[EL] 7th Circuit voter id order; more news

[Rick Hasen]

Breaking: 7th Circuit Reverses (for Now at Least) Softening of WI Voter ID Rule: What’s Next?<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=85176>
Posted on August 10, 2016 8:42 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=85176> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

In an order issued today<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/7th-frank.pdf>, the Seventh Circuit in Frank v. Walker has put on hold the softening of Wisconsin’s voter id law which a trial court had ordered a few weeks ago. That softening required Wisconsin officials to accept an affidavit from a voter that he or she had a reasonable impediment to getting one of the narrow ids WI allows for voting in the election. It was a very broad affidavit which would allow many more people who lack the ids to vote.

The 7th Circuit issued the stay because it believes it is very likely to reverse the requirement for the affidavit alternative, because it is not targeted enough to the kinds of people who face special burdens on voting. “Because the district court has not attempted to distinguish genuine difficulties of the kind our opinion mentioned, 819 F.3d at 385–86, or any other variety of substantial obstacle to voting, from any given voter’s unwillingness to make the effort that the Supreme Court has held that a state can require, there is a substantial likelihood that the injunction will be reversed on appeal.”

In practical effect, given the timing close to the election, this means no affidavit requirement will apply in the upcoming Wisconsin November elections unless this order is further reversed by the full 7th Circuit (sitting en banc) or by the Supreme Court.  Well how likely is that?

The plaintiffs could well go to the full 7th Circuit en banc, and as I noted in my post on the district court’s order, <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=84529> the Seventh Circuit has recently gone from a 5-5 split on the question of the propriety of these voter ids to one that now appears to be 5-4 skeptical of these id requirements. But that doesn’t necessarily translate into a 5-4 vote to reverse the stay and put the affidavit softening in place. One issue will be timing. Another is whether the softening comports with what has happened earlier in the case and with Crawford.

Whatever the full 7th Circuit might do, I expect that is likely the last word (unless there is a Purcell/timing question posed). The Supreme Court on the merits could well split 4-4 if and when the case gets there.

Meanwhile, there is a second case pending <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=84746> in which a trial court ordered different softening measures for Wisconsin’s voter id law, as well as striking other Wisconsin election laws. That case remains pending on appeal, and is not affected by today’s order.  (It is not clear if the same panel will have that case.)

[This post has been updated]
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D85176&title=Breaking%3A%207th%20Circuit%20Reverses%20(for%20Now%20at%20Least)%20Softening%20of%20WI%20Voter%20ID%20Rule%3A%20What%26%238217%3Bs%20Next%3F&description=>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Texas Voters Now Have Equal Access to Ballot in Major Voting Victory”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=85172>
Posted on August 10, 2016 8:27 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=85172> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Brennan Center release:<https://www.brennancenter.org/press-release/texas-voters-now-have-equal-access-ballot-major-voting-victory>

Today, in a major victory for voting rights advocates nationwide, a federal district court entered an order to ease Texas’s strict photo ID law — and allow voters without ID to cast a regular ballot this November.

The Texas requirement, as written in 2011, is effectively struck down. Approximately 600,000 registered voters did not have acceptable ID required under the original strict law.

The full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found<https://lawyerscommittee.org/press-release/victory-texas-voters-strict-photo-id-found-discriminatory/> Texas’s photo ID law racially discriminatory last month. Today’s agreement addresses the discriminatory effects of the law — and will help ensure all Texas voters can cast a ballot that counts this fall.

The original Texas law required voters to show one of a very limited number of government-issued photo IDs to vote, such as a state driver’s license, a passport, or a concealed carry license. Under today’s agreement, any voter without these forms of photo ID can sign a declaration stating they have a “reasonable impediment” to obtaining one, show an alternative form of identification, and vote a regular ballot. Voters who have one of the acceptable photo IDs must still show them to cast a ballot.

Many additional forms of ID are acceptable under the “reasonable impediment” alternative, including a voter registration certificate, driver’s license or personal ID card from any state (regardless of expiration date), utility bill, government check, paycheck, or any other government document that displays the voter’s name and address. Texas also agreed to spend $2.5 million on voter education efforts to let residents of the state know about the new changes before Election Day.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D85172&title=%26%238220%3BTexas%20Voters%20Now%20Have%20Equal%20Access%20to%20Ballot%20in%20Major%20Voting%20Victory%26%238221%3B&description=>
Posted in Uncategorized<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


“Make Democracy Count: The Harmful Impact of Partisan Gerrymandering on Voters and Our Democracy”<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=85170>
Posted on August 10, 2016 8:24 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=85170> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Release<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/news/press-releases/make-democracy-count-harmful-impact-partisan-gerrymandering-voters-and-our>:

The Campaign Legal Center, which is litigating the landmark case Whitford v. Gill<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/case/whitford-v-gill> to end partisan gerrymandering, today released a report, Make Democracy Count: Ending Partisan Gerrymandering<http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/document/make-democracy-count-ending-partisan-gerrymandering>.

The report highlights the impact partisan gerrymandering, or the drawing of electoral district lines to benefit one political party, has on our democracy and suggests a key solution that can be used to ensure fair elections nationwide.
[hare]<https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D85170&title=%26%238220%3BMake%20Democracy%20Count%3A%20The%20Harmful%20Impact%20of%20Partisan%20Gerrymandering%20on%20Voters%20and%20Our%20Democracy%26%238221%3B&description=>
Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>


--
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<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20160810/465e1503/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1504 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20160810/465e1503/attachment.png>