Tag Archives: Voting Rights Act

Can we PLEASE get some action on redistricting?

Posted on July 31, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From the Lone Star Project: Earlier today, plaintiffs in the pending Texas congressional and state house redistricting case filed a motion with the presiding three-judge federal panel in San Antonio requesting a conference to discuss further action on the case. … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Congress, Election 2018, lawsuit, Lone Star Project, LULAC, Marc Veasey, NAACP, redistricting, Texas, The Lege, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off

Media covers latest voting rights lawsuit

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Glad they finally noticed. A group of Hispanic voters has filed a lawsuit challenging how Texas selects judges to its top two courts, arguing that statewide elections for the state Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals dilutes the … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Court of Criminal Appeals, Elsie Alcala, Eva Guzman, judicial races, lawsuit, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Texas, Voting Rights Act | 1 Comment

New affidavit procedure implemented for HD120 special election runoff

Posted on July 26, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Seems likely this is what we’re going to get for November. Now before the Court comes the Consent Motion for Entry of Temporary Remedial Order, filed on July 23, 2016. The Court has considered the motion and determined that it … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2016, Legal matters | Tagged Bexar County, Election 2016, HD120, lawsuit, provisional ballots, runoff, special election, Texas, The Lege, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | 2 Comments

Voting rights lawsuit filed over Texas statewide judicial elections

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This happened on the same day as the Fifth Circuit ruling on voter ID. [Wednesday], the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee), Garza Golando Moran, PLLC, and Dechert LLP filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Carmen Rodriguez, Court of Criminal Appeals, El Paso, Jose Garza, Jose Rodriguez, judicial races, lawsuit, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Martin Golando, Nueces County, redistricting, Supreme Court, Texas, Voting Rights Act | 1 Comment

What next for voter ID?

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Hasen, writing in Slate: The trial court was ready to throw out the entire law, but the 5th Circuit said such a remedy went too far. The court held that when a trial court finds a law has a … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged abortion, Dan Patrick, David Dewhurst, Election 2016, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton, lawsuit, Rick Perry, SCOTUS, Texas, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off

Fifth Circuit affirms voter ID ruling

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Made it by the deadline. Texas’ voter identification law violates the U.S. law prohibiting racial discrimination in elections, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed previous rulings that the 2011 voter ID law … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Election 2016, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, lawsuit, SCOTUS, Texas, The Lege, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | 2 Comments

We should hear something soon on voter ID

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

So says Rick Hasen: The federal challenge to Texas’s strict voter identification law is pending before the entire Fifth Circuit sitting en banc. The Supreme Court set a soft July 20 deadline for a decision—after that the Court has invited … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Election 2016, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, lawsuit, SCOTUS, Texas, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off

Voter ID’s day before the full Fifth Circuit

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. A top lawyer for Texas fiercely defended the state’s strictest-in-the-nation voter identification law on Tuesday, in a high-profile case that could ultimately determine at what point states that assert that they are protecting the integrity of … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged birth certificate, Election 2016, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Ken Paxton, lawsuit, Marc Veasey, SCOTUS, Texas, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off

A new way to attack gerrymandering

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

From Think Progress: America’s anti-gerrymandering law is an incoherent mess. Thirty years ago, in Davis v. Bandemer, the Supreme Court held that a partisan gerrymander may be struck down as unconstitutional upon proof of “both intentional discrimination against an identifiable … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Arizona, Congress, lawsuit, redistricting, SCOTUS, Voting Rights Act, Wisconsin | 2 Comments

Republican attorneys general file briefs in support of Texas’ voter ID law

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Birds of a feather. Fifteen Republican-controlled states are wading into the contentious court fight over Texas’ voter ID law, arguing in a legal brief that similar laws around the country have already been upheld by the courts. […] Ahead of … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Election 2016, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, Indiana, lawsuit, North Carolina, SCOTUS, Texas, voter ID, Voting Rights Act, Wisconsin | Comments Off

Meyers’ voter ID lawsuit gets appellate hearing

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I hope he gets to keep it going. [Court of Criminal Appeals Justice Lawrence] Meyers filed his state lawsuit in October 2014, while another legal challenge to the state’s voter ID law was pending in federal court in Corpus Christi. … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged 5th Court of Appeals, Constitution, Election 2016, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Larry Meyers, lawsuit, SCOTUS, Secretary of State, Texas, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off

SCOTUS upholds “one person, one vote”

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. In a unanimous decision released Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold Texas’ current system for drawing legislative districts so that they are roughly equal in population. The Supreme Court’s ruling is a victory for legislators — … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Census, Congress, lawsuit, MALC, one person one vote, Project on Fair Representation, redistricting, SCOTUS, Senate, Sylvia Garcia, Texas, Voting Rights Act | 2 Comments

Full Fifth Circuit will hear voter ID appeal

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. The full U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to take up the Texas voter ID case Wednesday, adding another chapter to the law’s convoluted journey through the federal court system. The decision to hear the … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Election 2016, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Justice Department, Ken Paxton, lawsuit, Marc Veasey, SCOTUS, Texas, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | 1 Comment

Pasadena plaintiffs get details on Mayor’s campaign spending

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A federal judge said Wednesday that a political action committee aligned with Pasadena Mayor Johnny Isbell must turn over hundreds of pages of internal documents in an ongoing lawsuit over the voting rights of Hispanic and Latino residents. Attorneys … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged campaign finance reports, City Council, Election 2015, Johnny Isbell, lawsuit, Pasadena, redistricting, Texas, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off

Pasadena activists want details on their Mayor’s campaign spending

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A group of Hispanic voters that accuses the city of Pasadena of diluting its voting rights is asking that a political action committee with ties to the mayor turn over records of communications with voters. The PAC — Committee … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged campaign finance reports, City Council, Election 2015, Johnny Isbell, lawsuit, Pasadena, redistricting, Texas, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off

The arguments in the “one person, one vote” case

Posted on December 10, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron story: “We start with the proposition that one person can’t be given two votes, while their neighbor be given one vote,” said Arlington, Va., attorney William Consovoy, arguing Evenwel’s case before the high court. Texas officials argued … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Census, Congress, lawsuit, one person one vote, Project on Fair Representation, redistricting, SCOTUS, Senate, Texas, The Lege, Voting Rights Act | 5 Comments

Oral arguments in “one man, one vote” case today

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

High stakes, indeed. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case that could have far-reaching implications for the way legislative districts in Texas — and across the country — are drawn. A coalition of Texas legislators, … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Census, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, lawsuit, one person one vote, Project on Fair Representation, redistricting, SCOTUS, Senate, Texas, The Lege, Voting Rights Act | 5 Comments

We still can’t get new maps

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Seriously? To avoid confusion and uncertainty, the state’s 2016 elections for Congress and the Texas House will proceed under the current political maps, a three-judge federal panel in San Antonio said late Friday. The court previously approved maps for use … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Congress, Election 2016, filing deadline, lawsuit, primaries, redistricting, Texas, The Lege, Voting Rights Act | 1 Comment

$8 million and counting for voter ID litigation

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Ka-ching. Republicans used their majority in 2011 to muscle through the Legislature a controversial voter ID law and new redistricting maps — and Texas taxpayers haven’t stopped picking up the bill for the state to defend those measures in courts … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Attorney General, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Greg Abbott, lawsuit, redistricting, SCOTUS, Texas, The Lege, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | 5 Comments

The stakes in the voter ID appeal

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Hasen lays it out. Don’t worry, Chief Justice John Roberts assured the American public in that 2013 case, Shelby County v. Holder. Although states with a history of racial discrimination would no longer be subject to federal “preclearance” of … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, lawsuit, SCOTUS, Texas, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | 2 Comments

Meyers voter ID lawsuit to proceed

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

An update on that other voter ID lawsuit. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Larry Meyers claims that the state’s voter ID law violates the Texas Constitution, and the court ruled that the case will proceed after rejecting defendants’ arguments … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged 5th Court of Appeals, Larry Meyers, lawsuit, Secretary of State, Texas, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off

Another Voting Rights Act lawsuit filed

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Naturally, it originates in Texas. Today, on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) sued the State of Texas, the Williamson County Elections Department, and the city … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, lawsuit, Texas, The Lege, Voting Rights Act, Williamson County | 2 Comments

Voter ID may have had broader effects than we thought

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Texas’ strict voter identification requirements kept many would-be voters in a Hispanic-majority congressional district from going to the polls last November — including many who had proper IDs — a new survey shows. And the state’s voter ID law … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2014 | Tagged CD23, Congress, drivers licenses, Election 2014, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, lawsuit, polls, Rice University, Secretary of State, Texas, turnout, UH, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | 1 Comment

Fifth Circuit affirms that Texas voter ID law violates Voting Rights Act

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Texas’ four-year-old voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act but is not a “poll tax” barred under the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court has ruled. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday ruled that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, lawsuit, SCOTUS, Senate, Texas, The Lege, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | 1 Comment

Clinton goes big on voting rights

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

I like the sound of this. Accusing Republicans of a systematic effort to undercut voter access to the ballot box, Hillary Clinton called for expansive reforms to U.S. election laws in a speech Thursday. The front-runner for the 2016 Democratic … Continue reading →

Posted in The making of the President | Tagged early voting, Election 2016, Hillary Clinton, President, Rick Perry, SCOTUS, Texas, voter ID, voter registration, Voting Rights Act | 3 Comments

SCOTUS to hear Texas “one person one vote” challenge

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Gird your loins. When drawing voting districts, should lawmakers seek to make each district have roughly the same number of people, or the same number of people eligible to vote? The Supreme Court is going to answer that question, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, lawsuit, one person one vote, Project on Fair Representation, redistricting, SCOTUS, Senate, Texas, The Lege, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off

Another redistricting update

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Once again from Russ Tidwell, writing at Letters from Texas. The three judge federal panel in San Antonio is nearing a final decision on redistricting litigation for the Texas House and congressional delegation. As previously discussed here, multiple weeks of … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged Alabama, Congress, Election 2016, Election 2018, lawsuit, North Carolina, redistricting, SCOTUS, Texas, The Lege, Voting Rights Act | 1 Comment

Voter ID appeal report

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib reports from New Orleans. A federal appellate judge on Tuesday questioned why the Texas Legislature had not addressed concerns that its four-year-old voter ID law discriminated against minority voters. U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Catharina Haynes … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Election 2014, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, lawsuit, MALDEF, Marc Veasey, Texas, The Lege, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | 5 Comments

Fifth Circuit to hear Texas voter ID appeal

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

There’s more than one big appellate case being heard today. The Texas voter identification law will make a stop at a federal appeals court in New Orleans on Tuesday on a likely path to the U.S. Supreme Court. Texas Solicitor … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Brennan Center, Election 2014, Election 2016, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, lawsuit, SCOTUS, Texas, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | 12 Comments

The At Large trend

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From Think Progress: Yakima, WA is one-third Latino, but a Latino candidate has not been elected to the city council for almost 40 years. Santa Barbara, CA is 38 percent Latino, but only one Latino has been elected to its … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged At Large, California, City Council, Farmers Branch, lawsuit, Ornaldo Ybarra, Pasadena, SCOTUS, single member districts, Texas, Voting Rights Act, Washington, Yakima | 2 Comments

Ellis files bill to protect voting rights

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Senator Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) releases the following statement regarding tomorrow’s 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” part of the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama: “‘Bloody Sunday’ played a pivotal role in the long and painful … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged absentee ballots, Rodney Ellis, Senate, Texas, voter ID, voter registration, Voting Rights Act | 4 Comments

Voter fingerprint ID

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This has superficial appeal, but I don’t believe it holds up under close scrutiny. Fingerprints can now be used to unlock smart phones, car engines, even guns. Why not ballots, too? A New Mexico legislator has just proposed that his … Continue reading →

Posted in Show Business for Ugly People | Tagged fingerprints, SCOTUS, voter ID, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off

Redistricting update

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

From Russ Tidwell, writing at Letters from Texas: There is well-established case law around redistricting that calls for creating a new minority opportunity district anytime a compact majority of a single minority group can be established (i.e., majority Black or … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged Election 2016, HD101, HD102, HD105, HD107, HD132, HD135, HD26, HD54, HD57, HD93, HD96, lawsuit, MALDEF, redistricting, Russ Tidwell, SCOTUS, Texas, The Lege, Voting Rights Act | 1 Comment

Don’t forget about Pasadena

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

There’s still a lawsuit in the works regarding their 2013 redistricting referendum that switched their Council from an eight-member all-district makeup to six districts and two At large seats, all at the behest of Mayor Johnny Isbell. Pasadena is preparing … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged At Large, City Council, Election 2003, Election 2005, Election 2007, Election 2009, Election 2011, Election 2013, Election 2015, Houston, Houston City Council, Jack Christie, Johnny Isbell, Jolanda Jones, lawsuit, MALDEF, Ornaldo Ybarra, Pasadena, redistricting, SCOTUS, single member districts, Texas Organizing Project, turnout, Voting Rights Act | 3 Comments

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