Michigan Appears Likely to Repeal its Ban on Photographing One’s Voted Ballot

Posted on by April 8, 2019
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On April 5, both sides notified a U.S. District Court that they have settled the lawsuit Crookston v Benson, w.d., 1:16cv-1109. The case concerns Michigan’s ban on photographing one’s own voted ballot. It seems likely that the state no longer wishes to defend this law. See this story.

The case had been filed in 2016 by a voter who had taken a photo of his own voted ballot in 2012. He was warned that he had violated the law, although he was not prosecuted. The voter won injunctive relief on October 24, 2016, but then four days later the Sixth Circuit had reversed that injunctive relief.

Michigan had a Republican Secretary of State until November 2018, when the voters replaced her with a Democrat. Several election lawsuits in Michigan are now being handled differently, seemingly as a result of different policies by the new Secretary of State. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.

Maryland Legislature Almost Certainly Won’t Draw New U.S. House District Boundaries

Posted on by April 8, 2019
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This story says that the Maryland legislature is about to adjourn for the year, without passing a bill to redraw U.S. House district boundaries. If the legislature did redraw the boundaries of the Sixth District, that might cause the U.S. Supreme Court to then rule that the pending lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court, Benisek v Lamone, is moot.

New York Bill to Enable State to Reveal President Trump’s State Income Tax Return

Posted on by April 8, 2019
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A bill is being introduced in the New York legislature on April 8 to enable the state to make President Trump’s state income tax returns public. The state would seek the permission of three chairmen of three congressional committees in order to do this. See this New York Times story.

This bill does injure voting rights. Many states are threatening to pass bills that keep presidential candidates off the ballot if they don’t reveal income tax returns. Those bills injure the voters who want to vote for such candidates. Thanks to Howard Bashman for the link.