The Independent View: Electionline Weekly Nov-8-2018

Legislative Updates

District of Columbia: The Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety has Approved a Bill that would Extend Voting Rights to 16-year-olds in the District in all Elections, including Federal Elections. The Bill is expected to come before the Full Council on November 13th.

Montana: Secretary of State Corey Stapleton will Testify before the State Administration and Veteran’s Affairs Committee on Nov. 13th regarding Spending on Two Contracts including one for $265,000 to Reprint the State Voter Guide after Errors were found.

New Jersey: In April Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed Legislation into Law requiring Automatic Voter Registration at All State Motor Vehicle Commission Offices by November 1st and on November 1st, the MVC announced that the System was Live. All Eligible State Residents who Apply for a Driver’s License, an Examination Permit, a Probationary Driver’s License, or a Non-Driver Identification Card will be Registered to Vote.

Legal Updates

California: Richard Anthony Hamilton, 22 has been charged with Voting Twice in the 2016 Presidential Election as well as the Primary. He was also Registered Twice, once with his actual Birthdate and once with a False Birthdate.

Deidra Vrooman has been charged with Felony Election Fraud for Casting Two Ballots in the 2016 Primary Election. Vrooman was Mailed Two Ballots, one from Nevada County and one from Alameda County. She was living out of her Car at the time and did not know where she was currently Registered, so she sent Both back. “It was just my right to vote, so I voted,” Vrooman explained. “I was mailed two ballots by the government so I was just following instructions to send them both in.”

Florida: U.S. District Judge Mark Walker rebuked Duval County Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan for Not Following his September Court Order to Provide Sample Ballots available at Early Voting Sites. Walker rebuked Hogan and Ordered that Sample Ballots in Spanish be at All Voting Precincts on Election Day. “The cause of this motion was Duval County Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan’s strained and selective reading of this Court’s preliminary injunction order,” Walker wrote. “His reading … inexplicably ignored this Court’s unambiguous language.”

Georgia: U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross ruled that Georgia’s “Exact Match” Requirement Voter Identification “places a severe burden” on Prospective Voters and will Not apply for the Midterm. Ross directed Kemp’s Office to Allow County Election Officials to Permit Individuals Flagged and Placed in Pending Status due to Citizenship to Vote a Regular Ballot by furnishing Proof of Citizenship to Poll Managers or Deputy Registrars. “To be clear, once an individual’s citizenship has been verified by a deputy registrar or a poll manager, that individual may cast a regular ballot and the vote counts,” Ross said.

Kansas: U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Crabtree said forcing Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox to Open an Additional Polling Location in Dodge City so Close to the Election would Not be in the Public’s Interest. Crabtree did question Cox’s Actions though. And while the Court must Evaluate the fully-developed Facts governing this Claim on a later day, the Court notes, for now, its concerns about Ms. Cox’s ‘LOL’ Comment and Questions whether it manifests a Disregard for the ‘fundamental significance’ that our Constitution Places on the Right to Vote.

New York: On Election Day, the League of Women Voters Sued the State of New York over the State’s Voter Registration Cutoff Date calling it “arbitrary and unnecessary.” As a Direct result of the Voter Registration Cutoff, many Thousands of Constitutionally Eligible Voters in every Election Cycle are Denied their Fundamental Right to Vote, says the Complaint, which Attorneys at the American Civil Liberties Union filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.

North Dakota: A last-ditch Legal effort to Halt North Dakota’s Voter ID Law was Denied by U.S. District Court Judge Daniel L. Hovland. In his Two-Page Order, Hovland said it was Too Close to the Election to make any Changes. He noted that “federal courts are unanimous in their judgment that it is highly important to preserve the status quo when elections are fast approaching.”

Texas: District Judge Justin Sanderson ordered that Dozens of Voters whose Mail-In Ballots were slated for Rejection should be Notified in Time to Vote on Tuesday. At least 86 Mail-In Ballots were Flagged last week for potential Discrepancies in Signatures between the Application Form and the Returned Ballot.