DVPA sued for Voting Rights Act Violations

The Democratic Party of Virginia has been sued in federal court for allegedly deny the voting rights of African Americans in the 74th House district (a seat currently occupied by Joe Morrissey). The Washington Post write-up gives us a taste of what may be to come:

Morrissey’s decision to resign from the House, effective on the date of the election, and run for the seat left the party with just a few days to nominate their candidate through what the party calls an “unassembled caucus” and what others have called a “firehouse primary.”

In the end, about 40 people considered to be in good standing with the Democratic Party chose among three candidates who paid $1,500 each to stand for the internal election.

The lawsuit argues the method of nomination intentionally excluded African-American voters living in the district, which includes the east end of Henrico County, and parts of Charles City County and Richmond City.

The lawsuit says the party, “feared this group of African Americans, who were not members of a local Democratic Party, might use their First Amendment rights to support a candidate the DPVA and other local party officials didn’t want to win the Democratic nomination. Therefore the firehouse primary rules were intentionally designed to disenfranchise them all.”

The suit, which also calls the fee illegal, says the party violated residents’ right to participate in the political process and right to vote as well as the federal Voting Rights Act.

For those interested in reading the complaint — which reads more like a brief, here is the draft (it’s the same as filed with the court):

74th District Lawsuit

What makes this suit more interesting is its potential to see the RPV put aside, for a moment, its internal sniping and join hands with the DPVA to stop this suit.

Why? Because it address what requirements and restrictions a party may impose on voters in the selection of nominees. It’s important to remember that political parties are state actors. The commonwealth gives them certain functions and powers to further the electoral process. The state cannot, and so parties cannot, impose restrictions that run contrary to federal law.

That includes “unreasonable” fees for candidates to run, as well as for voters (who in this case also had to be members “in good standing” of the party committee). It includes the method of voting — here a type of firehouse primary.

If anything, this suit should give Republicans who opt for exclusionary nomination procedures — like mass meetings and similar nominating processes — pause. If this suit moves forward, it could hit Republicans as well as Democrats.

And that’s why I expect to see the RPV and the DPVA join together to try to stop it.

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