Kansas, Arizona prevail in voter citizenship suit

[Redfairen]

Source: Associated Press

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to help Kansas and Arizona enforce laws requiring new voters to provide proof of their U.S. citizenship.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in Wichita, Kan., ruled the commission has no legal authority to deny requests from Kansas and Arizona to add state-specific instructions to a national voter registration form. Melgren ordered the commission to immediately revise the national form.

The states and their top election officials — secretaries of state Kris Kobach of Kansas and Ken Bennett of Arizona, both conservative Republicans — sued the agency to force the action.

Both states require new voters to provide a birth certificate, passport or other documentation to prove their U.S. citizenship to election officials. The federal registration form requires only that prospective voters sign a statement declaring they are citizens.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/kansas-arizona-prevail-voter-citizenship-suit-163245546.html?.tsrc=attmp

[KansDem]

1. Shit! In Kansas, SOS Kobach believes voting is a privilege!

Secretary of State Kris W. Kobach welcomes you to Vote Kansas! This website guides you through each step of the Kansas election process. We hope it will be useful as you exercise your voting privilege and responsibility.

http://www.voteks.org/

[Lasher]

2. This is a good thing.

I'm disappointed to learn that the federal registration form does not require proof of citizenship.

[Pterodactyl]

3. Good ruling. I'm OK with having to be a citizen to vote.

[Jefferson23]

22. Think about what their intentions are all about:

NC’s voter suppression tactics adopted by other swing states


Jake Delahanty, Staff Writer

April 11, 2014
Filed under Opinion

It’s getting harder and harder to vote in the Land of the Free.

New voter suppression laws have recently been passed in North Carolina by Republicans in the General Assembly. In essence, these laws make it harder to vote.

State Republicans claim these laws will prevent voter fraud and bring greater uniformity to the system, but that’s just a front for the press.

The real reason these laws have been passed? To keep Democrats out of office.

Here’s the worst part: other swing states are now following North Carolina’s example.

Governor John R. Kasich of Ohio recently passed a law that cut “Golden Week,” during which voters could register and vote early on the same day.

“They know when they are taking away early voting exactly who it’s affecting,” Ed FitzGerald, the executive of Cuyahoga County and a Democratic candidate for governor, told The New York Times.

Yep, laws reducing early voting affect many people, but they especially hurt low-income and minority voters — a historically Democratic voting bloc.

It’s no surprise Republicans would want to reduce early voting. Early voters have won states for the Democratic Party in presidential elections. Just look at North Carolina during the 2008 election. On Voting Day, McCain beat Obama handily, but once early voting was factored, Obama managed to barely snag the electoral votes.

While the reason for the strategy isn’t surprising, it’s insane that it’s actually passing.

It gets worse, though. A federal judge recently upheld laws in Arizona and Kansas requiring voters to provide a birth certificate, passport or other documentation to prove citizenship when registering to vote.

“This is a really big victory not just for Kansas and Arizona, but for all 50 states,” Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach of Kansas told The Associated Press. “Kansas has paved the way for all states to enact proof-of-citizenship requirements.”

He’s right; this is a huge victory for Republicans in terms of their prospects for elections. Suppressing Democratic Party voters tends to have that effect.

http://www.guilfordian.com/opinion/2014/04/11/ncs-voter-suppression-tactics-adopted-by-other-swing-states/

[Guaguacoa]

4. Here in Mexico you have to have

a card to vote and give your thumbprint. I'm surprised you don't have to show anything to vote in the US.

[geek tragedy]

8. Shocking to see free Republic style cheerleading for vote suppression here.

Here, read what John Lewis--who unlike you understands the issue of race and civil rights in America

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/11/03/359381/civil-rights-leader-rep-john-lewis-voter-id-laws-are-a-poll-tax-i-know-what-i-saw-during-the-60s/

LEWIS: Each and every voter ID law is a real threat to voting rights in America. Make no mistake, these voter ID laws are a poll tax. I know what I saw during the 60s. I saw poll tax. And you cannot deny that these ID laws are another form of a poll tax. In an economy where people are already struggling to pay for the most basic necessities, there are too many citizens that would be unable to afford the fees and transportation costs involved in getting government issued photo Ids. Despite all the voter ID laws across the country, there’s no convincing evidence — no evidence at all — that voter fraud is a problem in our election problem.

"Undies in a bunch" + "raaacist" in response to the concerns of people like John Lewis is the talk of, well, not progressive people

[Zorra]

9. Donde vive usted? nt

[Guaguacoa]

16. Estado de Mexico.

If you are a native spanish speaker you probably know, but in case you are not Zorra does not mean the same thing as calling a woman a fox in english. It's an insult. Just letting you know in case you don't.

[Zorra]

18. Thanks, yeh, lived in Mexico for many years on and off, I know very well what the slang

meaning is.

RWers in the US call me the English version of zorra all the time.

[Guaguacoa]

19. OK, just checking. :) nt

[davidpdx]

10. I will be voting in Korea for the first time in June

It will be interesting to see what their system is here. I am a US citizen, but am a permanent resident in Korea.

[Spider Jerusalem]

13. Do you not have to be a citizen to vote in South Korea, then?

[davidpdx]

14. No. When you get an F-5 visa you are a permanent resident

Granted you only get to vote for some offices. I believe the ones that are excluded are national assembly and president. The presidential election here happened the month after ours in the US. I think national assembly will be up. If I chose to become naturalized I could vote for all of them. I could qualify for naturalization, but I would have to study Korean for a few years. I really don't need another passport.

[Guaguacoa]

17. Here in mexico you have to be a citizen to vote.nt

[kelliekat44]

6. What is meant by "new" voters? nt

[alp227]

11. sounds like people who register to vote.

i remember when i registered to vote in CA I provided my social security number. i think a registrar should be able to verify one's citizenship using an SSN, no?

[geek tragedy]

7. SMH at the people favoring vote suppression in this thread, is this Free Republic?

The point of these restrictions is to make it harder for American citizens to vote, so that they don't vote, so that Republicans win.

Anyone who thinks this is about protecting election integrity is out to lunch.

[AnalystInParadise]

20. Broadbrush much?

What about me? I am no tea bastard....I want paper ballots no machines, but I also want proof of citizenship to vote. I have family in Mexico and they have to have picture ID cards to vote, it really is not a big deal, there is a list somewhere on the internet of things that require an ID and I can't think of a single adult that doesn't need one of those things in their normal life.. If it is good enough for Mexico it should be good enough for us.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Horrifying. Hideous. Kris Kobach has been trying to generate hatred toward others in Kansas

for years and years. No one could have been surprised to learn he was assisting evil scums in Arizona, as well.
Of course it's nothing but racist. Anyone who supports his measures outs himself/herself as a foaming-at-the-mouth sociopath.

Fortunately Democrats recognize when they're NOT seeing comments from other Democrats.

You'd think other-race-hating bigots would try to be a little more subtle, wouldn't you?

[kydo]

15. Typical bagger mentality - voting, hard; buying gun, easy

To vote you need ten million pieces of paperwork, eyewitness to your birth and probably soon dna to prove you are a US citizen and eligible to vote. Then it takes hours (sometimes almost a whole day) to cast your vote, unless you live in a rich white bagger area where you have tons a voting machines and no lines.

To buy a gun, you just need cash and it takes a few minutes.

[Gothmog]

21. This ruling was stayed

Here is some good news. The ruling from the federal judge on the attempt by Kansas and Arizona to impose a two tier voting system was stayed. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/kansas-arizona-appeal-two-tiers

A federal appeals court breathed new life this week into the long-running fight over voter registration in Kansas and Arizona.

At stake is whether or not the U.S. Election Assistance Commission will have to add state-specific instructions about Kansas and Arizona's proof-of-citizenship requirements to the federal voter registration form. A federal district judge ruled in favor of the states in March, saying that the commission had unlawfully denied the states' requests. On Thursday, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary stay to the lower judge's ruling, which was sought by the commission and a collection of voting rights groups.

According to the Associated Press, circuit Judges Carlos Lucero and Jerome Holmes granted the emergency stay one day after the lower judge, U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren, rejected a request to suspend his ruling pending the commission's appeal. The 10th circuit judges gave Kansas and Arizona until Tuesday to respond to the commission's request that the ruling be stayed during the appeal.

Arizona Advocacy Network, one of the voting rights groups involved in the case, hailed the ruling. Sam Wercinski, the group's executive director, put out a statement calling Thurday "a good day for Arizona voters and civic engagement groups helping citizens to register and vote."

This is great news. Hopefully, the appellant court will reverse this ruling.