Voting

• For months, legislators, legal scholars and people simply interested in democracy and elections were fixated on a case before the Supreme Court, Moore v. Harper.
• Those following the case, which asked the justices to rule on the “independent state legislature doctrine,” have held their collective breath awaiting the outcome, which could have changed fundamental aspects of U.S. elections and politics.
• State legislatures, unconstrained by state law, could then create aggressively gerrymandered congressional districts, possibly leading to an ever more partisan Congress with accompanying gridlock and policy failures.” We asked Chambers to help readers understand the court’s opinion, issued on June 27, 2023.

What question did the Supreme Court answer in this opinion?

• The court considered whether a state legislature could have the last word, with no review by state courts, regarding gerrymandered congressional districts they created.
• But the question was whether a state legislature could draw whatever congressional districts it wanted without review by state courts under state law.
• At issue was a legal theory called the “independent state legislature doctrine,” which the court considered in a dispute over gerrymandered North Carolina congressional districts.
• In early 2022, North Carolina state courts found the Legislature violated the state constitution when it drew congressional districts favoring Republicans.

Does this decision apply only to partisan gerrymandering by state legislatures?

This case focused on partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts. However, it may apply more generally to rules for congressional elections, such as where, when and how such elections will be run. If the state constitution explains how congressional elections will be run, the state legislature must abide by those provisions.

What happens next in terms of partisan gerrymanders drawn by state legislatures?

• Partisan gerrymanders are subject only to state constitutional and statutory law – the written laws enacted by the legislature.
• In that ruling, the court noted state constitutional and statutory law could be used to stop partisan gerrymandering.
• If a court interprets state law too aggressively in invalidating a redistricting plan, it invades the legislature’s prerogatives.
• However, the Supreme Court provided no guidance in this decision on when state courts have gone too far.

Will this ruling affect the 2024 presidential election?

• Legislatures might have attempted to circumvent state law that defines how presidential electors are chosen.
• Many folks argue such chicanery could never happen, because once presidential electors are chosen on Election Day, then that’s it.

• In a surprising ruling on June 8, 2023, the conservative leaning U.S. Supreme Court threw out Republican-drawn congressional districts in Alabama that a lower court had ruled discriminated against Black voters and violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
• At issue in the case that was before the court, Allen v. Milligan, was whether the power of Black voters in Alabama was diluted by dividing them into districts where white voters dominate.
• Black residents make up about 27% of the state’s population, and voting rights advocates argued that they deserved not one but two political districts.

What does the decision mean for Black voters in Alabama?

• The decision means that Black voters in Alabama, and across the country, will retain the last remaining voter rights protections.
• Specifically, Alabama lawmakers will need to redraw their legislative districts to include two districts that reflect the Black population.
• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted to prohibit racist practices by Southern states that were used to prevent Black people from voting.

Why was this decision considered a surprise?

• In his opinion for the majority, Roberts traced the importance of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
• He explained how racially motivated voter suppression after the Civil War led to the initial passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
• “States shouldn’t let race be the primary factor in deciding how to draw boundaries but it should be a consideration,” Roberts wrote.
• “The line we have drawn is between consciousness and predominance.” Roberts went further by citing the repugnant racial history of Alabama.

Is the Voting Rights Act still under attack?

• While a breath of fresh air for voting rights activists, this ruling does not mean that white conservatives will cease their attack.
• GOP-controlled congressional maps diluting or eliminating Black districts have been drawn in multiple states, including Louisiana, Georgia, Ohio and Texas.

What are the remaining obstacles to full Black voting power?

• Across the country, there has been a concerted effort to restrict voting and control the election machinery and even the outcome of these votes.
• Dozens of Republican-controlled states have passed a series of laws that will curtail voting of Blacks and many other Americans.

How do these laws typically affect Black people?

• As many as 42 restrictive voting-rights laws in 21 states have been passed since 2021.
• Among these, 33 contain at least one restrictive provision that will impact elections in 20 states.

• ISS recommended that Firsthand’s stockholders “DO NOT VOTE” on the Company’s blue proxy card.
• SVVC’s Annual Meeting will be held in a virtual format on May 26, 2023, at 5:00 p.m.
• Jeff Eberwein, Portfolio Manager of Star Equity Fund, remarked, “We are gratified by the overwhelming endorsement from the proxy advisor firm ISS in our election campaign at Firsthand Value Technology Fund.
• IN ADDITION, THE PARTICIPANTS IN THIS PROXY SOLICITATION WILL PROVIDE COPIES OF THE PROXY STATEMENT WITHOUT CHARGE, WHEN AVAILABLE, UPON REQUEST.

• (Voters in England would keep the monarchy by 57% to 22%, Wales by 54% to 23%, and Scotland by 46% to 32%).
• 59% of Northern Ireland voters said they had a positive view of Princess Anne, making her the most popular royal in the Province.
• 68% of Northern Ireland voters said they thought the King and the royal family cared a lot about the country.
• Northern Ireland voters were divided as to whether the royal family (47%) or elected politicians (53%) did a better job of connecting with ordinary people.