Voter Fraud/Suppression

[Isgrimnur]

Politico

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Monday that the Department of Justice has sued to block Texas’ updated congressional and state House maps, alleging that the districts redrawn after the 2020 census disenfranchise minorities in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

The suit, filed in federal court, alleges that the state of Texas is “refusing to recognize the State’s growing minority electorate.” It asks the court to stop the state from holding elections under the new maps and to temporarily redraw Texas’ congressional and state House districts.

It is the latest voting rights lawsuit from the Department of Justice, which separately sued Texas last month over the recently-implemented new election law in the state, which adds further restrictions to mail voting in the state and banned voting practices piloted by large Democratic-leaning counties during the pandemic, like drive-through and 24-hour early voting,

[Isgrimnur]

Texas

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Wednesday that Attorney General Ken Paxton may no longer unilaterally prosecute voter fraud, delivering a blow to the Republican who has made prosecuting those cases a mainstay of his office.

The Court of Criminal Appeals, an all-GOP panel, ruled 8-1 Wednesday to dismiss campaign finance violation charges against a southeast Texas sheriff. The ruling effectively strikes a provision of Texas election code that gave Paxton the authority to directly prosecute voter fraud cases.
...
Paxton’s office has made prosecuting election fraud a major initiative, though experts say instances are rare. In 2020, the office closed 16 cases in a state with nearly 17 million registered voters. Paxton announced in October the creation of a 2021 Election Integrity Unit, and his office regularly touts arrests made in voter fraud cases.
...
The ruling relies on statutes enacted in the Texas Constitution of 1876 and a post-Civil War provision that took the power of the attorney general to directly prosecute crimes in order to thwart the “despotic control of the reconstruction governor,” the ruling states.

Because of this, the Texas Constitution more thoroughly defines the separation of powers between the three branches of government and clearly outlines that the attorney general may not initiate a criminal prosecution. Paxton’s office is only authorized to act in criminal cases when requested by a county prosecutor, the ruling states.

[Daehawk]

Dominion Voting wins key decision in lawsuit against Fox News


Judge Eric Davis of the Delaware Superior Court declined to dismiss Dominion Voting System's lawsuit against Fox News in a significant ruling Thursday.

A judge in Delaware has found that Fox News' coverage of election fraud after the 2020 election may have been inaccurate, and is allowing a major defamation case against the right-wing TV network to move forward.

Judge Eric Davis of the Delaware Superior Court declined to dismiss Dominion Voting System's lawsuit against Fox News in a significant ruling Thursday.

The ruling will now allow Dominion to attempt to unearth extensive communications within Fox News as they gather evidence for the case, and the company may be able to interview the network's top names under oath.

At this stage, the court must assume Dominion's claims about Fox News are true.

Still, Davis called out, in the 52-page opinion, that Fox News may have slanted its coverage to push election fraud, knowing the accusations were wrong.

[Grifman]

The insanity continues:

[LordMortis]

So does the Ohio math teacher believe that all of the January 6th insurrectionists should be shot or hung for treason as well as all the presenters including Trump and his children? If the dude is as portrayed in the the piece, he sounds to be unstable and a menace.

Also, as what point does all of this waste of resources, funds, and time become frivolous and do we hold these people accountable, up to and including Ken Paxton?

[Pyperkub]

So does the Ohio math teacher believe that all of the January 6th insurrectionists should be shot or hung for treason as well as all the presenters including Trump and his children? If the dude is as portrayed in the the piece, he sounds to be unstable and a menace.

Also, as what point does all of this waste of resources, funds, and time become frivolous and do we hold these people accountable, up to and including Ken Paxton?

The wheels of justice grind slow. See the dominion lawsuits, see the 1/6 Commission, see the insurrection trials - they are working their way up the chain and gathering evidence.

[Smoove_B]

Nothing matters anymore

A reminder that the son of the Ohio governor is sitting on the state Supreme Court & helping decide the fate of the new GOP gerrymanders his father just signed.

Justice DeWine notes that current district went for President Biden, which means it's competitive. But Fram says adding in Warren County makes it far less so. Republican Justice Pat Fischer notes counties will need to be broken up in the map, and DeWine agrees.

[Isgrimnur]

Florida

A federal judge in Florida on Thursday struck down several aspects of the election rules overhaul passed by Republicans in the state last year.

US District Judge Mark Walker's scathing, 288-page opinion said some of the provisions in question were passed with the intent of targeting "Black voters because of their propensity to favor Democratic candidates." If appealed, the sweeping ruling will go to an appellate court with a conservative lean.

Walker's ruling also put Florida under a Voting Rights Act requirement that the state must seek federal approval for any future election rule changes that are similar to the provisions the judge blocked on Thursday.
...
Specifically, the judge blocked the law's provisions scaling back the availability of mail ballot drop boxes; its restrictions on providing aid like water, fans and snacks to those waiting in line to vote; and its more stringent rules for voter registration drives. Walker said the provisions violated the Voting Rights Act, as well as the Constitution's 14th and 15th Amendments.

[malchior]

I can't wait for SCOTUS to shadow docket it away.

[El Guapo]

I can't wait for SCOTUS to shadow docket it away.

The 11th CIrcuit will probably take care of it first.

[Jaymann]

That would back up Malchior's thesis in the Racism thread.

[malchior]

I can't wait for SCOTUS to shadow docket it away.

The 11th CIrcuit will probably take care of it first.

Probably but you never know anymore.

[Isgrimnur]

Colorado Times Recorder

As one of Colorado’s most prominent election conspiracists, Joe Oltmann has spent the past two years insisting that there has been massive voter fraud in just about every Colorado and national election since 2020. He’s never been able to produce any evidence of this, and in fact, has been sued for defamation multiple times over his unsubstantiated claims.

Thanks in part to one of those lawsuits, there finally appears to be proof of voter fraud: his own.

It’s either that or he’s committed perjury, according to several public records.

In an Aug. 6, 2021, court statement, Oltmann said he is not a resident of Colorado.
...
Here’s the catch: If Oltmann no longer lives here, as he’s told the court, then why is he voting in Colorado elections?

Records indicate Oltmann voted in Colorado in the 2021 election, and the 2022 primary and general elections, all of which took place well after he says he moved out of state. He voted by mail in 2021 and for the primary in 2022, before voting in person in Douglas County on Election Day 2022.

Additional court records confirm this disparity. In a Dec. 16 deposition, Oltmann confirmed both that he stopped being a Colorado resident in August, 2021, and that he voted in Douglas County on Election Day last year.

[Jaymann]

We have found the enemy and it is us.

[Isgrimnur]

Florida

The American Civil Liberties Union said a federal court has blocked a Florida law impacting voter registration.

ACLU claims Senate Bill 7050 "undermines community-based organizations performing voter registration."

Several groups filed a lawsuit and sought to block the law. Both voting rights and immigrant rights advocates expressed concerns about SB-7050.

The ACLU said in a news release, "The lawsuit, which centers on SB 7050's chilling effect on political speech, civic engagement, and the unconstitutional exclusion of noncitizens from these activities, was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Dēmos, and Arnold & Porter on behalf of Hispanic Federation, Poder Latinx, and individual clients."

A judge granted a motion to block the law Monday.

[Isgrimnur]

Court Finds that Texas Law Requiring the Rejection of Mail Ballots and Applications Violates the Civil Rights Act

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas ruled yesterday that portions of Texas Senate Bill 1, adopted in September 2021, violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court found that parts of S.B. 1 require officials to reject mail-in ballot applications and mail-in ballots based on errors or omissions that are not material in determining whether voters are qualified under Texas law to vote or cast a mail ballot.

[waitingtoconnect]

Court Finds that Texas Law Requiring the Rejection of Mail Ballots and Applications Violates the Civil Rights Act

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas ruled yesterday that portions of Texas Senate Bill 1, adopted in September 2021, violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court found that parts of S.B. 1 require officials to reject mail-in ballot applications and mail-in ballots based on errors or omissions that are not material in determining whether voters are qualified under Texas law to vote or cast a mail ballot.

Translation: Need to shop it around until it hits the US Supreme Court.

[Isgrimnur]

Virginia county finds 4,000 misreported 2020 votes, shorting Biden

Election officials in Virginia’s Prince William County have acknowledged roughly 4,000 votes were misreported in former President Trump’s favor during the 2020 presidential election, when President Joe Biden went on to win the state.

A release from the county’s Office of Elections announced Trump incorrectly received 2,327 extra votes, while Biden was shorted 1,648 votes.

The U.S. Senate candidates for the state in both parties received too few votes, and a Republican House candidate who won his race was shorted just less than 300 votes.

“The reporting errors were presumably a consequence of the results tapes not being programmed to a format that was compatible with state reporting requirements. Attempts to correct this issue appear to have created errors,” said Eric Olsen, director of elections for the county.

[Unagi]

Wow, they couldn't detect bad formatting with the inbound data at the time of the data transfer and load? Of votes? I don't understand how these things are not addressed within a day or two (or less, as any company with an IT element would do).

[Isgrimnur]

Sounds like it "succeeded" incorrectly.

[Unagi]

Sounds like it "succeeded" incorrectly.

Ahh, gotcha. So they just suck at loading data to the extent that they are also blind to that fact.

[Isgrimnur]

Judge tosses Ken Paxton’s lawsuit targeting Bexar County’s voter registration effort

A state district court judge on Monday denied a request by Attorney General Ken Paxton to block a Bexar County plan to mail voter registration forms to county residents ahead of the November election, saying the request was moot.

Bexar County attorneys argued in a hearing before Judge Antonia Arteaga on Monday that there was no reason for the court to issue an injunction because the forms were mailed last week, according to the San Antonio Report. Paxton’s office submitted an updated request before the hearing asking that no additional letters be sent out.

“The target of the mailing — qualified individuals who recently moved to or within Bexar County — have received those forms, and perhaps have already returned them,” said Bexar County Assistant Criminal District Robert W. Piatt III.

Ryan Kercher, deputy chief of the special litigation division in the attorney general’s office, argued that the plan could result in ineligible people registering to vote.

Voter registration applications are returned to county offices and are reviewed to confirm eligibility.
...
Bexar County officials voted on Sept. 3 to mail voter registration forms to eligible county residents, defying a threat by Paxton to “use all available legal means” to shut down the program. The Bexar County Commissioners Court voted 3-1 to approve the $393,000 outreach contract with Civic Government Solutions, an outside firm.

Paxton sued Bexar County officials in state district court on Sept. 4, seeking an emergency order to block the program. But his office later did not show up at court to request the order, according to News 4 San Antonio.

[LordMortis]

If you ever get him out of office, I hope some of his past finally catches up to him and he goes to jail, no go, no $200.

[waitingtoconnect]

He’s part of the reason I think we are living in the worst timeline.

[Isgrimnur]

The Justice Department says Virginia is illegally striking voters off of voter rolls

The lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria says that an executive order issued in August by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin requiring daily updates to voter lists to remove ineligible voters violates federal law. The National Voter Registration Act requires a 90-day “quiet period” ahead of elections for the maintenance of voter rolls.
...
In its lawsuit, the Justice Department said the quiet-period provision reduces the risk that errors in maintaining registration lists will disenfranchise eligible voters by ensuring they have enough time to address errors before the election.
...
In a statement on Friday, Youngkin said that state officials were properly enforcing state law requiring the removal of noncitizens from voter rolls.

“Virginians — and Americans — will see this for exactly what it is: a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of the elections in the Commonwealth, the very crucible of American Democracy," Youngkin said of the Justice Department's lawsuit.

[Smoove_B]

And so it begins:

Arizona law enforcement officials are conducting an arson investigation after election ballots were damaged when a USPS mail collection box was burned in Maricopa County, a Democratic stronghold.

ABC 15 reported that crews responded to the USPS Osborn Station around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday and found a mail collection box on fire.

"Approximately 20 electoral ballots were damaged, along with additional miscellaneous mail," Phoenix Fire Department officials revealed, according to ABC 15.

[LawBeefaroni]

And so it begins:

Arizona law enforcement officials are conducting an arson investigation after election ballots were damaged when a USPS mail collection box was burned in Maricopa County, a Democratic stronghold.

ABC 15 reported that crews responded to the USPS Osborn Station around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday and found a mail collection box on fire.

"Approximately 20 electoral ballots were damaged, along with additional miscellaneous mail," Phoenix Fire Department officials revealed, according to ABC 15.

Arizona law enforcement officials are conducting an arson investigation..

Phoenix Fire Department's Arson Investigation Taskforce launched an investigation into the fire.

USPS = US Postal Inspectors and FBI. Not sure why local LE and fire are leading unless they're TFOs.

[Smoove_B]

Good question. It could be they're also visible and willing to speak with the news media whereas the Postal Inspectors have already dispatched special forces to hunt down the criminals.

[Skinypupy]

I have the over/under on bomb threats called into Dem-leaning areas at 7.

[Smoove_B]

Bomb threats are one thing. I'm fully expecting nut jobs with guns to assemble on polling stations, possibly to also look for basements in pizzerias. I sure hope no one shows up with water bottles!

[Isgrimnur]

USPS = US Postal Inspectors and FBI. Not sure why local LE and fire are leading unless they're TFOs.

[Isgrimnur]

A judge orders Virginia to restore registered voters purged too close to Election Day

U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles, who was nominated by President Biden, has ordered the state to put removed voters back on the state’s registration list, according to statements released by the program’s challengers and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

“Virginia will immediately petition the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court, for an emergency stay of the injunction,” the Republican governor said in a statement.
...
The ruling marks the second time this month a federal court has temporarily blocked voter purging efforts by a Republican-led state for violating the National Voter Registration Act.

Passed in 1993, the federal law bans Virginia and most other states from systematically removing registered voters within the 90 days before a federal election.

[Isgrimnur]

Three Trump Judges Just Issued a Shock Ruling That Could Wreak Havoc on the Election

On Friday afternoon, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit handed down a shock decision declaring that states may not count ballots that are mailed by Election Day but received shortly thereafter. By its own terms, the ruling applies only to Mississippi, throwing the legality of its voting procedures into question just 11 days before the election. Nationwide, however, 18 states and Washington D.C. accept late-arriving ballots; the 5th Circuit’s reasoning would render all these laws illegitimate and void, nullifying hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of ballots. The court’s obvious goal, aside from destabilizing a close election, is to tee up a Supreme Court decision that could wipe out all these laws in one fell swoop.

The Republican National Committee manufactured this dispute as a test case to end the widespread practice of accepting ballots that come in after Election Day, but are postmarked by Election Day. (Republicans believe that these ballots are disproportionately likely to support Democrats.) The RNC filed its lawsuit in Mississippi because that’s the one state within the 5th Circuit that counts late-arriving ballots, and conservative lawyers knew they could get a favorable ruling from the far-right court. RNC lawyers argued that federal law requires all votes to be received by Election Day, not just cast by Election Day. And they claimed that this federal rule overrides, or “preempts,” state laws to the contrary, including Mississippi’s.

[Alefroth]

States' rights!

[Unagi]

Honestly though. Mailing in a ballot on Election day is about as low-performing as you can be.


A Republic, if you can get yourself to vote.

[Zarathud]

But with the USPS, it may take a week to deliver. The Republicans have undermined the USPS.

Even the IRS applies the mailbox rule respecting delivery to the USPS and the official date of filing.

[Isgrimnur]

The 5th circuit is, by most accounts, clown shoes.

[Kraken]

The 5th circuit is, by most accounts, clown shoes.

Unfortunately SCOTUS is the clown that wears them.

[Isgrimnur]

Luckily, not frequently

If the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a boxer, you’d bet on the other guy.

The 5th Circuit, which hears appeals from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, had three rulings upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, and eight overturned, more than any other court this term. The conservative circuit court saw its rulings on abortion medication, gun control, administrative power and social media moderation all rejected by the Supreme Court.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh cautioned that the 5th Circuit was taking the judiciary down “an uncharted path.” Chief Justice John Roberts said they were “slaying a straw man.” Justice Clarence Thomas, the most conservative member of the court, authored two opinions rejecting the 5th Circuit’s interpretation of the law.
...
“One of the most conservative Supreme Courts we've ever had is still repudiating right-leaning decisions from the most conservative appeals courts in the country,” said Steve Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University. “But even then, it’s doing so in cases that should never have gotten to the Supreme Court in the first place.”

[$iljanus]

The 5th circuit is, by most accounts, clown shoes.

It's embarrassing to have democracy crushed by clown shoes.