OntheWilderSide

(excerpt from) The Boston Globe/AP Story
Court refuses to expand minority voting rights
March 9, 2009

Story 1: Limits protection of Voting Rights Act

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court ruled Monday that electoral districts must have a majority of African-Americans or other minorities to be protected by a provision of the Voting Rights Act.

The 5-4 decision, with the court’s conservatives in the majority, could make it harder for southern Democrats to draw friendly boundaries after the 2010 Census.

Story 2:  Through a Nader lawsuit, Supreme Court lets stand an Appeals Court decision. The result is that some state laws regulating independent presidential candidate process are invalidated. Now,  independent presidential candidates will have a fairer shake at petitions and deadlines. Thanks, Ralph.

In another election-related case, the court let stand an appeals court decision that invalidated state laws regulating the ways independent presidential candidates can get on state ballots.

Arizona, joined by 13 other states, asked the court to hear its challenge to a ruling throwing out its residency requirement for petition circulators and a June deadline for submitting signatures for independent candidates in the November presidential elections.

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader sued and won a favorable ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Filed under: 3rd party, Ballot issues, elections, grassroots democracy, News, politics, presidential race, progressive politics, social & economic justice, third party, US Politics Tagged: | ballot access, candidates, independents, minority districts, minority voting rights, Nader, petitioning, presidential race, Race, Ralph Nader, redistricting, Supereme Court, Voting Rights Act