In 2011, the Wisconsin legislature passed one of the nation’s most severe laws concerning photo-ID for voters who vote at the polls. The new law has not been enforced yet and has been in litigation since 2011. The first federal lawsuit filed against the law, Frank v Walker, eastern district 2:11cv-1128, had a trial November 4-8, 2013, and post-trial briefs are due December 20. The case is before U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman, a Clinton appointee. Unlike some other cases, this case has over a dozen voter-plaintiffs who make a compelling case that they cannot obtain the type of ID that the law requires, at least without a substantial cost and effort. Here is a New York Times editorial about the lawsuit. Here is a copy of the Complaint. Thanks to ElectionLaw@Moritz for that link.
On November 27, an Economist/YouGov Poll released, revealing what respondents think about Congress. Only 6% approve. That includes 10% of the Democrats, 7% of the Republicans, and 3% of the independents. That is the lowest approval rating for Congress since the poll has been conducted. Here is the link. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.
Paul Zukerberg, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for District of Columbia Attorney General, says he has been ordered by the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance not to spend any money campaigning. See this story. The D.C. Government argues that even though the voters amended the charter to elect the Attorney General starting in 2014, the government does not intend to hold such an election. Zukerberg has been in federal court and is about to go to the district’s own court to force the election to be held. Thanks to Political Activity Law for the link.
At the November 5, 2013 election, Constitution Party member Steven W. Johnson was elected to one of the two city council seats in Enoch, Utah. Enoch is in Iron County in southwest Utah and has non-partisan elections. Here are the official election returns. Thanks to Frank Fluckiger for this news.
Colbert King, deputy editor of the Washington Post’s editorial page, has this column, suggesting that 2014 might see the election of an independent candidate for Mayor of Washington, D.C. Thanks to Doug McNeil for the link.