Tag Archives: voting rights

Sides make closing arguments in Texas voter ID case

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After a week of testimony in the Texas voter ID case, a court must now decide whether the state photo ID law would “deny or abridge” minorities’ right to vote.

The state began closing arguments Friday morning to argue that even without expert testimony, national social science research shows that photo voter ID laws have no disproportionate effect on voting, fulfilling the state’s burden of proof.

“The social science gets us over the hump,” lawyer John Hughes said in reference to why the law should be cleared.

The three-judge panel raised concerns about the economic burden placed on those who would need to obtain an ID to vote.

Judge David Tatel noted that minorities are more likely to have economic challenges. Judge Robert Wilkins asked why the state could require individuals to travel more than 100 miles to acquire photo ID when law prevents them from being required to travel so far for a subpoena.

The state has used the Supreme Court’s approval of the Indiana photo voter ID law as precedent, but Tatel dismissed this by saying it did not resolve this case.

The plaintiffs also took aim at the Justice Department’s estimate that 1.5 million voters in Texas do not have ID.

“The database match project is hopelessly flawed,” Hughes said.

But the Justice Department argued in its closing remarks that even questionable data or conflicting evidence is not enough to grant federal approval.

The defense argued that Texas failed to meet its burden of proof by providing no evidence as to how many people might have a federal photo ID acceptable under the new law.

A key for the defense was pinning the law as retrogressive by proving that photo voter ID takes away voting strength as the Hispanic population continues to grow.

The defendants also countered Texas’ claim that the law was about voter fraud and integrity at the polls.

“The only thing that was certainly proved was the purpose of SB14 was not to stop in person voter fraud,” lawyer Ezra Rosenberg said.

Rosenberg argued this case was not about voter fraud, but rather racially discriminatory voter suppression “cloaked” as voter fraud.

By Lindsey Ruta and Annelise Russell, News21

Coffee Break Ballot, July 12: Current Trends in Voting Rights

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All signs suggest a momentary trough in the #VoterID frenzy of the last few days.

The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., is concluding a hearing on the Texas photo voter ID law. The decision by the three-judge panel is sure to send anger and/or gloating on both sides of the partisan divide through the roof. For today the digital conversation is focused elsewhere.

Vice President Joe Biden’s decidedly politicized speech at the annual NAACP conference in Houston this morning brought up the Obama Administration’s stance on ballot access and voting rights.

The weekend likely will be busy for commentators and opinion pages weighing in on the voting rights debate; Monday will be a big news day.

What We’ve Been Reading

“New court filings: SC would proceed with voter ID for election,” (Renee Dudley, 07/12, S.C. Post and Courier)

“Overheated Rhetoric from VP Biden and Others on Voter ID,” (Michael Collins, 07/12, Republican National Lawyers Association)

“The GOP’s make-believe voter fraud epidemic,” (Dana Liebelson, 07/12, The Week)

“Mitt’s real insult to the NAACP,” (Joan Walsh, 07/12, Salon)

“Texas’ Road to Victory in Its Decades-Long Fight Against Voting Rights,” (Brentin Mock, 07/12, The Nation)

“Biden Defends Health Care Reform and Decries Voter ID Laws,” (Rebecca Berg, 07/12, New York Times)

Twitter Trends

An explosive story from Charleston, S.C., today suggested the state will rush implementation of its photo voter ID law if approved by a three-judge federal court in September.

The story shows South Carolina’s continued insistence on the acceptability of its law, which was denied twice by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Right Division under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

Most Twitter commentary today in our key search areas is focused on the apparent hypocrisy of Vice President Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder speaking out against photo voter ID at an event where to comply with the Secret Service, photo ID was required for entry.

Texas is still making minor waves, as is Pennsylvania. Yet, the only time the twitchy, knee-jerk denizens of Twitter discuss voting rights and voter ID in sustained fashion is during an election, wherever that election may be. August congressional primaries could see a revival in some swing states.

We’ll keep you posted on that front, but be sure to follow @LinsdeyRuta and @AnneliseRussell for the latest updates from the Texas voter ID trial. And as always, follow us @WhoCanVote.

Voter surveys critiqued in final day for evidence in Texas photo ID case

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Today is the last day to present evidence in the Texas voter ID case, and both parties are gearing up for the much anticipated testimony of Stephen Ansolabehere, a Harvard professor of government and expert witness for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, a Democrat from Fort Worth, told the three-judge U.S. District Court that she offered 13 amendments to the photo ID bill, but none made it into the final language.

Many of her amendments, she said, were in keeping with the Indiana ID law, which often is cited by Republicans and lawyers for the state of Texas as justification for the law.

Following Davis, American University professor Allan Lichtman, whose specialty is American political history, offered his analysis of the intent and effect of the Texas law.

He critiqued the state’s survey analysis, saying that the survey expert for Texas made several assumptions that inflated his number of voters who have a valid ID.

Lichtman also said the survey completed by University of Texas government professor Daron Shaw is fundamentally flawed. Lichtman pointed to what he said was Shaw’s over sampling of those who have concealed carry permits and a low response rate as not representative of the Texas voting population.

News21 coverage of this Washington, D.C., federal court hearing will continue this afternoon.

By Annelise Russel and Lindsey Ruta, News21

Coffee Break Ballot, July 11: Current Trends in Voting Rights

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Our breathless post yesterday on the rise of #VoterID on Twitter apparently was too early.

Combined with mentions today, in 24 hours on social media search engine Topsy.com there were 20,937 mentions.

How does that translate into real political effects? Twitter users are talking about the State of Texas v. Attorney General Eric Holder, and are starting to make questions of poll access and voting rights key to the 2012 election.

Intrepid reporters are entering some of the final editing and data entry stages for various News21 projects. Stay tuned to this blog for more updates, and be prepared for our August rollout.

First, what other people have been writing about our research area.

What We’ve Been Reading

“Florida, Iowa target voting rights for ex-felons,” (Shawn Ghuman, 07/11, USA Today)

“In Pennsylvania, the Rosa Parks of voter ID face down GOP voter suppression,” (Nicolaus Mills, 07/11, The Christian Science Monitor)

“Eric Holder says recent studies show 25 percent of African Americans, 8 percent of whites lack government-issued photo IDs,” (Austin-American-Statesman, 07/10, PolitiFact Texas)

“Will Pennsylvania’s Voter ID Law Cost Obama the Election?” (Eric Andrew-Gee, 07/10, The New Republic)

“Most Voters Favor Photo ID at Polls, Don’t See It As Discrimination,” (Rasmussen Poll, 07/11, Rasmussen Reports)

“With No Disavowal of Voter ID, Romney Received Coldly at NAACP,” (Ari Berman, 07/11, The Nation)

Twitter Trends

Mentions of #VoterID are spiking. It’s a term at the heart of the annual NAACP convention in Houston and the U.S. District Court hearing underway in Washington, D.C.

But we’re also seeing a slight rise in mentions of #VoterSuppression, which could stem from the apparent fallout from likely Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s diluted appearance before the NAACP. He avoided controversial Republican-sponsored voter ID laws which opponents, including Holder, say unfairly target minority voters. That dodge might have hurt his reception, observers noted this afternoon.

We’re most interested in seeing what likely will come about next week, when the NAACP conference and the Texas voter ID hearing fade from and the latest presidential campaign buzz gains steam.

We’ll tell what all that looks like then, but until Monday, be sure to follow @LindseyRuta and @AnneliseRussell from the D.C. courtroom and the entire newsroom @WhoCanVote.

Coffee Break Ballot, July 9: Current Trends in Voting Rights

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Sometimes in the News21 newsroom, we pledge to not talk about News21 on the weekend.

But when we get hit with a series of big news items on Saturday and Sunday — a Nation blog post on gender and alleged voter suppression, a comprehensive study from the Associated Press on voter ID in Georgia, Indiana and Tennessee, the rapidly approaching Texas voter ID law hearing in Washington, D.C.  — we sometimes have to renege and spend Sundays reading, talking and drafting instead of brunching.

Today, a slew of new stories and data landed on the docket. We also have two reporters in Washington, D.C., for the voter ID federal court hearing.

First – the stories.

What We’ve Been Reading

“Q&A: Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on the Voter ID Law,” (Priya Anand, 07/08, Houston Chronicle)

“Meet the hanging chad of 2012,” (Nathaniel Persily, 07/08, New York Daily News)

“Gov. Corbett contracts with Romney fundraiser for PA Voter ID ad campaign,” (Daniel Denvir, 07/08, The Naked City)

“Voter ID Laws Could Block Thousands From Voting,” (Mike Baker, 07/08, Associated Press)

“Limbaugh Wants to Extend Vote Suppression to Women,” (Ben Adler, 07/08, The Nation)

“State’s voter ID law could shut out over half-million citizens,” (Editorial Board, 07/09, Philadelphia Daily News)

“NAACP pledges to overcome voter ID law,” (Joe Holley, 07/09, Houston Chronicle)

Twitter Trends

This week is going to be all about Texas.

If last week was Pennsylvania’s time in the Twitter voter ID spotlight, this week just boosts mentions of the term. Social media search engine Topsy.com indicates a real surge in mentions of #VoterID since a report last week that showed at least 700,000 registered Pennsylvania voters lacked valid photo ID.

Texas’ trial, which starts today and continues through Friday, meets several criteria for a Twitter surge: news from a large state, controversial U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, and a legal hearing that could change the national conversation on voting rights.

Reporters @AnneliseRussell and @LindseyRuta will update the trial all week. Be sure to follow them for more live updates, and remember to follow us @WhoCanVote.

Coffee Break Ballot, July 6: Current Trends in Voting Rights

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It’s slightly amusing to look at the gap in news consciousness that a one-day, midweek holiday like July 4 can create.

What does that mean for voting rights? Well, from our perch over the Twittersphere, it seems the already limited attention spans of many users divided over questions of voting rights, voter ID, voter fraud and voter suppression have been reduced even more than usual.

It’s unfortunate, because there were some interesting stories this week — an expansive Mother Jones package on the history of voting rights legislation since the 1990s, a set of data from the Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth suggesting that up to 10 percent of registered voters lack the required photo ID and fraud allegations in Mexico.

No one issue rocketed this week, but next week could be another doozy. A hearing examining the constitutionality of the Texas voter ID opens Monday in Washington, D.C., and the Pennsylvania numbers will probably be passed around and parsed.

We’ll have more on all that next week.

What We’ve Been Reading

“Election integrity,” (Editorial Board, 07/05, Battle Creek Enquirer)

“Pennsylvania Voter ID Law May Bar 9% From Presidential Election,” (Romy Varghese, 07/05, Bloomberg)

“Reps. Moore, Ellison: Voter Suppression Issue is Behind Focus on Eric Holder,” (Khalil Abdullah, 07/04,  New American Media)

“Vetoing Voter ID is the (Historically) Republican Thing to Do,” (John Nichols, 07/06, The Nation)

“Stringent voter ID law in Pa. could prevent 750,000 from voting,” (Lucy Madison, 07/05, CBSNews)

Twitter Trends

Maybe it’s just Friday, but we’ve enjoyed seeing the (fictional) President Josiah Bartlet of “West Wing” fame offer his own opinion on the voter ID debate.

One of ‘his’ tweets from this morning already has received 84 retweets as of this post, and users on both sides of the voter ID debate have replied to him asking for clarification or pointing out the fallacy of his tweet.

Remember, Josiah Bartlet is a fictional character, and the Twitter account set up in his name perhaps has little or nothing to do with actual debate, politics or Aaron Sorkin.

But users are engaging him, retweeting and replying and even mocking his views. It’s a great example of how Twitter can be both a useful search tool and also a silly adventure into a blackhole of digital dithering.

Additionally, our routine use of social media search engine Topsy.com shows a dramatic uptick in mentions of #VoterID, which we can assume is directly related to the Pennsylvania voter ID numbers released this week.

We’ll keep tabs on those mentions, which will likely receive a bigger boost from the opening salvo in the Texas court case next week.

Our reporters, @AnneliseRussell and @LindseyRuta, will cover that hearing next week, so be sure to follow them for live updates. And as always, follow us @WhoCanVote for the latest links, tweets and trends from the News21 team.

 

Witnesses to be finalized in Texas voter ID case

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Officials from the U.S. Department of Justice and the state of Texas will confer today to determine who will testify in federal court next week in the case over the Texas voter ID law.

One representative from each party will join a conference call with the Washington D.C. District Court at 3 p.m. EDT to designate which witnesses will testify in person or whether depositions will be provided.

Each party also will have a chance to object to the final witness lists.

The court also will address scheduling.  The trial is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. EDT Monday.

By Annelise Russell, News21

News21 prepares for Texas voter ID court case

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On Monday, Washington, D.C., District Court will hear testimony over the Department of Justice’s rejection of the Texas voter ID law.

The News21 team is gearing up for the trip to D.C., and as we prepare for this case, we wanted to give you a brief look at the major players and what is at stake.

The law

The Texas Legislature passed its voter ID law in March 2011 on a party line vote — Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.

Federal approval

Texas is one of nine states subject to preclearance by the U.S. Department of Justice under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. After a slow response by Justice and the denial of a similar law in South Carolina, Texas officials decided to sue Attorney General Eric Holder before the Texas law could be denied preclearance.

The state sued on Jan. 23, although the department did not
formally deny preclearance until March.

What’s at stake

Texas legislators argue that the law is an attempt to prevent voter fraud by instilling confidence in the electoral process and giving election officials the tools to maintain the integrity of elections.

In court documents filed by Texas, the state also argues that federal oversight of the law overreaches authority.

Attorney General Holder and advocacy groups assert that the
law could disenfranchise thousands of registered voters — particularly Latinos,
who are one in five registered voters in Texas.

By Lindsey Ruta, News21

Coffee Break Ballot, July 4: Current Trends in Voting Rights

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Welcome back to the work week!

We, like many of you, enjoyed the tease of a midweek faux-weekend. We also enjoyed the onslaught of Independence Day-themed voting rights columns, blogs and articles (some of which we’ll sample here today).

Nothing like a national holiday to encourage talk of freedom, unity and fundamental rights.

What We’ve Been Reading

“Celebrate Our Independence By Committing to the Right to Vote,” (Eva. M. Clayton, 07/04, Huffington Post)

“Graduating from the Electoral College,” (Jaime Fuller, 07/05, the American Prospect)

“Roberts Faces Shot at Republican Redemption in Race Cases,” (Greg Stohr, 07/04, Bloomberg)

“9.2 Percent of Pennsylvania Voters Lack Valid ID,” (David Weigel, 07/05, Slate)

“8 things the U.S. election system could learn from Mexico’s,” (Robert. A. Pastor, 07/02, CNN)

Twitter Trends

If we’ve tracked anything of note this past week on social media search engine Topsy.com, it’s been the considerable bounce that progressive voting rights Twitter users have provided to a few news items.

Tuesday’s Mother Jones package on voter suppression and election administration continues to buzz, as does a telling report from Slate on what the more than nine percent of registered Pennsylvania voters lacking photo ID could mean for the November election.

Despite a series of broadcast news network pieces on possible election fraud in the federal election Sunday in Mexico, we haven’t seen as many mentions of that country’s voter ID system as we originally expected. As seems to be the case for many international stories, the American Twitter audience has moved on to other flash points, accepting that the election is largely finished there and no longer worth 140-character debate points.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on the diverse threads of progressive commentary in the coming days and weeks, with a special focus on the conservative reaction that has yet to arrive.

For more of the latest voting rights trends and links, be sure to follow us @WhoCanVote.

J. Morgan Kousser: The Voting Rights Act and Hispanic Voters

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UPDATE: 07/10 — J. Morgan Kousser testified today in the Federal Appeals Court hearing. Lawyers for both sides came to a last-minute agreement on witness lists.

The Voting Rights Act faces a sustained legal challenge that could threaten its existence, a Cal Tech researcher says, and there are striking similarities – with a notable demographic difference – to historic voting rights battles.

“After the initial passage of the Voting Rights Act, there was a huge attempt to inhibit the growth of political participation,” J. Morgan Kousser, a professor of history and social science at the California Institute of Technology, said of the 1965 law.

“But today, what we see is more than anything a reaction to the growing Latino population and a reaction to Latino growth in places where it really hasn’t been before.”

States such as Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia and Virginia fit that profile, Kousser said. He planned to testify in the scheduled federal court hearing on the constitutionality of the new Texas voter ID law, but the state’s legal team successfully petitioned last week to deny his testimony calling it opinionated and tangential.

If the U.S. Supreme Court takes up a case challenging all or parts of the Voting Rights Act in its next term, Kousser said it is possible that the entire law could be ruled unconstitutional, opening the door to a new series of election laws.

“Suppose you made everybody re-register in a central location in a limited amount of time, and did not make that registration permanent,” Kousser said. “Nobody’s proposed this yet, but we had the umbrella of the Voting Rights Act protecting against such things.”

By Nick Andersen, News21