Saturday, August 26, 2023

Are You Ready for a Little Litigation?

 

Marc Elias, the principal behind the Elias Law Group, has said that he will challenge parts of S747, the omnibus voting bill just passed (and just vetoed by Gov. Cooper) -- if and when the Republicans in the General Assembly override the veto. We've been complaining about that bill's hidden impacts on young voters, among other negative effects, so it's reassuring to have the help of the Elias Law Group, which has an impressive track record challenging other Republican voter suppression laws in other states. They don't tend to lose.

President Biden essentially fired the Elias Group as the in-house legal counsel to the Democratic National Committee, which Elias has represented since 2009. Biden took the advice of another lawyer, Bob Bauer (married to senior Biden aide Anita Dunn) because Bauer thought Elias is too aggressive. The Elias legal philosophy regarding the safeguarding of voter rights is this: "Democrats should be fighting on every possible front — filing a flurry of lawsuits and exerting public pressure through the media." Sounds good to me. Sick of nervous Democrats who always fret about what might happen if they take a stand that the Republicans don't like. Take a stand, damn it!

A very thorough unpacking of all the sections of S747 appeared on The Democracy Docket. Well worth reading. 


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