Alabama Voting Rights Group Sues Secretary of State Over Access to Registered Voters Data

Posted on by February 26, 2022
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On February 22, an Alabama voting rights group sued the Secretary of State over access to the list of registered voters. Greater Birmingham Ministries v Merrill, n.d., 2:22cv-228. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Abdul Kallon, an Obama appointee.

The group wants to see a list of all purged voters. The federal law on voting registration says records pertaining to efforts to purge the list shall be made available to the public at reasonable cost. Because the records are electronic, the group argues, it is not reasonable for the state to charge $1,331 for the list. The group first requested the list on May 17, 2021, and the Secretary of State has been refusing to release the records ever since, saying the group must first pay for the list.

Here is the Complaint.

U.S. District Court in Alabama Declines to Help Resolve Uncertainty in This Year’s Deadline for Filing for the Primary

Posted on by February 26, 2022
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On February 25, the 3-judge U.S. District Court that has been handling the Alabama lawsuit over U.S. House redistricting declined to let Republican candidate Jeff Coleman intervene in the case. The court had earlier ordered the legislature to redraw the U.S. House districts, and at that time the court had extended the filing deadline for primary candidates. But then the U.S. Supreme Court, five days later, had stayed the U.S. District Court order, without mentioning the filing deadline extension.

Jeff Coleman had filed his declaration the day before the new filing deadline, but because the new filing deadline was part of the order on the district boundaries, and that order had been set aside by the U.S. Supreme Court, that left the deadline unclear. Coleman then asked the 3-judge court to uphold the deadline it had chosen, but the court declined to do so. It says Coleman’s real dispute is with the Alabama Republican Party. The Secretary of State already said he will accept all candidacy declarations that the party approves. The Republican Party hasn’t accepted Coleman’s filing, but it hasn’t said yet for certain that it won’t. Here is the 10-page order. It says that even if the Republican Party had already clearly rejected Coleman, the court does not have the power to help him. See page nine.

North Carolina Republicans Ask U.S. Supreme Court to Disallow State Supreme Court Authority on Redistricting

Posted on by February 26, 2022
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On February 25, some North Carolina Republican members of Congress and legislators asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that the recent decision of the North Carolina Supreme Court on U.S. House redistricting violates Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Moore v Harper, 21A455.

The North Carolina Supreme Court had ruled recently that the legislature’s plan violates the state constitution. The state constitution says elections shall be “free and equal.” The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that means partisan gerrymandering is illegitimate. The new filing to the U.S. Supreme Court says that state courts cannot interfere; only state legislatures have authority to write election laws for Congress.

Here is the filing. Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for the link.
UPDATE: the response from the state board of elections is due March 2, Wednesday.

Arizona Bill to Require Initiatives to Pass with 60%

Posted on by February 25, 2022
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On February 22, the Arizona House passed HCR 2015. It is a proposed constitutional amendment, to require initiatives to receive at least 60% of the popular vote in order to pass. If the legislature approves the bill, then the voters will vote on it, because it amends the state constitution.

The vote in the House was 31-28. The only state that already requires initiatives to receive 60% is Florida.