U.S. District Court Enjoins Two Georgia Laws that Affect Voting Process

Posted on by August 25, 2023
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On August 18, U.S. District Court Judge J. P. Boulee, a Trump appointee, enjoined two Georgia laws that affect the voting process. Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church v Kemp, n.d., 1:21cv-1284.

Here is the order that enjoins the law that absentee postal ballots must have the voter’s correct date of birth written on the outer envelope. The law also requires the voter’s Georgia drivers license or state ID number on the outer envelope, or the last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number. The ruling says given that requirement, there is no additional need that the accurate birthdate be put on the outer envelope. The basis for the ruling is the “materiality” provision of the 1964 civil rights act. It protects the right to vote, even if the voter makes an error, “if the error or omission is not material in determining whether such individual is qualified under state law to vote in such election.”

The other enjoined law prohibits anyone from giving food or drink to a voter standing in line waiting to vote at the polls. The judge enjoined that law as applied to voters who are standing more than 150 feet from the entrance to the polling place, but declined to enjoin the law as applied to voters who are within 150 feet of the polling place. Here is the order on that issue.

The same judge had refused to enjoin these two laws in 2022 because the upcoming 2022 election was too close in time to the court proceeding.

The judge declined to enjoin the law that requires ballot drop boxes to be inside a building instead of outside. Thanks to Democracy Docket for this news.

Louisiana Posts List of Candidates for State Office in October 14, 2023 Election

Posted on by August 24, 2023
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Louisiana elects all its statewide executive posts, and all members of its legislature, to four-year terms on October 14, 2023. The Secretary of State has posted a list of candidates. See it here.

For legislature, the only minor party candidates are four from the Independent Party, and one Libertarian. For statewide office the only minor party candidates are four for Governor from the Independent Party, and one for Lieutenant Governor from the Independent Party.

There are eight independent candidates for the legislature.

Libertarian National Committee Must Post Bond of $20,000 If It Wants to Continue Injunctive Relief in Michigan Trademark Lawsuit

Posted on by September 4, 2023
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On August 24, U.S. District Court Judith Levy issued an order requiring the Libertarian National Committee to post a bond of $20,000 in the lawsuit Libertarian National Committee v Saliba, e.d., 5:23cv-11074, if it wants injunctive relief to remain in place. The purpose of the bond is to cover damages to the Defendants in case the trial shows that the injunction granted yesterday was unjustified. Here is the order.

Democratic Candidate for Mayor of New Haven Sues to Get on Primary Ballot

Posted on by August 24, 2023
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New Haven, Connecticut, has partisan city elections. The Democratic primary for Mayor and other city offices is September 12, 2023.

On August 16, a Democratic candidate for Mayor, Shafiq Abdussabur, was told that he didn’t have enough valid signatures. He needed 1,623 and was told he only had 1,406. Many signatures were rejected because they were illegible. However, Abdussabur re-valided enough signatures, using his own volunteers, and filed a lawsuit that same day, trying to show he does have enough valid signatures. Abdussabur v Evans.

The hearing was on August 23. At the hearing, the city clerk argued that the Purcell Principle prohibits the court from putting Abdussabur on the ballot. This is a false argument. “The Purcell Principle” came into being in 2006, when the Ninth Circuit had enjoined Arizona’s voter id procedures, and the U.S. Supreme Court had then quickly stayed the order of the Ninth Circuit on the grounds that voting procedures should not be changed too close to an election. Purcell v Gonzalez, 549 U.S. 1.

Now the notion has been spreading that the Purcell Principle means candidates cannot be added to the ballot too close to an election. But voting procedures are a different subject than the list of candidates on the ballot. It is obvious from past U.S. Supreme Court precedent that there is no constitutional principle that keeps candidates who had been unjustly barred from the ballot from seeking last-minute relief. In 1968, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that George Wallace should stay on the Ohio ballot in October 15, 1968. In 1976 the U.S. Supreme Court put Eugene McCarthy on the ballot as an independent in Texas on September 30. And most radical of all, in 1992 the U.S. Supreme Court put the Harold Washington Party on the Cook County, Illinois ballot, on October 25, only two weeks before the election.

Here is an article about the New Haven hearing. The ballots have not yet been printed, except for some absentee ballots.

Mississippi Asks for Rehearing in Case on Ex-Felon Disenfranchisement

Posted on by August 23, 2023
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On August 18, the state of Mississippi asked the Fifth Circuit to rehear Hopkins v Hosemann, 19-60662. This is the case in which the original panel of Fifth Circuit judges struck down the state’s ban on ex-felons being able to register to vote, on the grounds that the law violates the Eighth Amendment. Here is the state’s brief.

On August 21, the Fifth Circuit asked the plaintiffs to respond by August 31.