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DOJ Now Says Texas Voting Rights Are OK
The Trump administration, reversing the Justice Department's position in one of the most important voting rights cases in the country, now says Texas should not have to get federal permission for any changes to its election system.
The changed position came in a lawsuit challenging the state's congressional and legislative maps as gerrymandered to limit the political power of blacks and Latinos.
The Supreme Court six years ago struck down the part of the Voting Rights Act that has been most widely used to require many parts of the South, including Texas, to "pre-clear" any voting changes with the federal government. The plaintiffs in the Texas case cite a different provision, which says pre-clearance can be required in places with a clear and continuing history of intentional discrimination. Placing all of the country's second biggest state in that category would be a major victory for voting rights groups and a huge blow to conservatives arguing that states hold be left alone to set their own election rules.
"Generations of DOJ lawyers, including myself, have taken turns combating Texas' many racially discriminatory voting policies. If Texas can't meet this DOJ's standards for warranting pre-clearance, I suspect no jurisdiction can," Sasha Samberg-Champion, a former senior attorney in the appellate section of the Justice Department's civil rights division, told the HuffPost.
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During his State of the Union address this year, President Trump said he would stonewall the legislative process if members of Congress don't play ball, writes Neal.
A year of broken standards for America’s democracy
Sep 18 2019
Neal is federal government affairs manager at R Street Institute, a nonpartisan and pro-free-market public policy research organization.
The term "democratic norms" has become a misnomer over the last year. America's governing institutions are undermined by elected officials who dishonor their offices and each other. Standards of behavior and "normal" processes of governance seem to be relics of a simpler time. Our democracy has survived thus far, but the wounds are many.
Free speech and free press have been the White House's two consistent whipping posts. Comments such as "I think it is embarrassing for the country to allow protestors" and constant attacks on press credibility showcase President Trump's disdain for the pillars of democracy. Traditional interactions between the administration and the press are no longer taken for granted. Demeaning, toxic criticisms have become so common that they're being ignored. As the administration revokes critics' press passes and daily briefings are canceled, normalcy in this arena is sorely missed.
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Register2Vote
The founders of Register2Vote, Madeline Eden and Jeremy Smith, preparing registration information for mailing in Texas last year.
After successful Texas debut, tech-based voter registration platform goes national
Sep 17 2019
Having had remarkable success at signing people up to vote in Texas last year, an Austin group of activists is expanding its pilot program into a full-blown national effort to overcome the sometimes ignored first hurdle for people in the voting process — registration.
"There are millions of voters who are registered who don't get out to vote," said Christopher Jasinski, director of partnerships for Register2Vote. "But the unmeasured part of the pie is the actual number of unregistered voters."
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