The U.S. Supreme Court will be releasing opinions on these dates: May 13, 20, 28; and June 3, 10, 17, and 24. These are all Mondays, except that May 28 is a Tuesday. Among the decisions will be two election law decisions.
Arizona v InterTribal Council of Arizona, 12-71, was argued March 18. The issue is whether a state can require more information on the federal voter registration postcard than the federal government itself requires.
Shelby County, Alabama v Holder, 12-96, was argued February 27. The issue is whether section five of the federal Voting Rights Act is constitutional. Section five requires certain jurisdictions to get approval from the U.S. Justice Department before changing election laws and practices. The Act has also been construed to require political parties in the covered jurisdictions to also get approval before changing bylaws that relate to nominations.
The U.S. Supreme Court accepted a third election law case on February 19, McCutcheon v FEC, 12-536. The issue is the federal law that limits an individual’s contributions to all federal candidates together to no more than $46,200 in a two-year period. The oral argument for that won’t be set until October 2013 at the earliest. The FEC’s brief is due on July 18.
