(This article contributed by Tempe attorney Paul Weich.)
Arizona and Kansas tonight are one large step closer to being back before mentor Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision and ruled that federal voter registration forms do not have to conform with Arizona/Kansas proof of citizenship requirements.
The unanimous (three judge) opinion disagreed with Arizona/Kansas' contention that the federal Election Assistance Commission had an obligation to add an instruction to the federal form for Kansas and Arizona residents to submit proof of citizenship with the form before they were registered.
This case followed the June 2013 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Arizona v. Inter-Tribal Council. In that opinion striking down Arizona's proof of citizenship requirement (with the federal form), Justice Scalia advised Arizona on how to set up the dispute in such a way that he - and, possibly a majority of the Court - would find in Arizona's favor.
Arizona - and, Kansas - has followed Scalia's suggestion to the "t", first applying to the EAC for an instruction, and then filing suit after the EAC rejected it. (The EAC has been operating on zombie-like status, as all of the Commissioner positions remained unfilled by the President and Congress. President Obama recently nominated Commissioners, but Congress has yet to act.)
We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.
Showing posts with label voter registration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label voter registration. Show all posts
Friday, November 7, 2014
Monday, January 24, 2011
In Arizona, The "Others" Now Outnumber Dems, "May Very Well... Eclipse" GOP'ers in 2012
Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett (R) released new January 2011 voter registration figures today, and - for the first time - the number of registered independents (aka "others", including "party not designated", "independents" and other minor parties) exceeds the number of people registered as Democrats.
And, while Bennett's news release trumpets that notable factoid, at the bottom comes a quote that adds some perspective: Bennett thinks that the number of "others" may also outnumber registered Republicans by the end of next year, too.
"We may very well see the number of registered independents eclipse the number of Republicans around the time of the 2012 election."
Here are the big-picture numbers, in a nutshell:
Republicans: 1,142,605, or 35.80%
Others: 1,010,725, or 31.66%
Democrats: 1,008,689, or 31.60%
Libertarians: 24,880, or 0.78%
Green: 5,040, or 0.16%
TOTAL: 3,191,939
The smaller-picture numbers are going to be extra important, as the Redistricting Commission will be using them when they begin their work in a few months. Accordingly, here is the link to the numbers by County, Congressional District, and state Legislative District. The report also shows the inactive voters in each of these categories and sub-categories.
One other note of interest: Pima and Santa Cruz counties are the only two counties that showed a dip in the number of registered voters between the General Election registration cutoff (October) and January 1. This may be the result of removing outdated names off of the registration rolls, fewer new registrations than the other counties, less population increase, or a combination thereof.
We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com. Thanks.
1,142,605
And, while Bennett's news release trumpets that notable factoid, at the bottom comes a quote that adds some perspective: Bennett thinks that the number of "others" may also outnumber registered Republicans by the end of next year, too.
"We may very well see the number of registered independents eclipse the number of Republicans around the time of the 2012 election."
Here are the big-picture numbers, in a nutshell:
Republicans: 1,142,605, or 35.80%
Others: 1,010,725, or 31.66%
Democrats: 1,008,689, or 31.60%
Libertarians: 24,880, or 0.78%
Green: 5,040, or 0.16%
TOTAL: 3,191,939
The smaller-picture numbers are going to be extra important, as the Redistricting Commission will be using them when they begin their work in a few months. Accordingly, here is the link to the numbers by County, Congressional District, and state Legislative District. The report also shows the inactive voters in each of these categories and sub-categories.
One other note of interest: Pima and Santa Cruz counties are the only two counties that showed a dip in the number of registered voters between the General Election registration cutoff (October) and January 1. This may be the result of removing outdated names off of the registration rolls, fewer new registrations than the other counties, less population increase, or a combination thereof.
We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com. Thanks.
1,142,605
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