The Independent View: Electionline Weekly August-9-2018

Legislative Updates

Illinois: Signatures have been submitted to give Voters a say in whether or not the Bloomington Election Commission (BEC) should be folded into the McLean County Clerk’s Office. Consolidating Elections is broadly popular among Local Officials as a way to save Money and reduce Voter confusion, and the Ballot Question could end a long standoff between those who want to dissolve the BEC and those who favor moving all Elections to a Countywide Election Commission. The Signatures were submitted by the Republican and Libertarian Parties. County Democrats do not support the Consolidation.

New Mexico: The Santa Fe City Council has Approved a Charter Amendment Ballot Question that would ask City Resident whether to move the City’s Elections from the Spring to the Fall.

Legal Updates

Indiana: In a Court filing this week, Attorney General Curtis Hill said an Agreement that Common Cause Indiana and the Indianapolis NAACP reached with Marion County over the Location of Early Voting Sites is contrary to Indiana Law and the Public Interest. Secretary of State Connie Lawson has come out in Opposition to Hill’s Filing.

Iowa: The Iowa Supreme Court will hear Oral Arguments on August 9th on whether a Lower Court acted Properly in Blocking Provisions of the State’s Voter ID Law. The Order, filed earlier this week by Chief Justice Mark Cady, calls for a Review at 9 a.m. to Hear Arguments from the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) of Iowa and the Office of Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate. The Review aims to determine whether or not to Uphold an Iowa Judge’s July Injunction on the State’s Voter ID Law, which Shortened Early Voting Windows and Phased in Identification Requirements for Iowa Voters.

North Carolina: U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Biggs ruled that Elections Officials in Cumberland, Moore, and Beaufort Counties may not Purge their Voter Rolls before the 2018 General Election. Biggs also Ordered the State Board to ensure that all 100 County BOEs must Comply with the National Voter Registration Act.

North Dakota: The State Supreme Court has Ordered a Recount in the Race for Secretary of state. Libertarian Candidate Roland Riemers requested a Recount after he fell 53 Votes short of making the November Ballot. Secretary of State Al Jaeger Denied the Recount, but the State’s High Court said Riemers is entitled to an Automatic Recount under the “plain language of state law.”

Texas: In a Court filing this week, Opponents of Texas’ Voter ID Law told U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos that the Case is settled and they would not Pursue any other Remedies or Changes to the Law that was first Challenged in 2011, because neither Party in the Case asked for Rehearing or attempted to kick it up to U.S. Supreme Court, “the substantive merits and remedy phases of this long-standing case are over.”