February 2, 2018 – Voting Rights Briefing Transcript (PDF)
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U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS + + + + + BUSINESS MEETING + + + + + FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2018 + + + + + The Commission convened in the Marriott Courtyard Raleigh Crabtree Valley at 4500 Marriott Drive, Raleigh, NC 27612 at about 9:00 a.m., Catherine Lhamon, Chair, presiding. PRESENT: CATHERINE E. LHAMON, Chair PATRICIA TIMMONS-GOODSON, Vice Chair DEBO P. ADEGBILE, Commissioner GAIL HERIOT, Commissioner KAREN K. NARASAKI, Commissioner MICHAEL YAKI, Commissioner MAURO MORALES, Staff Director 1 STAFF PRESENT: CAROLYN ALLEN LASHONDA BRENSON KATHERINE CULLITON-GONZALEZ PAMELA DUNSTON, Chief, ASCD LATRICE FOSHEE TINALOUISE MARTIN DAVID MUSSATT SARALE SEWELL MICHELE YORKMAN-RAMEY MARIK XAVIER-BRIER BRIAN WALCH COMMISSIONER ASSISTANTS PRESENT: SHERYL COZART JASON LAGRIA CARISSA MULDER AMY ROYCE RUKKU SINGLA ALISON SOMIN IRENA VIDULOVIC 2 A-G-E-N-D-A I. OPENING REMARKS 4 II. PANEL ONE: SCOPE AND EFFICACY OF DEPARTMNT OF JUSTICE (DOJ) VOTING RIGHTS ACT (VRA) ENFORCEMENT Peyton McCrary 18 Vanita Gupta 23 Hans von Spakovsky 28 Justin Levitt 33 Bishop Dr. William J. Barber II 39 III. PANEL TWO: CASE STUDIES: A LITIGATOR’S PERSPECTIVE OF LAWS AFFECTING VOTER ACCESS SINCE SHELBY Ezra Rosenberg 78 Nina Perales 83 J. Christian Adams 87 Dan Morenoff 92 Natalie Landreth 97 Sherrilyn Ifill 103 IV. PANEL THREE: VOTER ACCESS Michelle Bishop 141 Michael J. Pitts 147 Cleta Mitchell 152 John Fund 157 Anita Earls 162 John Merrill 168 V. PANEL FOUR: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ENSURING ACCESS TO THE BALLOT POST-SHELBY John J. Park Jr. 209 Judd Choate 214 Dale Ho 219 Lorraine Minnite 224 Jerry Vattamala 229 Tomas Lopez 235 VI. OPEN COMMENT PERIOD 265 VII. ADJOURN MEETING 329 3 1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2 (9:03 a.m.) 3 OPENING REMARKS 4 CHAIR LHAMON: I’m going to call us to order. If we 5 can all get seated and ready. This briefing of the 6 U.S. Commission of Civil Rights comes to order at 7 9:00 a.m. on February 2nd, 2018, and takes place at 8 the Marriott Crabtree of Raleigh-Durham, located at 9 4500 Marriott Drive, Raleigh, North Carolina 27612. 10 I'm Chair Lhamon. Commissioners present at this 11 briefing in addition to me are Vice Chair Timmons- 12 Goodson, Commissioner Adegbile, Commissioner 13 Heriot, Commissioner Narasaki, and Commissioner 14 Yaki. The quorum of the commissioners is present. 15 Is the court reporter present? 16 COURT REPORTER: Yes. 17 CHAIR LHAMON: Is the Staff Director present? 18 MAURO MORALES: Present. 19 CHAIR LHAMON: I welcome everyone to our briefing 20 titled, “An Assessment of the Minority Voting 21 Rights Access of the United States.” In today's 22 briefing the Commission examines voter access— 23 including federal voting rights enforcement, 24 efforts after the 2006 reauthorization of the 25 temporary provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 26 1965, and the impact of the United States Supreme 4 1 Court's decision in Shelby County versus Holder on 2 the Department of Justice enforcement strategies 3 and priorities. Throughout the sixty-year history 4 of this commission, voting rights have been a core 5 component of the Commission’s focus and work. In 6 light of the fundamental nature of voting rights, 7 the Commission was established in 1957 in part to 8 address issues with voting access in our country. 9 In the years leading to the passage of the 1965 10 Voting Rights Act the Commission held hearings and 11 issued reports on voting rights abuses. In our 12 early years, the Commission went to Mississippi and 13 invited community members to testify to their 14 experiences trying to vote. People testified to 15 being turned away, to being tested about their 16 detailed knowledge of constitutional meaning. 17 Elections officials disputed these claims until the 18 Commission enforced subpoena power to receive 19 records ultimately laying the data groundwork to 20 support the Voting Rights Act. In March of 1965 21 President Johnson called for new voting legislation 22 embodying the recommendations of the Civil Rights 23 Commission, and Congress passed the Voting Rights 24 Act. In the State of South Carolina versus 25 Katzenbach, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge 26 to the constitutionality of the 1965 Voting Rights 5 1 Act, in part relying on data published by the 2 Commission. Since those early days the Commission 3 has published twenty reports focused specifically 4 on voting rights and our most recent report was 5 last year. The issues in these reports have 6 included access to voter registration without 7 artificial barriers—like literacy tests and poll 8 taxes, the ability to vote without intimidation, 9 large structural barriers such as gerrymandering— 10 the way districts were drawn district lines were 11 drawn to defeat candidates of color, non-English 12 language access, and the role of federal 13 enforcement. The Commission’s focus over these 14 decades on voting rights reflects the continuing 15 contest that persists over voting rights and 16 underscores the significance of voting rights as an 17 issue and what is at stake for democracy when those 18 rights are curtailed. The Commission rightly 19 recognized in the first report that, quote, “The 20 right to vote is its cornerstone of the Republic 21 and the key to all other civil rights.” [end quote] 22 As is likely typical of black families like mine, I 23 grew up hearing regular admonitions that we died 24 for this right, the right to vote, and so we must 25 use it. It is my honor to conduct this briefing 26 today and further the availability and protection 6 1 of the right to vote together with my fellow 2 Commissioners. We are fortunate to have with us a 3 living exemplar of the success and ongoing vitality 4 of the Voting Rights Act promises. Vice Chair 5 Timmons-Goodson to my left served as the first 6 black woman on the North Carolina Supreme Court. 7 She was first appointed by the governor and then 8 elected to that statewide office in 2006. A result 9 that would have been unlikely and even impossible 10 in a time before the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The 11 Vice Chair’s exemplar service on the court is 12 matched by her service here at the Commission for 13 which I’m very grateful for. I look forward to 14 working with my colleagues and to drawing 15 conclusions and make recommendations after 16 reviewing the materials submitted to the Commission 17 and benefiting from today's briefing. Today's 18 briefing features twenty-three distinguished 19 speakers who will provide us with an array of 20 viewpoints as well as the opportunity to hear from 21 the public. 22 The first panel includes policy experts and former 23 of government officials who will speak to the scope 24 and efficacy of the Department of Justice's 25 enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. I know the 26 Commission staff invited officials from the 7 1 relevant offices in the Department of Justice but 2 they declined to participate in today's briefing. 3 They have, however, produced data and documents 4 responsive to our requests and Commission staff 5 look forward to reviewing these materials for 6 inclusion in our report. The second panel, includes 7 litigators and advocates who will speak to the laws 8 affecting voter access since the Shelby County 9 decision. The third panel includes policy experts, 10 academics, and practitioners who will speak to 11 voter access generally. 12 The fourth panel includes election administrators, 13 advocates, and academics who will speak to 14 recommendations ensuring access to the ballot in 15 the context of changes since the Shelby County 16 decision. I thank all who have joined us today to 17 focus on this critical topic your views help us to 18 fulfill our mission to be the nation’s eyes and 19 ears on civil rights. 20 We will, following this briefing, work on 21 collecting the materials that you have shared with 22 us, review those materials, and the Commission 23 staff will prepare a report that the Commissioners 24 will vote on and ultimately will produce to the 25 public to make recommendations about civil rights 26 policy with respect to voting rights. 8 1 And now I'll pass the mic to Commissioner Heriot, 2 who I understand would like to say a few words. 3 COMMISSIONER HERIOT: Thank you, Madame Chairman. I 4 know my commission colleagues have said they're 5 looking forward to today's tomorrow but I'm not 6 sure I can say the same thing. Of all the areas of 7 civil rights law and policy, voting right policy 8 may be my least favorite. Why? Because it's 9 important as voting rights are lurking beneath the 10 most aggressively-asserted claims on both sides are 11 often purely partisan concerns, somebody wants to 12 get elected and the passion of politics can be 13 mistaken for a passion of principle. I think we 14 understand the problem. Democratic voters tend to 15 be younger and less likely to turn out so it's in 16 the Democratic Party’s interest to make voting as 17 easy as possible. Meanwhile, noncitizens and other 18 ineligible voters are also more likely to be 19 Democratic so it's in the Republican Party’s 20 interest to take measures to ensure that only 21 qualified voters are able to vote. Both these goals 22 are entirely worthy when presented openly and 23 honestly.