[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 09:58:27 PDT 2013
A Few Quick Thoughts on DOJ's Suit Against Texas on Voter ID and
Moves on Redistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=54699>
Posted on August 22, 2013 9:57 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=54699>
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
As I explained in this /National Law Journal/ piece
<http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202613130666&slreturn=20130722125035>
from a few weeks ago, AG Holder is trying whatever he can to make up for
the loss of the preclearance provisions of Section 5.
But thanks to the Supreme Court's stingy interpretation of section 2 of
the Voting Rights Act, a section 2 suit on voter id will be tough to
win. In this recent Slate piece
<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/08/north_carolina_s_speedy_vote_suppression_tactics_show_exactly_why_the_voting.html>on
North Carolina's tough voter law, I explain that the preclearance
provision which the Court eviscerated in the /Shelby County/ case was
serving a real deterrent purpose, and that the Justices should have
expected (and may have anticipated) this wave of anti-voter laws.
The bigger question is whether the court in the lawsuit against Texas
redistricting (into which DOJ will now seek intervention) will lead to
Texas being covered again under the bail-in provisions of section 3 of
the voting rights act. That requires proof of intentional
discrimination on the part of Texas. I've evaluated the chances of that
suit succeeding here <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=54118> and here.
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=53425>I think the suit has a real chance,
but much depends upon the views of the three judges hearing the
redistricting suit, and ultimately the Supreme Court.
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<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D54699&title=A%20Few%20Quick%20Thoughts%20on%20DOJ%E2%80%99s%20Suit%20Against%20Texas%20on%20Voter%20ID%20and%20Moves%20on%20Redistricting&description=>
Posted in Department of Justice <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>,
redistricting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter id
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>, Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | Comments Off
On 8/22/13 9:38 AM, Rick Hasen wrote:
>
>
> 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
>
>
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--
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
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