[EL] Breaking News: DOJ Files Section 2 Suit Against Texas on Voter ID; More News
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Thu Aug 22 09:38:51 PDT 2013
Breaking: DOJ Sues Texas Over Voter ID using Section 2 of Voting
Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=54695>
Posted on August 22, 2013 9:26 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=54695>
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Press release <http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/August/13-ag-952.html>:
*Department of Justice*
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Justice Department to File New Lawsuit Against State of Texas Over
Voter I.D. Law
The Department of Justice announced today that it will file a new
lawsuit against the State of Texas, the Texas Secretary of State,
and the Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety over the
State's strict voter photo identification law (SB 14). The United
States' complaint seeks a declaration that SB 14 violates Section 2
of the Voting Rights Act, as well as the voting guarantees of the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.
Separately, the Department is filing a motion to intervene as a
party and a complaint in intervention against the State of Texas and
the Texas Secretary of State in the ongoing case of Perez v. Perry
(W.D. Tex.), which concerns the state's redistricting laws. The
United States had already filed a statement of interest in this case
last month. Today's action represents a new step by the Department
in this case that will allow the United States to formally present
evidence about the purpose and effect of the Texas redistricting plans.
"Today's action marks another step forward in the Justice
Department's continuing effort to protect the voting rights of all
eligible Americans," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "We will not
allow the Supreme Court's recent decision to be interpreted as open
season for states to pursue measures that suppress voting rights.
The Department will take action against jurisdictions that attempt
to hinder access to the ballot box, no matter where it occurs. We
will keep fighting aggressively to prevent voter disenfranchisement.
We are determined to use all available authorities, including
remaining sections of the Voting Rights Act, to guard against
discrimination and, where appropriate, to ask federal courts to
require preclearance of new voting changes. This represents the
Department's latest action to protect voting rights, but it will not
be our last."
In the voter ID lawsuit, the United States' complaint contends that
SB 14 was adopted with the purpose, and will have the result, of
denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or
membership in a language minority group. The complaint asks the
court to prohibit Texas from enforcing the requirements of its law,
and also requests that the court order bail-in relief under Section
3 of the Voting Rights Act. If granted, this would subject Texas to
a new preclearance requirement.
In the Department's other filing announced today, the United States
seeks a declaration that Texas's 2011 redistricting plans for the
U.S. Congress and the Texas State House of Representatives were
adopted with the purpose of denying or abridging the right to vote
on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority
group in violation of Section 2, as well as the voting guarantees of
the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States
Constitution. The complaint also requests that the court order
bail-in pursuant to Section 3(c) of the Voting Rights Act, to remedy
persistent, intentional discrimination in voting within the State of
Texas.
"The Department of Justice will use all the tools it has available
to ensure that each citizen can cast a ballot free from
impermissible discrimination," said Jocelyn Samuels, Acting
Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights
Division. "The right to the franchise is one of the most
fundamental promises of American democracy."
If the federal courts in either the redistricting or voter
identification cases find that the State of Texas should be covered
by Section 3(c), then the State would be required to submit voting
changes to the U.S. Attorney General or to the federal court for
review prior to implementation to ensure that the changes do not
have a discriminatory effect or a discriminatory purpose. The
Department has previously participated as amicus in the Perez case,
and last month advised the federal court in Texas that the
Department believed the imposition of a new preclearance requirement
on Texas under Section 3(c) of the Voting Rights Act was
appropriate. Today's filing asks the Court to allow the Department
to participate as a party in further proceedings on the question of
whether Texas should be made subject to Section 3(c).
A federal court in the District of Columbia has previously held that
Texas had failed to meet its burden of proving that its 2011
redistricting plans and its 2011 voter identification law were not
discriminatory under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. These
decisions were vacated after the Supreme Court's June decision in
Shelby County v. Holder. The Supreme Court's decision left
unaffected the non-discrimination requirements of Section 2 of the
Voting Rights Act, as well as the bail-in provisions of Section 3 of
the Voting Rights Act, and today's filings seek to enforce those
important protections.
The filings in the Texas redistricting and Texas voter
identification matters will be available on the Civil Rights
Division's website later today. More information about the Voting
Rights Act and other federal voting laws is available on the
Department of Justice website at www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/.
Complaints about discriminatory voting practices may be reported to
the Voting Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division
at 1-800-253-3931.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D54695&title=Breaking%3A%20DOJ%20Sues%20Texas%20Over%20Voter%20ID%20using%20Section%202%20of%20Voting%20Rights%20Act&description=>
Posted in Department of Justice <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>,
voter id <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>, Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | Comments Off
Wautaga, NC Elections Board Tries to Alter Meeting Minutes, Keep Out
Video of Meetings <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=54692>
Posted on August 22, 2013 9:13 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=54692>
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Watch this <http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26315908/vp/52814807#52814807>.
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D54692&title=Wautaga%2C%20NC%20Elections%20Board%20Tries%20to%20Alter%20Meeting%20Minutes%2C%20Keep%20Out%20Video%20of%20Meetings&description=>
Posted in chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12> | Comments Off
Quote of the Day -- Colin Powell <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=54689>
Posted on August 22, 2013 9:06 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=54689>
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
"You can say what you like, but there is no voter fraud,....How can it
be widespread and undetected?"
---Colin Powel
<http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/speaking_in_raleigh_colin_powell_blasts_north_carolina_voting_law>l,
speaking in North Carolina in front of NC Gov. Pat McCrory
Share
<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D54689&title=Quote%20of%20the%20Day%20%E2%80%93%20Colin%20Powell&description=>
Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1> | Comments Off
--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu
hhttp://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20130822/da4a3c9d/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: share_save_171_16.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1504 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20130822/da4a3c9d/attachment.png>
View list directory