| Subject: Electionlawblog news and commentary 5/25/06 |
| From: DANIEL TOKAJI |
| Date: 5/25/2006, 6:59 AM |
| To: election-law |
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this story, on the efforts by the Cherokee Indians of Georgia -- which is not officially recognized by the federal or state government -- to distribute free voter identification cards to comply with the state's photo ID requirement. It's not yet been determined which tribal ID cards will be accepted, according to the Secretary of State's office.
The Hartford Courant has this editorial, arguing that the language assistance provisions of the Voting Rights Act should be extended. George Will offers an opposing perspective here.
The AP has this report. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius says that the bill, which would raise contribution limits for state house and senate races, isn't "real reform."
For its June primary election, San Mateo County is using "universal vote centers" which may be used by any voter. See this report and a website that the county has created (www.shapethefuture.org) to explain its vote centers. Two of the nine vote centers opened on May 8, and the other seven opened on May 22. Vote centers are an intriguing idea, much discussed in election administration circles, and it will be interesting to see how San Mateo's experiment works out.
The Brennan Center for Justice has brought suit against Washington state officials on behalf of a coalition of citizens and groups, arguing that tens of thousands of voters may be excluded from the statewide registration list due to problems in "matching" voter information against other government databases. The AP has this report, and the Brennan Center's press release and complaint are available here . Among the errors that could allegedly exclude voters from the statewide registration database, newly mandated by HAVA, are data entry mistakes and the transposition of first and last names. The Brennan Center previously issued a report on potential problems with the new statewide registration databases, available here.
At least four Arkansas counties didn't have new voting machines up and running for Tuesday's primary election, according to this report, and may be out of compliance with the Help America Vote Act. In related news, another county in the state was having difficulty getting enough rolls of paper tape for its voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) system, according to this story.
A federal district judge in Missouri ruled yesterday that the Secretary of State can't be held responsible for local election officials' failure to comply with requirements of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The AP has this report, and Judge Nanette Laughery's opinion granting partial summary judgment to the Secretary of State may be found here. The Justice Department brought suit against Secretary of State Robin Carnahan in November, seeking to hold her office responsible for counties' failure to remove ineligible voters as required by the NVRA, among other things. The ruling would appear to mean that Justice will have to go after counties individually, to the extent that they're violating the NVRA.
The AP has this story, reporting that the successful motion for cloture on the immigration bill puts the McConnell photo ID amendment "in limbo, evidently doomed by arcane rules that took effect once the Senate voted to limit debate." The roll call on the motion to table the McConnell Amendment may be found here, and on the motion for cloture here. (Thanks to Doug Chapin for the pointer.)