[EL] more news 3/18/13

[Rick Hasen]

    "Winning the Voting Wars" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48506>

Posted on March 18, 2013 5:24 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48506> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Democracy: A Journal of Ideas 
<http://www.democracyjournal.org/28/winning-the-voting-wars.php>:

    Issue #28, Spring 2013


      Winning the Voting Wars

    The Editors

    Barack Obama's second inaugural included what most would expect from
    a progressive President, including calls for action on climate
    change, inequality, and immigration reform. But near the peroration,
    the President also declared, "Our journey is not complete until no
    citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote."
    It was a significant nod to the many citizens stuck in endless lines
    on election night, and to activists who had to navigate labyrinthine
    regulations to register voters or make sure they could vote.

    Obama's remarks point to an unfortunate shift that's taken place in
    recent years. While the immediate postwar period was defined by the
    expansion of rights, the new century has been marked by a worrisome
    retrenchment. In particular, we have seen the emergence of a
    states-based, conservative-led movement to raise the barriers to
    voting. Whether in the form of more stringent requirements for
    registering voters, curtailment of early voting, or unfounded
    allegations of voter fraud aimed at vulnerable constituencies, these
    measures all aim to do the same thing: limit and weaken the franchise.

    How can it be that voting rights are now in retreat? For a country
    whose very founding was premised on liberty and rights, the
    withering of the franchise is nothing less than shameful.
    Demographic pressure on conservatives has encouraged them not to
    broaden their constituencies, but to attempt to dissuade and prevent
    other constituencies from exercising the most basic of democratic
    rights.

    Because of these efforts, voting-rights advocates have been forced
    to mount legal challenges and campaign against voter-ID initiatives.
    Thankfully, most of these challenges were successful during the 2012
    election cycle and prevented what could have been large-scale
    disenfranchisement of poor and minority voters. But beating back
    attempts at suppression only protects an inadequate status quo. Not
    enough has been done on offense, on making voting as easy and
    convenient as possible while maintaining clean and honest elections.

    We at /Democracy/ believe the time is ripe for an intervention---for
    a concerted campaign to renew our commitment to an inclusive and
    expansive democracy. Our symposium, with essays from some of the
    smartest thinkers in the voting-rights movement, aims to highlight
    the problem of the shrinking franchise and to propose a series of
    solutions. Michael Waldman of the Brennan Center gives the current
    lay of the land in voting rights and exhorts progressives to make
    democracy reform a key plank in our agenda. Next up are three essays
    on ways we can increase and strengthen the franchise. Heather
    Gerken, a professor of law at Yale, details how a system of
    automatic voter registration would work. Jonathan Soros and Mark
    Schmitt of the Roosevelt Institute argue for a movement focused on
    granting a constitutional right most Americans think they already
    have: the right to vote. Tova Andrea Wang, a scholar at Demos,
    writes on the various ways we can engage immigrant populations,
    including voting. And finally, Jeff Hauser of the AFL-CIO warns
    that, despite the legal and legislative failures of voter
    suppression in the 2012 election cycle, those efforts are already
    beginning anew.

    This symposium was made possible in part by a grant from Carnegie
    Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed are
    solely the responsibility of the authors.

    *Winning the Voting Wars*

    /Playing Offense: An Aggressive Voting Rights Agenda/
    <http://www.democracyjournal.org/28/playing-offense-an-aggressive-voting-rights-agenda.php>
    by Michael Waldman

    /Make It Easy: The Case for Automatic Registration/
    <http://www.democracyjournal.org/28/make-it-easy-the-case-for-automatic-registration.php>
    by Heather K. Gerken

    /The Missing Right: A Constitutional Right to Vote/
    <http://www.democracyjournal.org/28/the-missing-right-a-constitutional-right-to-vote.php>
    by Jonathan Soros & Mark Schmitt

    /Expanding Citizenship: Immigrants and the Vote/
    <http://www.democracyjournal.org/28/expanding-citizenship-immigrants-and-the-vote.php>
    by Tova Andrea Wang

    /A Temporary Victory: Looking Ahead to 2014 and Beyond/
    <http://www.democracyjournal.org/28/a-temporary-victory-looking-ahead-to-2014-and-beyond.php>
    by Jeff Hauser

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>, 
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off


    Arizona Inter-Tribal Roundup <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48501>

Posted on March 18, 2013 5:21 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48501> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NPR 
<http://www.npr.org/2013/03/18/174665723/high-court-case-tests-strength-of-voter-registration-law?ft=1&f=1001>

NYT 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/us/politics/supreme-court-justices-appear-divided-on-arizona-voting-law.html>

WaPo 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/justices-appear-divided-on-arizona-voting-law/2013/03/18/e84a99ce-9009-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239_story.html>

CS Monitor 
<http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2013/0318/Citizenship-papers-a-must-to-register-to-vote-Supreme-Court-to-decide>

SCOTUSBlog 
<http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/03/argument-recap-does-may-only-mean-shall-only/>

AP 
<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPREME_COURT_VOTER_CITIZENSHIP_PROOF?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT>

Bloomberg 
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-18/voter-proof-of-citizenship-laws-questioned-by-high-court.html>

HuffPo 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/supreme-court-voter-registration_n_2900916.html>

Politico 
<http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/arizona-voter-registration-law-supreme-court-89018.html>

TPM 
<http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/03/justice-divided-arizona-prop-200-supreme-court.php>(and 
TPM 
<http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/03/scalia-sotomayor-clash-voting-case-arizona.php>)

McClatchy 
<http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/03/18/186195/supreme-court-hears-arizonas-voter.html>

FOX News 
<http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2013/03/18/arizonas-voter-registration-law-takes-heat-at-high-court/?test=latestnews>

USA Today 
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/03/18/supreme-court-arizona-voting-registration/1996615/>

Arizona Republic 
<http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/20130318us-supreme-court-justices-ask-tough-questions-voter-registration-law.html>

Text and History 
<http://theusconstitution.org/text-history/1881/roberts-court-meets-right-vote-part-ii>

My own analysis of the transcript is here 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48494>.

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Posted in Elections Clause <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=70>, The 
Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off


    "Justice's Voting Rights Unit Suffers 'Deep Ideological
    Polarization' Says Watchdog" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48498>

Posted on March 18, 2013 4:59 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48498> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I missedthis NPR report 
<http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/12/174133191/justices-voting-rights-unit-suffers-deep-ideological-polarization-says-watchdog>from 
last week.

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Posted in Department of Justice <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>, 
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off


    Dodging a Bullet in the Arizona Inter-Tribal Case?
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48494>

Posted on March 18, 2013 4:08 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48494> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have now had a chance to reviewthe transcript 
<http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/12-71.pdf> 
in the Arizona case, argued today in the Supreme Court. I agree with 
Adam Liptak 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/us/politics/supreme-court-justices-appear-divided-on-arizona-voting-law.html> 
that the Justices appear somewhat divided along ideological lines, 
although Justice Kennedy's questioning suggests he could well affirm the 
result of the lower court (though not necessarily the reasoning) to 
reject the Arizona form. It also would not surprise me, if the Court 
rejects the Arizona form, to see Justice Scalia concur in the result 
with a suggestion that Arizona should refile its case against the zombie 
U.S. Election Assistance Commission for its failure to include its 
citizenship information on the federal form. Justice Scalia appears to 
think the procedural posture of this case is wrong, though on the merits 
of reading the statute he thinks that the federal government must allow 
states to require additional proof of qualifications before allowing 
someone to register.  The Chief Justice did not say much at the 
argument, and I take it that he could go either way as well.

But what is most significant to me from the argument is the failure to 
focus on the constitutional power under the Elections Clause. I called 
this <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48440> a potential "sleeper case of 
the year" because there was the potential for the Court to rework 
state-federal power relations to specify rules in relation to federal 
elections. Justice Kennedy did ask one question about the standard of 
reviewing congressional power under the Clause, but it seems far more 
likely here that the case will turn on issues of statutory 
interpretation, or the failure to properly present a challenge to the 
federal form, and it will not be a major constitutional case on the 
meaning of the Elections Clause.

Expect an opinion by the end of June.

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Posted in Elections Clause <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=70> | 
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    "The Voting Wars Within: Is the Department of Justice too biased to
    enforce the Voting Rights Act?" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48491>

Posted on March 18, 2013 11:57 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48491> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have written this commentary 
<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/03/justice_department_s_inspector_general_report_is_the_voting_rights_section.html> 
for /Slate./  It begins:

    A long-awaited report
    <http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/2013/s1303.pdf> from the
    Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General issued last
    week sheds considerable light on the battles within the department's
    voting section during the Bush and Obama administrations. The
    picture is not pretty. It is a tale of dysfunction and party
    polarization that could unfairly derail the nomination of the next
    secretary of labor and could even provide ammunition to Justice
    Antonin Scalia's incendiary charge
    <http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/supreme_court_dispatches/2013/02/the_supreme_court_hears_shelby_county_argument_the_court_s_conservatives.2.html>,
    made during the Supreme Court's hearing on the constitutionality of
    the Voting Rights Act last month, that the civil rights law is a
    kind of "racial entitlement." The sordid business raises serious
    questions about whether the whole model for the federal enforcement
    of voting rights should be reworked.

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Posted in Department of Justice <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>, 
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off


    Transcript Posted in Arizona v. Inter-Tribal Case
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48488>

Posted on March 18, 2013 10:04 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48488> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

You can read it here 
<http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/12-71.pdf>.

I'm off to class and then meetings, so it will be a while before I can 
read this and post my thoughts.

In the meantime, I should have a piece posting at /Slate/ at any time on 
the DOJ voting section and the Inspector General report.

Back later.

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Posted in Elections Clause <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=70> | 
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    SCOTUSBlog Recap of Arizona Argument Suggests Court May Not Reach
    Constitutional Issue <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48485>

Posted on March 18, 2013 9:50 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48485> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here 
<http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/03/argument-recap-does-may-only-mean-shall-only/>.

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Posted in Elections Clause <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=70> | 
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    "Lawmakers add relatives to campaign payrolls"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48482>

Posted on March 18, 2013 9:33 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48482> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

USA Today 
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/03/18/campaign-funds-nepotism-relatives-payroll-congress/1991251/>: 
"Thirty-two members of Congress dispensed more than $2 million in 
campaign funds to pay relatives' salaries during the 2012 election 
cycle, a USA TODAY analysis of the most recent campaign records shows."

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, 
conflict of interest laws <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20> | 
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    Early Reports in Arizona Voting Case Suggest Divided Court
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48479>

Posted on March 18, 2013 9:17 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48479> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

See AP 
<http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/03/18/us/politics/ap-us-supreme-court-voter-citizenship-proof.html?ref=politics> 
and Bloomberg' 
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-18/voter-proof-of-citizenship-laws-questioned-by-high-court.html>s 
very early reports.  I will be watching to see what Justice Kennedy and 
Chief Justice Roberts have to say, as well as awaiting the transcript.

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Posted in Elections Clause <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=70>, The 
Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60> | Comments Off


    "The Roberts Court vs. Voting Rights"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48476>

Posted on March 18, 2013 9:03 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=48476> 
by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

David Cole 
<http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/apr/04/roberts-court-vs-voting-rights/?page=1>on 
Shelby County.

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Posted in Supreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>, Voting 
Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15> | 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
http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org

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