The Voting Rights Project - The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law - News Feed

Op-Ed: LWV's Andrea Kaminski: Citizens without ID caught in 'Catch 22'

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Although public perception is that everyone has a current, up-to-date government-issued photo ID, studies consistently show that as many as 11% of the voting age population nationwide lacks the types of ID that are necessary to vote in an ever-increasing number of states.

Since there’s been little to no acknowledgement that some people don’t have the required ID, an increasing number of American citizens have fallen through the cracks – including Florence Hessing, a 96-year-old Wisconsin woman and lifelong voter who has had her right to vote taken away from her.

Florence’s driver’s license is long expired, and Wisconsin’s new law requires a current, up-to-date government-issued photo ID in order to vote. But Florence didn’t have a copy of her birth certificate needed to get a new ID – and neither did the county in Iowa where she was born.

Not even one case of voter impersonation has ever survived a thorough investigation in Wisconsin, and these restrictive new laws will ensure that more people just like Florence will fall through the widening cracks.

Read the full Madison.com Op-ed

New Kansas voter ID regs hitting voters in nursing home

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

A voter identification requirement, approved by the Kansas legislature in 2011 is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2013, but state officials are pushing to move it to June 15. This means that a number of Kansas voters, especially seniors living in adult care facilities will face difficulty when voting because they do not have the documentation like birth certificates to obtain government issued state photo identification.

Even in the case of seniors at Westview Manor, an adult care facility, who are lucky enough to have birth certificates on file in Kansas, access to those documents is limited. “They don't go shopping on the Internet. They don't use credit cards. They don't have drivers' licenses. They have $62 a month spending money, which makes it very difficult to spend $27 for birth certificate,” Bonita Robertson-Boydston, executive director of Westview Manor stated. Stringent photo identification laws like those passed in Kansas create unnecessary obstacles for voters like seniors wanting to cast ballots in upcoming elections. In fact, according to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach's estimate, 13% of Kansas voters could not produce sufficient identification upon request.

Read the full Kansas Reporter article

Albany Redistricting Plan Faulted as Unfair to Minorities

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

New York’s newly proposed redistricting maps have drawn criticism for failing to adequately represent African Americans and Hispanics. Governor Cuomo promised to veto the maps, which critics believe have been drawn to protect the interests of current representatives at the expense of minority voters.

While the mapmakers argue that the districts were drawn in “the most open, transparent process” New York has ever used, strong objections have arisen from groups that represent minority voters. NAACP members voiced concerns that black populations had been divided among many districts to dilute their voting strength.

Read the full New York Times article

Florida NAACP Members 'Will Not Be Silenced' By New Voter Laws

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

20-year-old Vanity Shields is a first-time voter and an active member of the University of South Florida community. As the president of the USF NAACP chapter, Shields understands the role civic organizations play in aiding students and young voters in the voter registration process. She spoke out Monday regarding the negative impact new voter registration restrictions may have on student voters in Florida.

Previously under Florida law, third-party voter registration organizations such as Rock the Vote and the League of Women Voters had ten days to submit registration paperwork. However, new legislation requires anyone registering non-relatives – from high school social studies teachers to third-party groups to register with the state and submit a significant amount of paperwork within 48 hours of obtaining a signature, or face steep penalties. Both groups have not been able to register Florida voters this year because of the “burdensome administrative requirements… and unnecessarily harsh penalties.”

Shields and the USF chapter of the NAACP are concerned students, who traditionally rely on third-party registration groups to register, will be turned away by these new laws from political and civic engagement.

Read the full MTV article

Lawyers' Committee and Partners' Victory in Georgia NVRA Case Filed on Behalf of Georgia NAACP

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

In a strongly worded order handed down on January 30, 2011, U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr. denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a coalition of voting rights groups to remedy the State of Georgia's failure to provide voter registration services at public assistance offices, as required by Section 7 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).

Judge Pannell ruled that, contrary to the state's practice, the NVRA requires that public assistance agency clients be provided with the opportunity to receive a voter registration application every time they apply for or renew benefits or submit a change of address. This must include instances where clients interact with the agency by remote means (e.g., by telephone, internet or mail). In addition, Judge Pannell found that, to the extent that Georgia's public assistance agencies do not presumptively distribute voter registration applications (and, instead, require clients to request them affirmatively), that the State is likely violating the NVRA.

Section 7 of the NVRA requires that all public assistance offices in Georgia distribute a voter registration application each time a client applies for benefits, recertifies, or fills out a change of address form, unless the client declines an application in writing. The lawsuit alleges that Georgia has been largely ignoring this mandate for many years.

"We are pleased that the court has recognized the serious shortcomings with Georgia's efforts to comply with the NVRA," said Bob Kengle, co-director of the Lawyers' Committee's Voting Rights Project. "Judge Pannell's decision highlights the need for the State to take significant and meaningful steps toward reforming its current system to ensure that public assistance clients are afforded the voter registration opportunities mandated by the NVRA."

"The court has ensured that low-income people will not lose access to voter registration services simply as a result of advancing technology," said Lisa Danetz, senior counsel in the Democracy Program at Demos. "Judge Pannell rightly understands that the NVRA's requirements are not limited to in-person visits at public assistance offices."

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, the Coalition for the Peoples' Agenda, and Fulton County resident Craig Murphy. The Plaintiffs are represented by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Project Vote, Dēmos, the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP, and the law firm of Dechert LLP. The Court dismissed Mr. Murphy as an individual plaintiff, but noted that the suit could continue on behalf of the organizational Plaintiffs.

"We intend to move forward expeditiously to ensure all Georgians are provided the opportunity to register to vote in the upcoming elections," said Neil Steiner of Dechert LLP.

As discussed in Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint filed in federal district court in Atlanta, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of persons registering to vote at Georgia public assistance offices since the NVRA first took effect in the mid-1990s. During the 1995-1996 reporting period, DHS received over 100,000 registration applications, but in 2010 the number of registrations had dropped to a mere 4,430. By comparison, in 2009, Georgia, on average, received nearly 70,000 applications each month for just one of the public assistance programs (Food Stamps) covered by the NVRA's voter registration requirements.

"Today's ruling affirms what Plaintiffs have maintained throughout this litigation: that the State of Georgia is violating the NVRA and denying thousands of low-income residents the opportunity to register to vote," said Niyati Shah, election counsel for Project Vote.

"The ACLU applauds the court's decision," said Laughlin McDonald, the director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project. "The order implements Congress' decision to facilitate voter registration and political participation for all Americans."

In the past several years, lawsuits filed by voting rights groups have forced other states that had been violating the NVRA to comply, with dramatic results. For example, voter registration applications from Missouri public assistance agencies skyrocketed, from fewer than 8,000 a year to over 130,000 a year, following settlement of a suit in that state in 2008. More than 200,000 low-income Ohioans have applied to register since a similar case was settled there at the end of 2009. Settlements also recently have been reached in New Mexico and Indiana, and a similar lawsuit was filed in Louisiana in April of 2011.

To read the order in full, please click here.

Civil Rights Advocates Meet in L.A. to Discuss Voter Suppression Laws

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

In recent years, several states have enacted restrictive new voting laws that limit the forms of identification accepted and impose significant burdens on third-party voter registration groups. Critics of these new laws have provided studies showing that the changes will make it harder for eligible citizens to register and vote, and that these laws will have a disproportionate impact on the elderly, people with disabilities, minorities, students, and low-income citizens.

As more states have proposed similar legislation, the civil rights community has responded forcefully to educate voters on the perils of these new laws and to work with state legislatures to propose positive reforms like automatic registration that will ensure that our electoral system is as open and accessible as possible.

Read the full New America Media news report

Op-Ed: Voting and Racial History

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Last week, the Federal Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. Section 5 requires that jurisdictions with histories of racial discrimination prove to the Department of Justice that new laws will not have a racially disproportionate impact before new voting laws go into effect.

Racial discrimination is not a relic of the past – and as Congress was revisiting whether to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act in 2006, they relied on a wealth of evidence of pervasive voting discrimination all over the country. In light of this, Congress reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in 2006 with a nearly unanimous bipartisan vote.

Without the protections in place by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, racial discrimination would likely be far more widespread.

Read the full New York Times Op-Ed

Dead Wrong? Election Official Disputes Claim That Deceased Voted in S.C.

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

On January 11^th, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles Director Kevin Shwedo claimed 957 dead people voted in recent elections, raising the specter of massive voter fraud. However, new findings have led to widespread skepticism of the DMV report.

Six of the 957 cases were sent to the State Election Commission for further investigation. Of those cases, none turned out to be fraudulent. How did these legitimate voters come to be investigated for voter fraud? In some cases, clerical errors at the DMV led to voters being incorrectly marked as dead; in others, a voter mistakenly marked his father deceased, and one voter casting an absentee ballot prior to death.

The State Election Committee is still waiting to receive the remainder of the report listing the other 951 alleged deceased voters.

Read the full Free-Times article

SEC Executive Director Testifies on "Dead Voters" Claim

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Earlier this month SC’s Attorney General falsely claimed that 953 ballots were cast by voters that were listed as deceased in an effort to show the need for a recently passed law requiring government issued photo identification before voting in the state. The U.S. Department of Justice blocked enactment of the law because of its potential to dilute minority voting strength (South Carolina is subject to preclearance of any changes to voting law under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act by the Department).

Andino provided a sample of names from the alleged fraudulent voters and found that many cases were clerical, machine, and human error and no fraudulent voters were cast. In two cases a machine picked up stray marks on the voter registration list and another voter cast an absentee ballot and later died.

Although photo voter identification supports continue to claim voter fraud prevention when passing these laws that will create barriers to voting for the elderly, minorities, and young people—very rarely is there evidence of voter fraud in elections.

Read SEC Executive Director Andino's testimony.

The New Battle Over Voting Rights

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Until recently, the Voting Rights Act, reauthorized by an overwhelming majority of Congress in 2006, had widespread bipartisan backing. With the onslaught of proposed voter ID laws, several states are challenging the Voting Rights Act and, more specifically, Section 5, which calls for approval from the Department of Justice before a state can enact new election laws in states with a history of suppressing the voting rights and diluting the voting strength of minorities.

Critics argue that minorities no longer need the protection of Section 5 to ensure that they are granted equal access to their right to vote. Cohen calls the effort to bring down Section 5 “unfortunate” because “losing the Voting Rights Act would seriously weaken American Democracy.”

Read the full Time article.

Proposed State Voter ID Laws Could Have Big Impact on College Students

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Opponents of restrictive government-issued photo ID laws believe that the laws have a disproportionate impact on minorities, young adults, people with disabilities, and the elderly. Mimi Murray Digby Marziani, Counsel for the Democracy Program with the Brennan Center for Social Justice in Washington D.C., states that five million voters could have their right to vote taken away from them if these laws are passed.

Despite the sparse instances of voter fraud, proponents of restrictive government-issued photo ID laws argue that ID is required to board a plane as well as in other arenas of everyday life, so it should also be required to show ID when exercising the right to vote. What proponents fail to address is that voting is an inalienable right guaranteed by the Constitution, and these laws require ID to be current, and up-to-date with current address information. These restrictions can pose serious burdens on voters with limited income to keep their ID up to date, or without the supporting documentation to get the ID in the first place.

Tanya Clay House, Public Policy Director with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in D.C. states, “Like the literacy laws and poll taxes of the past, modern day restrictive voter ID and felony disenfranchisement laws disproportionately affect people of color.” Since 11% of the voting-eligible population does not have current, valid government-issued photo ID, citizens who were formerly eligible to vote in states where these laws have passed may no longer be eligible until they obtain the accepted forms of ID.

Read the full USA Today article

Lawyer Defending South Carolina's Voter ID Law Thinks DOJ Is Biased Against White People

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Last year, the United States Department of Justice blocked the enactment of a restrictive voter identification law passed in South Carolina, due to the disproportionate impact this legislation would have on minority populations. Although South Carolina's own data showed this unequal impact, the state has moved to challenge the blocking of the law, hiring former Voting Section Chief Christopher Coates to argue the case.

Coates, who believes the Department of Justice does not work to protect the civil rights of whites, argues that the Voting Rights Act has not been used to further equal protection of law for all individuals. Rather, he feels that groups lobby only for VRA enforcement in the cases of racial and language minorities.

While state officials have yet to point to any circumstances in which a voter fraud could have been prevented by the challenged legislation, they argue that if government-issued photo ID is needed to purchase Sudafed, than it should be required to vote as well. Critics' worries about the obstacles this would present to the elderly, people with disabilities, minorities, students, and other marginalized groups were not addressed.

Commenting on the proposed suit, Barbara Arnwine, Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law, stated, "The Department of Justice made the right decision on the facts and law when it denied Section 5 preclearance to South Carolina's photo ID law. We are confident that the D.C. Court will reach the same conclusion."

Read the full TPM article

O'Keefe Video Doesn't Show "Dead People Vote In NH"

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Attempting to prove the need for restrictive voter ID laws in states such as New Hampshire, James O’Keefe and his crew impersonated and obtained the ballots of a number of recently deceased voters. Instead, his stunt proves that the system works, as O’Keefe was not actually able to cast a vote as one of the deceased – but he did implicate himself and his crew in a number of fraudulent acts.

All New Hampshire voters are required to sign a statement attesting that they understand committing voter fraud is a felony, punishable with jail time or fines. Understandably, actual cases of voter impersonation are extremely rare, as the risk attached to casting one single fraudulent vote is very high.

While there is no data to prove that groups have cast fraudulent votes as O’Keefe and his crew allege, there are statistics that show that restrictive voter ID legislation has barred eligible voters from using their fundamental right to vote.

Read the full Media Matters article

The Flaws In The O'Keefe 'Voter Fraud' Scheme

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

In an attempt to demonstrate the ease with which an election can be "stolen" without government-issued photo ID laws in place, James O'Keefe organized a stunt in which he and his associates claimed to be deceased voters at the New Hampshire primary. This risky stunt was fruitless, as the conspirators were blocked from voting fraudulently.

O'Keefe manufactured voter impersonation fraud in an attempt to prove a point, but instead demonstrated just how difficult it would be to actually influence the outcome of an election by impersonating the recently deceased. The minute impact of a single fraudulent vote is likely not worth the felony conviction that will occur when the fraudulent voter is discovered.

Read the full TPM report

Proposed Voter ID Bill Meets Opposition

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

A Nebraska senator recently proposed a bill which would require voters to present a state or government-issued photo ID that shows a current address before being allowed to vote. Opponents of the bill have argued that the legislation is unnecessary since voters already have to prove eligibility, citizenship, and identity when registering.

Restrictive changes to longstanding voting law makes it harder to vote, especially those who may not have or need up-to-date ID on a daily basis, especially the elderly, minorities, people with disabilities, students, city residents, and low-income voters.

Civil rights organizations and election officials expressed concern that the proposed changes to voting law could lead to longer lines at polling places.

Read the Full WOWT Article

Deceptive Voter Practices Cannot Be Tolerated

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin and U.S. Senator Charles Schumer are reintroducing the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2011, which would protect voters across the nation from unscrupulous partisans attempting to prevent citizens from voting through deception or intimidation.

Most often, this takes the form of a misleading flyer or robocall telling voters from one party to vote on the correct day, and voters from another party to vote the day afterward. Although such practices are against the law in a handful of states, the proposed bill would make it a serious crime in all states, allowing for penalties of up to $100,000 and up to five years imprisonment.

A variety of recent incidents have inspired the Senators to re-introduce the bill, including several high-profile stories surrounding misleading robocalls in Maryland in 2010, the intentional release of incorrect information about election dates and polling place locations, as well as false suggestions that any voter with an outstanding parking ticket would be arrested if they attempted to vote.

Such incidents are not pranks, they threaten the very core of our democracy. The Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act would make anyone think twice before considering suppress individual voters and even entire communities.

Read the full TheBaynet.com article

Op-Ed: Voter ID laws continue an assault on democracy

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

In 2011, five states passed laws requiring voters to present government-issued photo identification before being allowed to cast their vote. Not only are these laws unnecessary because voters already have to prove their residency and citizenship when registering, they make voting more difficult for groups that are less likely to have or need government-issued photo ID in their daily lives.

It's not only residents of big cities that don't have or don't need a driver's license. Young voters, especially students, are also less likely to have driver's licenses or other forms of government-issued photo ID. Senior citizens are also less likely to have government-issued photo ID, and those that do have driver's licenses are often exempt from the requirement of having the photo on their license, making their ID ineligible for proving their right to vote in states with the strict requirements.

Further complicating the issue, many senior citizens don't have birth certificates or other documentation needed in order to get the government-issued photo ID they need to vote.

Although supporters of government-issued photo ID laws claim they will prevent voter impersonation fraud, voter impersonation fraud is already a felony - and exceedingly rare. Rather than preventing non-existent fraud, these laws present significant barriers to the ballot and have a disproportionate impact on large swaths of the population: senior citizens, minorities, people with disabilities, young, urban, and low-income voters.

Read the full Sacramento Bee Op-Ed

Voter ID battle will spread from South Carolina to several other key states

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Restrictive government-issued voter ID laws in several states could dampen minority, elderly, student, and low-income citizen participation in future elections, prompting heightened scrutiny from the Department of Justice.

Up to five million citizens nationwide could have their right to vote taken away by the provisions. The laws disproportionately impact groups like the elderly, people with disabilities, students, minorities, and low-income citizens, because those groups are less likely to have current government-issued identification, and often lack the means to obtain it or keep it updated. For elderly and disabled citizens, keeping identification up to date is especially problematic, and several states issue ID cards without photos to senior citizens.

Read the full Grio article

Op-Ed: Holder's Legacy

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Restrictive new government-issued voter ID laws in South Carolina and other states highlight the importance of the Voting Rights Act, first passed in 1965 and renewed several times since by large bipartisan majorities, in protecting the voting rights of minorities.

Voter impersonation fraud, the usual justification for passing these laws, has been proven to be nonexistent by several independent studies. Voter impersonation fraud is already a felony -- but restrictive government-issued voter ID laws will disenfranchise far more citizens than they will protect.

Read the full New Yorker Op-Ed

Justice Dept. rejects South Carolina voter ID law, calling it discriminatory

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

The Department of Justice rejected South Carolina's new government-issued voter ID law, noting that the law will have a discriminatory impact on registered minority voters, who are less likely to have the current government-issued photo ID required to vote under the law.

Supporters of the strict government-issued voter ID laws claim that they are necessary to prevent voter fraud, but the Department of Justice rejected that claim, noting that South Carolina failed to provide any evidence of fraud that wasn't already addressed by existing state laws.

Click here to read the full Washington Post article.

Gov. Bill Haslam voices concerns about requiring photo ID for voting

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Tennessee governor Bill Haslam worries that the new state law that requires voters to have government-issued photo ID will make it "unnecessarily hard" for some to cast their vote in next year's elections.

Tennnessee is not the only state to have enacted restrictive government-issued voter ID laws: Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida all have done so as well.

These laws make it more difficult for groups who may not have a driver's license -- or a need for one -- to be able to register and vote. Even citizens who have already registered and proven their citizenship, residence, and eligibility will have to jump through another hoop to cast their ballot.

Senior citizens, students, people with disabilities, minorities, and low-income citizens are all less likely to have the required government-issued photo ID needed to vote -- and many often lack the necessary documents to get one. For them, obtaining these documents is a costly, time-consuming process.

"Given human nature, people tend not to address things until the last minute sometimes," Haslam said. "I'm concerned about that last minute, when seniors say, 'I really want to vote, I want to vote at the polling place, I don't want to vote absentee. Oh, I need to get a photo ID! ... and I'm concerned about the waiting time [at driver's licensing stations]."

Read the full KnoxNews.com article

Lawyers' Committee's Eric Marshall on Attorney General Eric Holder's Speech on Voting Rights

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Eric Marshall of the Lawyers' Committee applauded Attorney General Eric Holder's mention of modernizing the outdated voter registration system and support of federal legislation to eliminate deceptive practices.

Asked about the government-issued voter ID laws in states like Florida and South Carolina, Eric Marshall said, "It's extremely important that Attorney General Holder and the Department of Justice continue to use the tools provided them by the Voting Rights Act to scrutinize these laws, force jurisdictions to prove that there's not a discriminatory impact or intent of these laws before allowing them to go forward and potentially impact elections in 2012."

On the subject of automatic voter registration and deceptive robocalls that trick or intimidate voters into staying home and not going out to vote, Eric said, "I thought that it was very important that [Attorney General Holder] called for Congress and states to look at ways to modernize our antiquated voter registration system."

Listen to the clips: Clip 1 | Clip 2

Holder Signals Tough Review of New State Laws on Voting

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Attorney General Holder said the Department of Justice would be scrutinizing new state voter laws more closely to ensure they do not have a discriminatory impact.

He also called for modernizing the voter registration system with automatic voter registration and introducing legislation to curb the practice of using deceptive robocalls and flyers to intimidate or trick voters into staying home on election day.

Read the full New York Times article

Amended state voter ID bill moves forward

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Pennsylvania's state Senate narrowly passed a restrictive government-issued voter ID bill through committee. Like similar bills passed in states across the country, this bill, if passed, will make it more difficult for groups who are less likely to have the necessary qualifying identification -- senior citizens, people with disabilities, students, minorities, and low-income citizens -- to vote in the 2012 presidential election and beyond.

Supporters of the bill claim that the laws are intended to discourage voter impersonation fraud, but have provided no evidence of such fraud existing.

State Senator Jake Corman offered his reason for opposing the law: "I wasn't going to vote to put a roadblock before voters without any credible evidence of a problem," Mr. Corman said. "If someone can show me some evidence, I'm happy to consider it."

Read the full Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article

Civil rights groups attempt to block S.C. voter ID law from taking effect

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

More than 200,000 registered voters in South Carolina who have already proven their residency and eligibility to vote, could have their right to vote taken away if a new state law goes into effect. The new law requires registered voters to present a current, valid government-issued photo ID in order to vote, but many voters, especially the elderly, people with disabilities, students, low-income voters, and minorities don't have the required ID.

"The state's own data show that the photo ID requirement would have a negative impact on minority voters, and the state has provided no justification for this new barrier to voting," said Robert Kengle, co-director of the Voting Rights Project of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

The Lawyers' Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina, and other civil rights organizations are suing to block the law from being implemented.

Read the full Charleston Regional Business Journal article