Latest news with #NationalVoterRegistrationAct
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Voting rights groups sue over proof of citizenship law in Louisiana
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Several voting rights groups in Louisiana are suing over a new law that requires people to show proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. The lawsuit claims the law breaks the National Voter Registration Act. Senate Bill 436 went into effect on Jan. 1. It says that every voter registration application must include 'proof of United States citizenship.' Some organizations say the law doesn't clearly define what counts as proof of citizenship or how individuals should submit it. The plaintiffs, which include the League of Women Voters of Louisiana, NAACP Louisiana State Conference, Voice of the Experienced (VOTE), and the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, argue that the law is unclear, unnecessary, and unfair. 'S.B. 436 was rushed through the Louisiana Legislature despite no evidence of alleged voting by ineligible noncitizens and Defendant Landry's own admission that the State has successfully relied on the attestation of the voter to confirm citizenship. Although it solves no problems, S.B. 436 creates many. S.B. 436's vague terms pose a threat to eligible voter registrants and those who assist them,' the lawsuit said. The plaintiffs say it makes it harder for many eligible voters to register. This includes young people, low-income voters, and those affected by the criminal justice system. They also said Louisiana has no real problem with non-citizen voting. Secretary of State Nancy Landry admitted during a hearing that the state doesn't have evidence of non-citizens voting. Baton Rouge anti-violence programs at risk of federal funding cuts The groups fear the law will disrupt voter registration efforts, especially at events or in jails where people often don't have documents with them. They say this might create big hurdles for voter registration, making groups spend resources on getting people the right documents instead of focusing on registration. 'The League needs to plan for voter registration activities well in advance—including allocating funds or other necessary resources, organizing and training volunteers, and purchasing or otherwise procuring voter registration equipment—and it is unable to make these key decisions when it does not know when or how Louisiana will implement or enforce S.B. 436,' the lawsuit said. They're asking a federal judge to block the law and declare it unconstitutional. So far, Louisiana officials have not responded to the lawsuit. The Secretary of State and other officials are named as defendants in the case. 01Download Social Security COLA increase in 2026 projected to be lowest in years, advocacy group says Louisiana OMV investigates Baton Rouge driving school Bad blood: Trump takes new swipe at Taylor Swift Voting rights groups sue over proof of citizenship law in Louisiana Louisiana law enforcement agencies searching for 10 Orleans Parish jail escapees Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal appeals court upholds Michigan's process of removing dead people from voter rolls
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways John McCosh/States Newsroom Updated at 2:30 p.m. A federal appeals panel has upheld Michigan's process for removing deceased voters from the voting rolls. In a decision released Tuesday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied an appeal of a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit by the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a conservative group that has filed legal challenges across the U.S. seeking to remove people from voter rolls. 'I'm very grateful that a federal court has once again recognized our strong work keeping our voter file up to date,' Benson said in a press release. 'Since 2020, our department has fought a record number of lawsuits based on false and meritless claims meant to undermine people's faith in Michigan's elections.' Public Interest Legal Foundation filed the lawsuit against Benson, a Democrat who is also a candidate for governor, in November 2021, alleging Michigan was violating the National Voter Registration Act by refusing to remove 27,000 individuals from its qualified voter file the group said were dead. Lawyers for Benson's office had argued that she declined to remove the voters because doing so without confirming the accuracy of the group's list would have risked removing eligible voters in violation of federal voting law, which seeks to ensure voters aren't wrongly removed. That argument was supported by U.S. District Court Judge Jane Beckering of the Western District of Michigan, who in March 2024 rejected as 'theoretical' the harms claimed by the group, and concluded that deceased voters were removed from Michigan's voter rolls on a regular basis. In its decision to reject Public Interest Legal Foundation's appeal, the 6th Circuit said Michigan has actively made 'an inherently rational, sensible attempt at maintaining accurate voter registration lists,' and that the state 'goes further by also actively employing a third party, ERIC, to assist in identifying deceased registrants. This additional effort only further enhances the reasonableness of Michigan's efforts to maintain accurate voter rolls.' The Electronic Registration Information Center, commonly called ERIC, is a nonpartisan interstate cooperative that seeks to maintain accurate voter registration rolls. According to the Public Interest Legal Foundation's website, the group has filed numerous lawsuits across the country requesting similar releases of voter roll information in an effort to prove illegal voting, which is extremely rare. J. Christian Adams, president of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, sent the following to Michigan Advance when asked for comment on the decision, 'Disappointed that what Congress thought it was passing to keep rolls clean isn't being implemented,' Adams said. Data from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission ranked Michigan fifth in the nation in 2020 and 2022 in removing registrations of voters who have died. This story was updated with comment from the Public Interest Legal Foundation. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Out-of-state group can't sue for Pa. voter registration records, federal appeals court rules
An election worker hands a sticker to a voter after she dropped off a mail-in ballot outside the Chester County Government Center on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Capital-Star/Peter Hall) An out-of-state group that sued the commonwealth for records it claimed would show 'non-U.S. citizens have been registering and voting in Pennsylvania for decades' lost an appeal in federal court. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Virginia-based Public Integrity Law Foundation has no standing to sue the Pennsylvania Department of State for voter registration records under a federal law intended to increase participation in elections. 'While a statute may authorize private suits to compel compliance with the law, private citizens are not deputized as private attorneys general empowered to enforce any and all violations of a statute without regard to their personal stake in the matter,' Circuit Judge Marjorie O. Rendell wrote in an opinion for the court. A spokesperson said the Department of State is pleased with the decision. A PILF spokesperson said it is considering the court's opinion and 'will be moving forward from there.' PILF sued the department in 2017 after then-Philadelphia Election Commissioner Al Schmidt said a glitch in Pennsylvania's electronic driver's licensing system could allow noncitizens to register to vote, citing 168 such instances in the city. Schmidt is now secretary of the commonwealth. The Department of State confirmed that it was working to fix the problem but was not aware of the issue before Schmidt alerted them, the Associated Press reported at the time. The lawsuit claimed the department was required to provide records under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), commonly known as the Motor Voter Law that, among other voting access provisions, required states to provide an opportunity to register to vote when applying for a driver's license and other state services. A U.S. District Court judge ultimately ruled partly in favor of PILF and ordered the Department of State to pay attorney fees and costs to the organization. Both PILF and the department of state appealed. The 3rd Circuit decision noted while the act provides for public inspection of records concerning programs to ensure the accuracy of voter rolls and remedial right to sue, a recent U.S. Supreme Court case raised the bar for a plaintiff in such a suit to show they have actually been harmed. In support of its claim of injury and standing to sue under the NVRA, PILF argued that without the records, it could not analyze the department's activities to maintain voter lists and was unable to carry out its mission of promoting what it calls election integrity and compliance with state and federal election laws. The organization also claimed the denial hampered its production and dissemination of educational materials and that it had expended considerable time and money seeking the records. The 3rd Circuit said there is not a sufficient connection between the consequences PILF identified and Congress' goals in enacting the NVRA. As an out-of-state public interest law firm that failed to show evidence of concrete harm caused by the secretary of the commonwealth's refusal to provide the records it requested, PILF has no standing to sue, Rendell wrote. 'PILF does not represent any Pennsylvania citizens who have been affected by the Secretary's purported violation of the NVRA,' Rendell's opinion says. 'It has no direct ties to Pennsylvania voters and has not alleged how access to the records it seeks would 'directly lead to action' or that its 'direct participation in the electoral process [has been] hindered.''
Fox News
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Elections watchdog urges Senate GOP to close noncitizen voting loophole
Print Close By Peter Pinedo Published April 28, 2025 FIRST ON FOX: As the Senate reconvenes this week after a spring break, the Honest Elections Project is urging GOP leaders to move quickly to close a loophole they say is allowing noncitizens to vote in federal elections. According to Honest Elections Project, an election integrity watchdog group, judicial interpretation of the National Voter Registration Act, often called the Motor Voter Act, effectively ties states' hands, making it difficult to put commonsense voter ID requirements in place and opening the window for noncitizens to influence and tip the balance in elections. The group said current federal law makes it so that voter registration essentially operates on an honor system in which all a noncitizen needs to do to be added to the voter rolls is check a box indicating he or she is a citizen. Doing so is punishable as perjury but is not sufficient as a deterrent, critics say. To stop this, Honest Elections sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Rules Committee Chair Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Monday, urging them to immediately bring the SAVE Act to the Senate floor for a vote. SENATOR JOINS GROUP OF FAR-LEFT LAWMAKERS WHO THINK TRUMP HAS – AGAIN – COMMITTED IMPEACHABLE OFFENSES The SAVE Act, which passed the House this month, would require voters to show proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, passport, naturalization certificate or REAL ID that notes citizenship status. According to the Senate received the legislation for consideration from the House on April 10. When the House was considering the bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said, "This will be one of the most important votes that members of this chamber will ever take in their entire careers." Johnson urged House members to vote in favor of the bill, posing the question: "Should Americans and Americans alone determine the outcome of American elections? Or should we allow foreigners and illegal aliens to decide who sits in the White House and in the people's House and in the Senate?" Critics of the bill, largely Democrats, argue that it would make voter registration more difficult by adding new documentation requirements and red tape to register. Opponents have argued that people in rural areas, as well as elderly people who have trouble accessing ID offices, would find it difficult to register to vote, effectively disenfranchising them. AS REAL ID ROLLOUT APPROACHES, CONGRESSIONAL PRIVACY HAWKS LARGELY SILENT ON CONCERNS Opponents have also said that recently married women who have had a name change would be disenfranchised because their identification would be outdated. The House passed the measure in a 220-208 vote, with just four Democrats joining Republicans to vote in favor. Honest Elections Executive Director Jason Snead argued in the letter that adding the proof of citizenship requirement to voter registration would make it "easy to vote, but hard to cheat." Snead slammed opponents of the SAVE Act, saying they "rely on a familiar litany of debunked and misleading arguments" that "have been made about voter ID laws for decades but were never borne out." HOUSE REPUBLICAN ENTERS RACE FOR MITCH MCCONNELL'S SENATE SEAT, SETTING UP HIGH-STAKES GOP PRIMARY He explained that the SAVE Act has safeguards in place that would require states to establish a process to resolve identification discrepancies, such as a married woman's new name, allowing them to show additional documentation, such as a marriage license. Snead said that "by the same token, alternative evidence of citizenship could be offered by any American who may lack common records." On the other hand, Snead said "the evidence clearly shows that noncitizens are able to register and vote" under current law. "In 2018, the Department of Justice charged 19 noncitizens with illegally registering and voting," he said. HOUSE DEM JUMPS INTO CROWDED MICHIGAN SENATE RACE Snead also cited Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson recently announcing that 15 noncitizens voted in 2024 and officials in Ohio, Texas and Virginia recently identifying "significant numbers of noncitizens on their voter rolls and reported that many appear to have voted in recent years." "Many races are decided by razor-thin margins – sometimes by a single vote. Each illegal vote cancels out the voice of a lawful citizen voter," said Snead. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, Snead said proof of citizenship for voter registration is widely popular among most Americans. He cited a recent Gallup survey that found that 83% of Americans support having to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. "As the Senate returns to session, I urge Leader Thune to take up the SAVE Act without delay," Snead said. "We urge Leader Thune to take this opportunity to allow every Senator to go on the record supporting the fundamental principle that only citizens should vote in American elections." Fox News Digital has requested comment from the offices of both Thune and McConnell. Print Close URL
Axios
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Judge blocks Trump order to require proof of citizenship for voting
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. The big picture: President Trump signed an executive order last month to make sweeping changes to federal elections, including a proof of citizenship requirement, triggering alarm bells among voting and civil rights organizations. The order included federal funding cuts for states that did not comply. Driving the news: U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said in a 120-page opinion that adding a proof of citizenship requirement "is contrary to the manifest will of Congress." When enacting the National Voter Registration Act, Congress considered and rejected such a proposal, concluding that it was not necessary or consistent with the purpose of the law, the judge wrote. " The President has no constitutional power over election regulation that would support this unilateral exercise of authority," the judge said. "The Constitution vests that power in the States and Congress alone." Kollar-Kotelly also prohibited the Election Assistance Commission from withholding federal funds from states that did not comply with Trump's order. Zoom out: The House this month passed a bill requiring voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote. exceptionally rare and illegal.
