At the Polls: How Do We Get Young People to Vote?

ST. LOUIS — A group of civil rights organizations filed a motion to intervene as defendants in State of Missouri v. U.S. Department of Commerce, a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Census Bureau’s long-standing and constitutionally required policy of counting all persons residing in the United States for apportionment purposes, including undocumented immigrants and people living in the country on temporary visas. Missouri’s challenge asks the court to upend centuries of constitutional practice by excluding millions of residents from the decennial census, including redoing how many congressional seats each state currently has five years and now in a third election cycle after the fact. All of this would unfairly distort political representation and deprive communities of critical federal resources both now and in the future. Proposed Intervenors OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, Make the Road New York, the New York Immigration Coalition, and FIEL Houston, Inc., represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Missouri, ACLU of Texas, ACLU of Northern California, ACLU of Southern California, New York Civil Liberties Union, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC, seek to defend the constitutional requirement that the decennial census count all persons residing in the United States. Failure to do so would result in a severe undercount, which affects congressional representation and Electoral College votes, thereby reducing political power for underrepresented communities. Census data also determines the allocation of more than $2.8 trillion in federal funding, which goes towards healthcare, education, social services, infrastructure, and more. The filers released the following joint statement: “We are intervening in this case to defend a bedrock constitutional principle: everyone counts. Missouri’s attempt to exclude undocumented people and individuals living in the United States on temporary visas is nothing more than an effort to manipulate the census for political gain — at the expense of democracy. The decennial census must count the ‘whole number of persons’ residing in each state — not just citizens, and not only those favored by state officials. Past attempts to rig the census at the expense of immigrants and communities of color have been struck down, and the court should do the same here. We will not allow states to erase millions of people from the count simply because of who they are or where they come from.” For more than two centuries, the census has counted all residents, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. The intervenors urge the court to reject Missouri’s attempt to rewrite the Constitution and to uphold the Census Bureau’s policy. Read the motion to intervene here: https://www.aclu.org/cases/missouri-v-u-s-department-of-commerce?document=Memorandum-in-Support-of-Motion-to-Intervene-as-Defendants-by-OCA-Asian-Pacific-American-Advocates-Make-the-Road-New-York-New-York-Immigration-Coalition-and-FIEL-Houston-Inc

A coalition of civil rights and immigrant-rights organizations has moved to intervene as defendants in a lawsuit that threatens to dismantle the Constitution’s long-standing requirement that the decennial census count all people living in the United States. Missouri asks the court to exclude undocumented immigrants and people living in the country on temporary visas from the census count used to determine congressional representation—an unprecedented move that would upend more than two centuries of constitutional practice.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the State of Delaware, seeking its unredacted statewide voter file, including sensitive personal data such as driver’s license numbers and partial social security numbers. DOJ’s efforts appear to be part of an effort to build a national voter database without congressional authorization and to improperly question the validity of state voter rolls.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the State of Virginia, seeking private, confidential voter data. DOJ’s efforts appear to be part of an effort to build a national voter database without congressional authorization and to improperly question the validity of state voter rolls.