🚨BREAKING: On behalf of the @LULAC of Iowa, we have filed a lawsuit challenging Iowa's new voter law

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Marc E. Elias
@marceelias
🚨BREAKING: On behalf of the @LULAC of Iowa, we have filed a lawsuit challenging Iowa's new voter suppression law. The voting restrictions in this law create an undue burden on the fundamental right to vote in violation of the Iowa Constitution.

🚨 NEW: CIVIL RIGHTS ORG SUES IOWA
LULAC sues Iowa over new voter suppression law.
democracydocket.com
8:03 AM · Mar 9, 2021

https://www.democracydocket.com/cases/iowa-voter-suppression-bill/

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. What would this law do, anyone know offhand? (nt)

[Nevilledog]

2. From the complaint

Among its provisions, the Voter Suppression Bill:

• Reduces the number of days when voters can register before elections (Section 22);

• Significantly reduces the number of days when voters can request absentee ballots
(Sections 43 and 45);

• Shortens the absentee voting period by more than one week (Section 47);

• Reduces the number of days when county auditors can send out absentee ballots
(Sections 45 and 47);

• Reduces the number of days for most voters to return their absentee ballots and
applies ballot-receipt deadlines unequally (Sections 1, 52, 54, and 66);

• Inhibits or eliminates the ability of election officials to establish convenient opportunities for absentee voting at satellite voting stations, county auditors’
offices, and drop boxes (Sections 50–51 and 53);

• Criminalizes the act of assisting voters with returning their absentee ballots and
prevents voters from using a person of their choice to return their ballots (Section
65);

• Shortens the length of time when polls are open on election day (Section 36); and

• Reduces the amount of time that employers must provide to certain employees on
election day so they can vote (Section 41).

[EarnestPutz]

3. Is there anything that these assholes missed? Maybe Sunday voting/ Who or what is "LULAC"?

[rurallib]

5. League of United Latin American Citizens

Been around since @ the 1920s

[EarnestPutz]

8. Thanks. Learned something.

[sop]

6. Well, at least they didn't ask voters to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar.

These voter suppression laws, disguised as voter fraud prevention, represent the last gasp of a dying party.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

12. It's funny, I'm having a hard time seeing how a SINGLE F***ING ONE OF THESE THINGS

Would actually address the so-called 'voter fraud' problem that the PuQ's imagine happens (but that they have absolutely no proof of).

Rather, it seems, the entire purpose of every single one of these provisions is simply to make it less convenient for people to vote, and in particular, to vote absentee.

Wouldn't have anything to do with Democrats preferring to vote by mail, would it?

NAWWWWW, couldn't be THAT?!?

[sop]

14. The GOP just reverse engineered the thing.

First, they figured out voting patterns for minorities, young people and other reliably Democratic voters, then they came up with laws (obstacles) to prevent it.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

18. You are exactly correct my friend (nt)

[Qutzupalotl]

16. Directly over target

100%

[rurallib]

4. As a proud member of LULAC in Iowa I am so glad to see this

[ashredux]

7. It would have been much simpler if they just said only registered Republicans can vote

[Tommymac]

9. This.

[Mr.Bill]

10. Why do I think

the supressors will win every case when it gets to the current Supreme Court?

[stopdiggin]

13. don't think there's anything to say

that making voting more onerous in general is precluded. I think it has to be something that is (demonstrably, perhaps deliberately?) prejudiced against a particular group or class. And thus -- you're probably correct in this instance.

Remember -- a lot of states still have 'show cause' for any sort of absentee voting. And lots of other nonsense -- perfectly legal, as long as the state says so.

[Cha]

11. Rt TY & Marc Elias!

[AllaN01Bear]

15. i guess they never care that the us constituition gives us all the fundemantal right to vote .

good luck to the orginization that filed the suit.

[Mister Ed]

21. Surprisingly, I'm not so sure it does.

This brings to mind something I heard Thom Hartmann say on his radio show a few years back: that the U.S. Constitution doesn't explicitly declare a right to vote. He was advocating, I think, for an amendment to rectify that.

Now, Hartmann's a pretty bright guy, and he's very well-read and well-informed, but that of course doesn't make him the final authority on constitutional law. I wonder if others who read this can tell me whether he's right?

On edit: scrolling further down in this thread, I see that post #19 from Cheezaholic seems to reinforce my recollection, and to echo Hartmann's call for a constitutional amendment.

[mezame]

17. Not Really News

We know these lawsuits are coming because of course they are. Useless energy being spent, and when the voting rights bills pass in Congress, and the multitude of bullshit legislation is universally vaporized, then all this sturm und drang will have been a complete waste of everybody's time.

[Cheezoholic]

19. We need a Constitutional Amendment for the individual citizens RIGHT to vote not...

a myriad of Amendments and laws that basically further define the constitutional right to representation. Only with a Constitutional Amendment that grants every citizen the universal right to vote will this ever be resolved. The Constitution has never granted the right of the individual vote and it still doesn't.

[NewJeffCT]

20. Let's hope Elias & his team can win

I see a real struggle to win if it gets down to the Roberts/Barrett/Alito/Kavanaugh/Thomas/Gorusch court

[augyboston]

22. We need to pass the For the People Act

We need to pass the For the People Act and to do that we need to rid ourselves of the filibuster.

In the meantime, everyone of these transparent attempts to prevent Democrats from voting needs to be challenged in court!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

23. K&R

[BobTheSubgenius]

24. This anti-democracy trend has been ringing alarm bells for ages, but it does nothing but get worse.

And this is not a trend confined to the US. To start with, Putin is doing quite well at casting doubt on the efficacy of democracy, pretty well everywhere he can find an opening. This rise of fascism is occurring as the dwindling number of the people, down to near zero, that last confronted fascism in a shooting war are passing from the scene.

We live in "interesting times."

[Postal Grunt]

25. The GQP wanted a bill that will harm their own interests.

If one looks at the overall results of the 2020 election in Iowa, the Republicans did very well. There was none of the widespread voter fraud they had feared and the turnout was quite high. They would have been better off to simply put out a bit more boiler plate for their base and then kept quiet. We can hope that the IOwa Democratic Party puts them on the spot and demands that Republicans show what, if any, of the results actually do in the interest the voters.