Democracy Wire

Common Cause Pennsylvania Senior Advisor and Fair Districts PA Co-Chair Barry Kauffman urged committee members to support HB-1835, a bill that would create an independent citizen redistricting commission to draw districts using nonpartisan standards.

Recap of voter registration drive at Brooklyn Flea.

Movement for Black Lives demands a better democracy.

Federal Judge Daniel L. Hovland this week blocked enforcement of North Dakota’s voter ID requirement, ruling that the law violates the voting rights of thousands of Dakotans who cannot easily obtain the required identification. The lawsuit was filed by members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, who argued that many Native Americans could not afford the necessary ID.

Shawnee County district Judge Larry Hendricks ordered the state of Kansas to count votes in the primary election from people who registered without proof of citizenship. This blocked a rule from Kansas’s Secretary of State, which would have prevented 17,500 citizens from voting in state and local elections.

Wide-ranging legislation to make voting in North Carolina more difficult was struck down last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Common Cause North Carolina is among the plaintiffs that challenged the constitutionality of that law.