Tenth Circuit Agrees with U.S. District Court that Kansas Can’t Force Voter Registration Applicants to Submit Proof of Citizenship

Posted on by April 29, 2020
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On April 29, the Tenth Circuit issued an opinion in Fish v Schwab, 18-3133, agreeing with the U.S. District Court that Kansas can’t require voter registration applicants to submit paperwork proving they are citizens.

The evidence showed that over 30,000 voter registration applicants had been unable to successfully complete the registration process. And Kansas could only show conclusively that only 39 non-citizens had registered to vote over a long period of time.

The three judges were Mary Briscoe, a Clinton appointee; Jerome Holmes, a Bush Jr. appointee; and Monroe McKay, a Carter appointee. Judge McKay died on March 28, 2020, at the age of 91, so the vote was 2-0. Tenth Circuit rules permit a panel of two surviving judges to release an opinion when the two judges agree with each other.

Kansas passed its requirement in 2011, and it has been under litigation almost since it was first passed. First the courts ruled that applicants who used the federal voter registration couldn’t be required to attach proof of citizenship. Then the litigation continued, relative to applicants who use the state form. Generally, for most people proof of citizenship meant attaching a certified copy of a birth certificate.

Andrew Yang’s Lawsuit to Reinstate New York Presidential Primary Now Has a Judge

Posted on by April 29, 2020
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On April 29, U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres was assigned to the lawsuit filed by Andrew Yang. The issue is whether the New York order cancelling the presidential primary violates the U.S. Constitution. Torres is an Obama appointee. Yang v New York State Board of Elections, s.d., 1:20cv-3325. This lawsuit will move very fast.

New York cannot creditably claim that cancelling the presidential primary makes anyone safer, because New York is holding its primary for non-presidential office on June 23.

Andrew Yang Sues to Restore New York Democratic Presidential Primary

Posted on by April 28, 2020
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On April 28, Andrew Yang sued New York over the cancellation of the state’s presidential primary. Yang v New York State Board of Elections, s.d., 1:20cv-3325.

The complaint is technically flawed. Under the Eleventh Amendment, the defendant can’t be solely a state or a state agency. The defendants must include some individual state office-holders. However, it is easy at this stage for the complaint to be amended. Also, the Complaint is dated April 28, 2011, but the authors of the complaint clearly meant to show April 28, 2020. Thanks to Political Wire for this news. The case is not yet assigned to a judge.

Proponents of Four Massachusetts Initiative Campaigns Ask State Supreme Judicial Court to Allow Electronic Signatures

Posted on by April 28, 2020
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Four groups sponsoring statewide Massachusetts initiatives have asked the State Supreme Judicial Court to let them gather electronic signatures. The groups only need another 13,347 valid signatures. Massachusetts initiative procedures provide that if a group collects the signatures of 2.5% of the last gubernatorial vote, the legislature must consider the idea behind the initiative. If the legislature refuses to enact the idea, they then need more signatures, but of only one-half of 1% of the last gubernatorial vote.

In all four cases, the legislature has not enacted the idea, and probably won’t by the early May deadline. So the four campaigns need a relatively small number of signatures to finish the job, but they feel they cannot finish unless electronic signatures are recognized. See this story.