Washington, D.C. ballot news
From Ballotpedia
U.S. Defense Department deny four states waiver from military ballot law
By Kyle Maichle
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. Department of Defense denied waivers to four states from complying with the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act on August 27, 2010. [1]
Wisconsin, Hawaii, Alaska, Colorado, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia were denied one-time hardship waivers for the 2010 election. [1] Washington, Massachusetts, Delaware, New York State, and Rhode Island had their waiver requests approved. [1] Maryland originally applied for a waiver, but later withdrew its request before the Defense Department made its decision. [2]
Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher said that the state applied for a waiver because he wanted to ensure accuracy in the state's elections process. As a result of being denied, Buscher has ordered all county clerks to comply with the 45 day requirement for sending out military and overseas ballots. [1] Rich Coolidge, a spokesman for Buescher, blamed Colorado’s late primary election date and ballot initiative deadlines as a reason for non-compliance during an interview with the Associated Press. [3]
Kevin Kennedy, Legal Counsel for the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, said that Wisconsin will not change its primary election date of September 14, 2010 as a result of being denied. Wisconsin, along with other states applying for waivers, claimed that there was not enough time after their scheduled primary elections to send out ballots by the September 18, 2010 deadline. [1]
A U.S. Justice Department spokesperson said that they would work with the states to ensure compliance with the MOVE Act. Attorneys for the Department would file lawsuits against any state that does not voluntarily comply with the law. [1]
10 states seek waivers from compliance with MOVE Act
By Kyle Maichle
WASHINGTON, D.C: Ten states including the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands have applied for one-time waivers from compliance with the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act with federal authorities[4].
The U.S Justice Department's Voting Rights Section is planning to have a team of attorneys to review the waiver requests[1]. States with late primaries including Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin have applied for waivers[4][5]. The mentioned states have cited their late primary dates prevented them from complying with the 45 day deadline to send out absentee ballots.[1]
However, some advocacy groups representing military and overseas voters feel that the Justice Department is not doing enough to get states in compliance. Eric Eversole of the Military Voter Protection Project said: "the Department of Justice each step of the way, has simply not taken the actions to ensure that the MOVE Act would be implemented in each of the 50 states."[4]
Officials for the Justice Department did not comment further on any follow-up actions they would take to get states in compliance with the act[4].
U.S. Supreme Court rules issue ad regulation unconstitutional
Washington, D.C.: The Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Citizens United v. FEC ruled on a 5-4 vote that the current limits on corporate and labor union contributions are unconstitutional[6].
In the ruling, the Supreme Court also rejected portions of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill in which also ruled unconstitutional are bans on issue ads funded by corporations and labor unions in the final days before an election. Anthony Kennedy led the majority opinion along with John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy, Samuel Alito, and Antonin Scalia voting in concurrence with the majority opinion[6].
Justice John Paul Stevens led the dissenting opinion and was joined with Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer in the dissenting opinion[6].
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