Risk of police confrontation on Election Day during curfew is elevated for people of color

WASHINGTON – Today, Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a mandatory 7:00pm curfew for June 2, 2020 – Election Day in the District of Columbia – as officials prepare for protests around the city. Polls do not close until 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. Voters must be able to travel to and from their polling locations safely and without fear of law enforcement interference, but the curfew was announced by an emergency cellphone alert that did not mention any exception for voting.

“While we recognize the public safety concerns Mayor Bowser must balance, executives cannot place last-minute limitations on voter movement while the polls are open,” said Danielle Lang, Co-Director of Voting Rights and Redistricting of Campaign Legal Center (CLC). “The curfew order’s exemption of voting activity – which was not included in the text alert – is insufficient. Voters must be able to travel to and from the polls and cast their ballots free from fear of police questioning, harassment, or arrest. But under the Mayor’s current curfew, the likelihood of police confrontation with voters is high. And the burdens will undoubtedly fall disproportionately on voters of color, who may reasonably fear police interactions, especially when law enforcement has been directed to take people into custody if the curfew is violated. All voters need to be able to get to the polls safely and return home safely. Imposing a curfew during voting hours would set a terrible precedent for the remainder of the primary season and the General Election in November.”

WASHINGTON - Non-profits that engage in political activity by flooding our campaigns with secretive donor funds should not be exempt from reporting those donors to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department finalized a rule ending the long-standing requirement that nonprofits, tax exempt organizations filed as 501(c)(4)s and 501(c)(6)s under the tax code must confidentially disclose their donors to the IRS.  

Campaign Legal Center President Trevor Potter issued the following statement in response.  

"At a time when over $10 billion total is expected to be spent during this election season, the requirement that organizations (like the National Rifle Association) report their donors to the IRS was key to ensuring that the foreign-money ban on elections was enforced. Now the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are left without another tool to enforce the campaign finance laws under-girding our democracy. Voters expect and deserve more." 

Inability to pay should never be a barrier to the ballot box

MONTGOMERY, AL – A federal court struck down a Florida law on Sunday that would have denied voters the ability to participate in the 2020 election because they are unable to pay legal financial obligations imposed by the criminal justice system. That order follows an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling holding that it is unconstitutional to deny the right to vote solely because of unpaid legal debt for those who are unable to pay. This is now binding precedent in the 11th Circuit, which includes Alabama’s federal courts.

Alabama uses a similar scheme to Florida’s that restricts voter eligibility on the basis of unpaid fines and fees – making no exception for people that are genuinely unable to pay. Of the estimated 135,579 individuals with disqualifying felony convictions between 1993 and 2019, nearly 100,000 – or nearly 3% of the citizen voting age population of Alabama – owe outstanding legal financial obligations.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed in federal court today to block Alabama’s law. CLC is defending Alabama voters Treva Thompson of Huntsville and Darius Gamble of Gardendale, who are seeking the right to vote, as well as Greater Birmingham Ministries, an organization that helps Alabama citizens with felony convictions, serving low-income and historically disenfranchised communities.

“It is established law that states cannot discriminate against voters on the basis of wealth,” said Blair Bowie, Legal Counsel at CLC, and Restore Your Vote Manager. “Inability to pay should never be a barrier to the ballot box. Our clients meet all the requirements for regaining their right to vote except that they lack financial means. They’ve served their time and paid their debt to society, so they should not have their rights denied.”

Alabama disenfranchises individuals with certain felony convictions, so-called “crimes of moral turpitude.” The list of convictions “involving moral turpitude” includes a number of non-violent crimes, including Mr. Gamble’s non-violent drug offense and Ms. Thompson’s non-violent theft conviction. Citizens with these disqualifying convictions may request to have their rights restored, but only after paying all court ordered fines, fees and restitution, the equivalent of an insurmountable poll tax for many otherwise eligible voters.