Articles

Attorney leads Indy students to win national debate competition

When Indianapolis attorney Maurice Scott’s wife told him there were students at the Global Prep Academy who had questions about current government issues, he immediately volunteered to give some answers. Scott and three students travelled to Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday to participate in a national debate competition.

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Consent decree gives Marion County more early voting sites

The Marion County Election Board has agreed to open five additional satellite locations for early in-person voting starting with the 2018 general election, settling a lawsuit brought in 2017 by Common Cause Indiana and the NAACP. Senior judge Sarah Evans Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana signed on Tuesday a consent decree offered by the plaintiffs and defendants.

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Supreme Court enjoys relatively high public confidence

The next Supreme Court justice will join the bench at a time when the public has more confidence in the high court than in Congress or the presidency. A Gallup survey in June found 37 percent of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the court, while another 42 percent have “some” confidence. Only 18 percent have little or no confidence in the court.

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Anderson, former mayor to pay $30k in ballot lawsuit

The city of Anderson and its former Mayor Kevin Smith will pay $30,000 to a former city worker who filed a lawsuit alleging she was arrested for trying to deliver her mother’s absentee ballot. The city will pay $20,000, while Smith will pay $10,000 under a May settlement.

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Supreme Court allows Ohio, other state voter purges

States can target people who haven’t cast ballots in a while in efforts to purge their voting rolls, the Supreme Court ruled Monday in a case that has drawn wide attention amid stark partisan divisions and the approach of the 2018 elections.

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Court sees ‘high likelihood’ that Indiana’s voting law violates federal act

Three public advocacy groups have temporarily stopped the enforcement of Indiana’s 2017 voter registration law, which could potentially purge eligible voters from the rolls without providing them written notice. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting the state from implementing the 2017 version of Senate Enrolled Act 442.

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County inmates denied right to vote get certified as class

A federal judge in Fort Wayne recently certified a class of Allen County Jail inmates who were denied the right to vote in the November 2016 general election. The attorney representing the class said the case represents an opportunity to avoid similar future problems in other counties.

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7th Circuit prohibits sex offender from voting at local high school

In a decision handed down one day before Indiana’s 2018 primary election, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals found a rational relationship between an Indiana statute prohibiting sex offenders from entering school property and the state’s interest in protecting children. The court ruled the state does not violate a convicted sex offender’s voting rights by prohibiting him from voting at a polling place located in a high school, and instead requiring him to vote via one of three alternatives.

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Gerrymandering challenges keep rising

Attorneys at Faegre Baker Daniels LLP are part of the legal team representing Michigan voters who filed a complaint in December over partisan gerrymandering. The suit brought to seven the number of such challenges filed since 2016 and fueled hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule the practice unconstitutional and offer guidance for how to draw district lines.

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Indiana Senate panel backs redistricting ‘baby step’

An Indiana Senate panel has advanced a bill what would set criteria for redrawing electoral districts. But the measure approved on an 8-0 vote Monday fell far short of a comprehensive redistricting overhaul that good government groups have sought for years.

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Roy Moore sues to block Alabama Senate result

Failed candidate Roy Moore has doubled down on his claims of voter irregularities in Alabama’s U.S. Senate race in a last-ditch effort to stop the certification of the Democratic opponent who pulled off a historic upset last month in a traditionally deep-red state.

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Trump voter fraud commission faces lawsuit from member

A member of President Donald Trump’s commission on voter fraud sued in federal court on Thursday, alleging the commission is violating federal law by excluding him and others from participating and refusing to provide documents available to other members.

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IBF: Hoosier community involvement high, voter turnout low

Across Indiana, Hoosiers are committed to community involvement, with 40.2 percent of all Indiana residents belonging to at least one community organization, such as a church or neighborhood group. But while 61.4 percent of Americans voted in 2016, only 58.3 percent of Hoosiers did.

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