“The NCSBE is hiding
records detailing their reported efforts to identify and remove noncitizens
registered to vote,” PILF President and General Counsel J. Christian Adams said. “The disclosure of these records will better
improve policymakers’ understanding of how to prevent future ineligible
registrations—as opposed to constantly playing defense.”
The NCSBE denied
access to several forms of documentation outlining how state and/or local
officers identify and eventually remove registrants for citizenship-eligibility
defects using immigration or driver licensing data. These refusals constitute a
violation of the public inspection rights under the National Voter Registration
Act of 1993, as outlined in the complaint.
In 2018, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District indicted
19 foreign nationals for allegedly participating in the 2016 Election and
others.
The new case was filed in the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Western Division. The case
number is 5:19-cv-00248. Attorneys for the Public Interest Legal Foundation are J. Christian Adams and Noel H. Johnson. Benton Sawrey of Narron Wenzel, P.A.
serves as local counsel.
Public
Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm
dedicated to election integrity. The Foundation exists to assist states and
others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in
American elections. Drawing on numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to
protect the right to vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American
elections. ###
Because of the Voting Rights
Act, it has never been easier to register to vote and vote as it is in America
in 2019 … 2019 is not 1965. The heavy hand
of federal micromanagement of state election law was justified in 1965. It is
not in 2019.
Churchwellargues that more modern uses of the preclearance power under the Clinton and Obama
Justice Departments yielded abuses.
Unfortunately, the preclearance power
became a power that was abused. From South Carolina voter ID to Georgia
redistricting, Justice Department lawyers exercised powers that they did not
possess by blocking states’ laws that were neither discriminatory in purpose or
effect, and in some cases, courts handed down sanctions.
Churchwellreminds the Subcommittee that preclearance as a concept will again prove inefficient if
reconstituted.
Whether or not the old
preclearance regime can be fully credited for the actual progress made in
creating a more just voting system – history will show that the program had a
proper time and place – and that time has passed. I contend to this body and
the general public that trying to resuscitate the concept of 20th Century-style preclearance will prove an inefficient use of federal resources and
will always be at least one step behind emerging population and demographic
trends.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation is the
nation’s most active public interest law firm dedicated to enforcing the
National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and ensuring the integrity of American
elections – bringing more than a dozen cases to enforce voter list maintenance
obligations and inspection rights under federal law in federal courts across
the nation in addition to serving as amicus in more than a dozen voting law cases. The Foundation also works with election
officials and policymakers to improve the integrity of elections.
Public
Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm
dedicated to election integrity. The Foundation exists to assist states and
others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in
American elections. Drawing on numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to
protect the right to vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American
elections. ###
[T]he citizenship
checks on the federal voter registration form are merely an honor system … In
my experience, these “safeguards” are wholly inadequate.
Phillipsargues that the vulnerability has proven to fail immigrants and citizens alike.
Noncitizens
continue to be registered to vote, sometimes by their own error and sometimes
by the errors of election officials. Our research has shown that individuals
have been registered to vote even when they leave the citizenship checkbox
blank or, worse, when they answer “no” to the question “Are you a citizen of
the United States of America?”
Phillipsurges the Subcommittee to take substantive action.
If the Committee
seeks to protect voters, it would be wise to focus on the failure of the citizenship
checkbox. One solution is to equip states to verify citizenship before an
individual is placed on the rolls.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation has
issued reports since 2016 detailing how flaws within the existing Motor Voter
programs in Virginia, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, California,
Illinois, Georgia, New York, and Michigan are exposing ineligible noncitizens to the voter registration process—leading
some to vote. These actions often surface when legal permanent residence seek a
path to naturalization—only to risk rejection or deportation thereafter.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation is the
nation’s most active public interest law firm dedicated to enforcing the
National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and ensuring the integrity of American
elections – bringing more than a dozen cases to enforce voter list maintenance
obligations and inspection rights under federal law in federal courts across
the nation in addition to serving as amicus in more than a dozen voting law cases. The Foundation also works with election
officials and policymakers to improve the integrity of elections.
Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm dedicated to election integrity. The Foundation exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections. Drawing on numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to protect the right to vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American elections.
(ALEXANDRIA, VA.) – April 25, 2019: The Public
Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) today commended the State of Texas and local law enforcement for the
arrest of Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina.
“Texas continues to
be a shining example of how states can fight voter fraud,” PILF President and General Counsel J. Christian Adams said. “Developing cases against alleged ballot ‘harvesting’ schemes demands
significant time, manpower, and investigative acumen. Attorney General Ken
Paxton and local law enforcement here again prove they have the right stuff to
confront corruption in elections.”
According to a Texas Attorney General’s Office release
circulated today, sitting Edinburg Mayor Molina won his 2017 race by more
than 1,200 votes after he allegedly organized a “harvesting” operation that
fraudulently registered voters in addresses not their own—particularly in an
apartment complex belonging to Molina.
The Foundation previously alerted Texas election officials and law enforcement to altered voter registration applications mailed by the Texas Democratic Party, which were directed to noncitizen Rio Grande Valley residents. The Secretary of State referred the complaint to AG Paxton’s office for review prior to the 2018 General Election.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation is the
nation’s most active public interest law firm dedicated to enforcing the
National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and ensuring the integrity of American
elections – bringing more than a dozen cases to enforce voter list maintenance
obligations and inspection rights under federal law in federal courts across
the nation in addition to serving as amicus in more than a dozen voting law cases. The Foundation also works with election
officials and policymakers to improve the integrity of elections.
Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm dedicated to election integrity. The Foundation exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections. Drawing on numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to protect the right to vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American elections.
(LARGO, FL.) – April 1, 2019: thePublic
Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) alerted local, state, and federal law enforcement to on-camera comments
and apparently corroborating voting records describing acts of a person voting
twice in Pinellas County, Florida, and Erie County, New York, during the 2018
General Election.
The video footage in question may be replayed here.
The Foundation cited legal concerns to the various authorities. Under 52
U.S.C.S. § 10307:
(1) Whoever
votes more than once in an election referred to in paragraph (2) shall be fined
not more than
$10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(2) The
prohibition of this subsection applies with respect to any general, special, or
primary election held solely or in part for the purpose of selecting or
electing any candidate for the office of President, Vice President,
presidential elector, Member of the United States Senate, Member of the United
States House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, Guam,
or the Virgin Islands, or Resident Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation previously filed
election complaints in southern Texas in 2018, involving on get-out-the-vote
efforts targeting
admitted noncitizens. The complaints were later transferred to the Texas Attorney General for criminal investigation.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation is the
nation’s most active public interest law firm dedicated to enforcing the
National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and ensuring the integrity of American
elections – bringing more than a dozen cases to enforce voter list maintenance
obligations and inspection rights under federal law in federal courts across
the nation in addition to serving as amicus in more than a dozen voting law cases. The Foundation also works with election
officials and policymakers to improve the integrity of elections.
Public
Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm
dedicated to election integrity. The Foundation exists to assist states and
others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in
American elections. Drawing on numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to
protect the right to vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American
elections. ###
The federal district court in Houston, Texas, held that
the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar’s motion to
dismiss PILF’s case is denied and adopted the U.S. Magistrate’s Memorandum
and Recommendation on Monday, March 11.
“Proponents of open
and transparent government notched an important victory today,” PILF Communications and Research
Director Logan Churchwell said. “Federal law empowers everyone access to
inspect voter registration records to determine how well they are kept. Harris County has, for years, told the
public about noncitizen voting to influence policy in Austin and Washington.
This order brings us one step closer to demonstrating the true scale and
causes.”
Following the Monday order,
the Court is slated to consider motions for summary judgment.
The case continues in tandem with a state
court action brought by Harris County against Texas Attorney General Ken
Paxton after his office opined that noncitizen records sought by PILF should
generally be disclosed under state statutes as well.
PILF previously
responded to claims made by Harris County suggesting that it had no right
to data related to noncitizen voter registrants and that the federal case
should be stayed pending a state court judgment in Austin, among other matters.
Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993
allows individuals to inspect “records concerning the implementation of
programs and activities conducted for the purpose of ensuring accuracy and
currency of official lists of eligible voters,” the PILF noted in its original
complaint.
The case was filed in the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. The case number is 4:18-cv-00981.
Attorneys for the Public Interest Legal Foundation are J. Christian Adams and Noel H. Johnson. Brenham-based Andy Taylor of Andy
Taylor & Associates, P.C. serves as local counsel.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation is the
nation’s most active public interest law firm dedicated to enforcing the
National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and ensuring the integrity of American
elections – bringing more than a dozen cases to enforce voter list maintenance
obligations and inspection rights under federal law in federal courts across
the nation in addition to serving as amicus in more than a dozen voting law cases. The Foundation also works with election
officials and policymakers to improve the integrity of elections.
Public
Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm
dedicated to election integrity. The Foundation exists to assist states and
others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in
American elections. Drawing on numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to
protect the right to vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American
elections. ###
The Foundation seeks to intervene in the ongoing case
against Texas’ recent guidance to counties offering voter list maintenance
leads on potential noncitizens registered to vote. PILF wishes to share its
concerns about attacks on protected speech and attempts to chill reasonable
efforts to clear voter rolls of ineligible registrants. The Motion to
Intervene, filed today, notes:
By characterizing [the State of Texas’] reporting on efforts to maintain an accurate voter registration roll as “voter intimidation” designed to “create fear” and “stoke public anxiety,” this case presents an alarming attack on the power of public officials, and their ancillary rights to participate in the public discourse about the actions of their office … To allege that communications such as these constitute threats, coercion, and voter intimidation is an attack on both constitutionally protected speech and on the power of a state election official to manage elections and voter registration.
“LULAC and its allies are heavily invested in chilling Texas’ ability to positively identify and remove noncitizens registered to vote,” PILF President and General Counsel J. Christian Adams said. “This is the end-game for strategy for those who wish to confront the greater election integrity cause.If the plaintiffs prove successful, an official or private party could be accused of voter intimidation for simply communicating concerns about ineligible voter activity.”
The Foundation will make various arguments that it
believes would not otherwise be made by the State of Texas.
LULAC’s
interpretation of the voter intimidation portion of the Voting Rights Act is
unconstitutional as applied
The VRA plainly requires intimidation, threats, or
coercion to actually occur to properly invoke the statute. LULAC and others
would have the court rule that communications regarding voter list maintenance
efforts be deemed intimidating. LULAC’s allegations seek to expand the Voting
Rights Act beyond what the drafters intended and what courts have allowed.
LULAC and others
are pleading inadequate facts
The current complaint before the court contains
allegations that even if there were found true, cannot entitle relief requested
under the Constitution or Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Motion to Intervene as Defendant and Proposed Answer
by Defendant-Intervenor PILF filings can be found, here. Case
number 5:19-cv-00074 (LULAC et. al. v.
Texas) is proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of
Texas – San Antonio Division.
Attorneys for the Public Interest Legal Foundation are J.
Christian Adams and Kaylan L. Phillips. Andy Taylor from the Andy Taylor &
Associates, P.C. serves as local counsel.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation is the nation’s most active public interest law firm dedicated to
enforcing the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and ensuring the integrity
of American elections – bringing more than a dozen cases to enforce voter list
maintenance obligations and inspection rights under federal law in federal
courts across the nation in addition to serving as amicus in more than a dozen voting law cases. The Foundation also
works with election officials and policymakers to improve the integrity of
elections.
Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm dedicated to election integrity.
The Foundation exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election
integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections. Drawing on
numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to protect the right to vote and
preserve the Constitutional framework of American elections. ###
J. Christian Adams, the President and General Counsel of the Public Interest Legal Foundation will address a panel discussion on election integrity at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday March 1, 2019, at 1 pm, in the Chesapeake A room.
The panel entitled The Threat of Stolen Elections: Protecting the Integrity of Elections will touch on the chaos in Florida, noncitizens voting in American elections, and how the majority in the House are seeking to radically transform American elections and remove barriers to voter fraud. The event it sponsored by the Heritage Foundation.
PILF Submitted Brief in
Support of Expedited Hearing
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – February 15, 2019: The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) commended the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear the 2020 Census
citizenship question case ahead of critical deadlines and standard appellate
procedure.
“The Court absolutely made the right move,” PILF President and General Counsel J. Christian Adams said. “This decision could give the Justice Department and private parties the chance to enforce the protections of the Voting Rights Act.”
The district court
erred. This error, if not corrected by this Court before the deadline for the printing
of Census forms, will have long-lasting effects. The opportunity to collect the
data on the 2020 Census, once gone, cannot be reclaimed. This “case is of such
imperative public importance as to justify deviation from normal appellate
practice and to require immediate determination in this Court.”
The Foundation offered two arguments in support of the
Government’s request for an expedited Supreme Court hearing.
The citizenship
question is plainly a matter of national importance.
Due to the simple facts that reliable citizenship data is
mission-critical for any party wishing to enforce provisions of the Voting
Rights Act and there are another four lawsuits not yet before the Supreme
Court, the circumstances have clearly crossed a threshold whereby the Court is
justified in bypassing typical appellate procedure.
Census deadlines
are approaching too quickly for standard appellate procedure.
The Government has notified the Court that it is against
a hard June 2019 deadline to finalize/print Census questionnaires. The brief
argues the nation will suffer an “uncorrectable ripple effect into the future
if this critical data … is not collected.”
The latest brief was filed before the U.S. Supreme Court
in In
Re U.S. Department of Commerce, No. 18-966. Related filings can be
found, here.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation is the nation’s most active public interest law firm dedicated to
enforcing the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and ensuring the integrity
of American elections – bringing more than a dozen cases to enforce voter list
maintenance obligations and inspection rights under federal law in federal
courts across the nation in addition to serving as amicus in more than a dozen voting law cases. The Foundation also
works with election officials and policymakers to improve the integrity of
elections.
Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm dedicated to election integrity.
The Foundation exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election
integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections. Drawing on
numerous experts in the field, the Foundation seeks to protect the right to
vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American elections. ###
PILF Submits Brief in Support
of Expedited Hearing
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – February 11, 2019: The Public Interest Legal Foundation’s
(PILF) filed
an amicus curiae brief in the
U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Department of Commerce’s request that the Court
hear its case ahead of critical 2020 Census deadlines.
The United States is currently defending the
reinstatement of a citizenship question on the general 2020 Census survey
against multiple lawsuits brought by the State of New York and others. The
questions now before the Court are whether the district court in New York erred
in enjoining the Government’s Census plans and if the plaintiffs can go outside
the administrative record to probe the intent behind the reinstatement of the
citizenship question.
“Time is running
out to correct the errors of the trial court,” PILF President and General Counsel J. Christian Adams said. “If
the Supreme Court doesn’t step in now, the Justice Department and untold scores
of private parties will be handicapped in enforcing the Voting Rights Act on a
national scale for at least a decade.”
The district court
erred. This error, if not corrected by this Court before the deadline for the
printing of Census forms, will have long-lasting effects. The opportunity to
collect the data on the 2020 Census, once gone, cannot be reclaimed. This “case
is of such imperative public importance as to justify deviation from normal
appellate practice and to require immediate determination in this Court.”
The Foundation offers two arguments in support of the
Government’s request for an expedited Supreme Court hearing.
The citizenship
question is plainly a matter of national importance.
Due to the simple facts that reliable citizenship data is
mission-critical for any party wishing to enforce provisions of the Voting
Rights Act and there are another four lawsuits not yet before the Supreme
Court, the circumstances have clearly crossed a threshold whereby the Court is
justified in bypassing typical appellate procedure.
Census deadlines
are approaching too quickly for standard appellate procedure.
The Government has notified the Court that it is against
a hard June 2019 deadline to finalize/print Census questionnaires. The brief
argues the nation will suffer an “uncorrectable ripple effect into the future
if this critical data … is not collected.”
The latest brief was filed before the U.S. Supreme Court
in In
Re U.S. Department of Commerce, No. 18-966. Related filings can be
found, here.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation is the nation’s most active public interest law firm dedicated to
enforcing the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and ensuring the integrity
of American elections – bringing more than a dozen cases to enforce voter list
maintenance obligations and inspection rights under federal law in federal
courts across the nation in addition to serving as amicus in more than a dozen voting law cases. The Foundation also
works with election officials and policymakers to improve the integrity of
elections.
Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm dedicated to election integrity.
The Foundation exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election
integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections. Drawing on
numerous experts in the field, the Foundation seeks to protect the right to
vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American elections. ###
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