Texas Battle Year 2014: September Democratic Network Educational Forum

The Democratic Network Educational Forum on Saturday, September 14, 2013, will be a discussion on Battle Year 2014: Texas Primaries and Politics. Join us at the John and Judy Gay Library, 6861 W. Eldorado Pkwy., McKinney, TX 75070.  Coffee and reception at 10:45 a.m., with forum discussion from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., followed by round table discussion to 1:00 p.m.

Tanene Allison, Texas Democratic Party Communications Director, will join Judge Bonnie Goldstein and Michael Handley to discuss the statewide and county level offices up for the March 4, 2014 primary election, candidates who have announced they will file to have their name listed on the 2014 Democratic and Republican primary ballots, the ballot filing process, the party run primary election process, precinct conventions, senatorial district v. county conventions, and what happens at each party's state convention. 

The discussion will include a high level overview of offices that will appear on each party's primary ballot by reviewing the structure of Texas' elected executive, legislative, and judicial offices, and each party's statutory place in that structure and the primary election process. Tanene Allison will review what the Texas Democratic Party and Battleground Texas organizations are doing to expand the base of Texas Democratic voters.

Voter Photo I.D. Enforcement: Democratic Network Educational Forum

by Michael Handley

Join us for a Democratic Network Educational Forum discussion at 10:45 a.m. on August 10th, at the John and Judy Gay Library in  McKinney.

Collin County Elections Administrator Sharon Rowe will join Judge Bonnie Goldstein and Michael Handley for the Forum to talk about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to strike down Section 4 of Voting Rights Act and Texas' immediately decision to start enforcement of its SB14 Voter Photo I.D. Law. Enforcement of that law had been blocked by District Court order in August 2012, under the VRA.

The forum discussion will cover SCOTUS' decision, the new Photo I.D. voting requirements, and what steps candidates, who are planning to run in 2014, and political organizations should take to prepare for photo I.D. law enforcement. That law will be enforced by election officials at polling places for the 2014 Primary and General Elections, if further court action does not block its implementation.

Saturday August 10, 2013

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Judge Goldstein and Michael will also cover continuing efforts to block the photo I.D. law through court action, status of legislative efforts to reauthorize VRA Sec 4, and what Deputy Voter Registrars can do to make sure the people they register have information about the photo I.D. law. Sharon Rowe will give a short presentation on how the county election authority plans to implement the new voting requirement. 

Join us on Saturday morning at the John and Judy Gay Library, 6861 W. Eldorado Pkwy., McKinney, TX 75070.

Coffee and reception at 10:45 a.m., with forum discussion from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., followed by round table discussion to 1:00 p.m. Some may wish to adjourn to a restaurant for lunch and continued discussion after the forum.

RSVP to FaceBook event.

Presidential Commission on Election Administration Launched

The Presidential Commission on Election Administration established by President Obama after problematic 2012 elections when online this week at SupporttheVoter.gov.  Obama established the commission by executive order on March 28, "to identify best practices in election administration and to make recommendations to improve the voting experience." The co-chairs of the commission are Robert Bauer, a general counsel for the Obama campaign, and Benjamin Ginsberg, a national counsel to the Romney campaign.  First up on the new website is the following press release:

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2013 — The Presidential Commission on Election Administration was officially launched today, following President Barack Obama’s State of the Union pledge to identify non-partisan ways to shorten lines at polling places, promote the efficient conduct of elections, and provide better access to the polls for all voters.

The 10-member Commission will submit a final report to the President within six months of its first public meeting, which is expected to be held in Washington in June. Headed by Co-Chairs Bob Bauer and Ben Ginsberg, the Commissioners are experts in election administration, policy and procedures, or leaders from customer service-oriented businesses and industry.

“The President’s expectation is clear,” said Co-Chair Bob Bauer, who served President Obama as White House counsel from December 2009until 2011, and as General Counsel to the President’s re-election committee and to the Democratic National Committee. “The Commission is charged with developing recommendations based on the best information available for administrative practices that afford voters the opportunity to cast ballots without undue delay and improve their overall experience.”

“Waiting in line and facing other unnecessary obstacles to voting is not a Republican or Democratic issue,” said Co-Chair Ben Ginsberg, who served as national counsel to the Bush-Cheney presidential campaigns in2000 and 2004, and as national counsel to the Romney for President campaigns in 2008 and 2012. “This effort is aimed at assisting state and local election officials in their ongoing work to improve the voter experience under existing election laws. With extensive input from the public and through the broad knowledge and experience each Commissioner brings to the table, we hope to make a contribution to the hard work on improving election administration in which election officials are continuously engaged.”

The Commission was created by Executive Order 13639, Establishment of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. Commissioners were appointed by the President. They are:

• Robert F. Bauer, Co-Chair and member – Partner, Perkins Coie LLP
• Benjamin L. Ginsberg, Co-Chair and Member – Partner, Patton Boggs LLP
• Brian Britton, Member – Vice President, Global Park Operations and Planning at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
• Joe Echevarria, Member – Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte LLP
• Trey Grayson, Member – Director of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
• Larry Lomax, Member – Clark County (Nevada) Registrar
• Michele Coleman Mayes, Member – Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for the New York Public Library
• Ann McGeehan, Member – Assistant General Counsel of the Texas County and District Retirement System
• Tammy Patrick, Member – Federal Compliance Officer for the Maricopa County (Arizona) Elections Department
• Christopher Thomas, Member – Director of Elections in the Michigan Department of State

Nathaniel Persily will serve as Senior Research Director for the Commission. He is the Beekman Professor of Law and Political Science at Columbia Law School, and as of July 1, 2013, Professor of Law at Stanford Law School.

The Commission was created under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, with staff and support services provided by the U.S. General Services Administration. The Commission will be disbanded 30 days after it presents its final report to the President.

by Michael Handley

I haven't written about the status of Texas' Voter Photo ID law for some months. Here is a short update.

Recall that last August a panel of three federal judges for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia found the law imposes "strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor" and noted that racial minorities in Texas are more likely to live in poverty. In other words, that federal court wouldn't let Texas enforce its new voter I.D. law. Texas then started the process to appeal that court's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court - the Supreme Court has not yet accepted the appeal, pending its decision on an Alabama case.

Sometime before the end of June, the Supreme Court will decide Shelby County (Alabama) v. Holder, a constitutional challenge to the "Section 5" preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act, one of the law’s most important guarantees against racial discrimination in voting. Enacted in 1965 and renewed by Congress in 1970, 1975, 1982 and 2006, the preclearance requirement forbids governments with a history of voting discrimination from enforcing racially discriminatory voting changes.

Texas' Voter Photo ID law is on hold pending the the Court's Shelby decision. If the court strikes down Section 5, which many think is likely on a 5-4 split decision, Texas can quickly move to enforce its Voter Photo ID law. If the court upholds Section 5, the Court will then decide to take up the question of whether Texas' Voter Photo ID law is constitutional, next term, which begins in October. Stay tuned for more updates...

Related:

• Texas’ Long History Against Voting Rights
• Texas’ Decades Long Fight Against Voting Rights