOP establishment “to confuse and scare off” new Republican voters Trump is attracting. “If this is not corrected we’re not going to sit back and tolerate it,” Stewart said in a telephone interview. He said Trump’s campaign hopes to persuade state GOP officials to drop the requirement without taking legal action. But he said it is discussing legal recourse, adding that a suit would likely “involve RPV and the State Board of Elections.” The state GOP declined comment Wednesday on the legal threat.

Virginia: Trump blasts Virginia GOP for requiring ‘statement of affiliation’ in March 1 primary | The News Virginian

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump blasted the Republican Party of Virginia in a series of tweets Sunday over its requirement that voters in the March 1 primary sign a "statement of affiliation." The fusillade - in which Trump claims the Republican National Committee controls the state party - reflects his distrust of GOP leaders. It also underscores a danger for the party that its front-runner could bolt and mount an independent run if he thinks party leaders are treating him unfairly. The State Board of Elections — at the behest of the GOP’s State Central Committee — certified Dec. 16 that voters in the 2016 Republican presidential primary will have to fill out a form that says: “My signature below indicates that I am a Republican.”

Virginia: Democrats Praise Virginia Court Settlement in Voting Rights Case | The New York Times

Democrats in Virginia claimed a victory on parts of a voting rights lawsuit in the state, with a settlement on the portion related to long waiting times for voters to cast ballots, especially in precincts with large numbers of minorities residents. The settlement, hammered out in a consent decree by the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia in the case, rules that there will be major changes by the state Board of Elections and Department of Elections to lay out guidelines about how to handle paper ballots in the case of machine breakdowns, and finding solutions to help local boards with the issue of long lines. In some cases, there have been reports of voters waiting hours before casting their ballots. The settlement on the long-lines part of the larger suit came less than a year before the presidential election. Virginia is a crucial battleground state, with an electoral composition that is reflective of demographic changes in the rest of the country.

Virginia: Judge suggests conditional ruling on congressional districts | Richmond Times-Dispatch

A three-judge federal panel in Richmond might choose a fix for the constitutionally flawed 3rd Congressional District, but condition its imposition of a new map on a later ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne suggested that course of action Monday as he, U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady and Judge Albert Diaz of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals presided over a hearing in Virginia’s congressional redistricting case. “Would there be any difficulty in drafting a plan, but making it contingent on affirmation” by the U.S. Supreme Court, Payne asked during the hearing.
That might enable the Supreme Court to consider the panel’s initial finding, throwing out the current map, and the proposed remedy at the same time, Payne said.

Virginia: Calibration issues found with voting machines | The Gazette-Virginian

Chris Hudson, a former investigator with the Halifax County Sheriff’s Department who unsuccessfully ran against incumbent Sheriff Fred S. Clark in the Nov. 3 election, told supervisors they need to act immediately on replacing the county’s voting machines. Hudson, who came in third in the sheriff’s race in November behind winner Fred Clark and Thomas Logan, voiced concerns during the public comment period of Monday’s board of supervisors meeting about what he described as “a major issue” with the county’s 51 voting machines used in the Nov. 3 election. Filing for an investigation to take place immediately after the election, Hudson said his issue was to address a calibration problem with the machines. “I was advised I had to wait 30 days before the process could start, so the process started Friday,” he told supervisors.

Virginia: Lawyers for elections board want map work to proceed | Richmond Times-Dispatch

The plaintiffs and the original defendants in Virginia’s congressional redistricting case want a three-judge panel to proceed with drawing a new map over the objections of Republicans in the state’s delegation. Lawyers for the plaintiffs say congressional Republicans’ motion to suspend the proceedings, pending the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of the GOP appeal, is “simply the latest in a series of efforts to delay this court’s correction of the unconstitutional racial gerrymander” in Virginia’s 3rd District.

Virginia: Democrats accuse rogue elections official of compromising voter privacy | The Washington Post

Election officials in Prince William County this week asked the Commonwealth’s attorney to investigate one of their own. They say Guy Anthony Guiffré, a member of the county electoral board, might have broken state and federal laws in his quest to determine whether someone improperly used technology to impersonate voters in last month’s election. At issue is a state rule that says a voter can apply for an absentee ballot online using an electronic signature instead of the old-fashioned way — with paper and pen. Guiffré, a Republican, says the system opens the door to fraud. To prove it, he recruited four friends — while the county’s registrar was away — to inspect 151 absentee ballot documents and registration records laden with Social Security numbers and other personal information. In doing so, Democrats say, he compromised the meticulous process used to handle ballots, usurped his authority and violated voter privacy.

Virginia: Expert proposes altering congressional maps of Scott’s, Forbes’ districts | Richmond Times-Dispatch

Virginia's 3rd Congressional District would be confined to Hampton Roads, and the cities of Richmond and Petersburg would move into the 4th District, represented by Republican Rep. J. Randy Forbes, under proposals an expert has recommended to a three-judge panel that is redrawing Virginia's congressional map. The recommendations by Bernard Grofman of the University of California-Irvine match key aspects of Gov. Terry McAuliffe's proposal in that they seek to give African-Americans a reasonable chance of electing two members of Congress of their choice, in the 3rd and the 4th districts.