The decree specifically orders RNC members "refrain from undertaking any ballot security activities in polling places or election districts where the racial or ethnic composition of such districts is a factor".
Their legal motion puts a new spotlight on a 34-year-old consent decree that bars the RNC from undertaking "any ballot security activities" directed at black or Latino voters.
Think about the United States at the turn of the twentieth century: urban machines, often ethnically motivated, coercion, ballot stuffing, outright criminal activities.
Unlike going to school, riding a bus, sitting at a lunch counter, or playing checkers (a pastime once segregated by law in the city of Birmingham), casting a ballot is not a social activity.
Disillusioned with mainstream politics and political parties, young people in general and students in particular have turned to a dazzling array of alternative activities: from the ballot box, to the street, to social media.
State campaign finance laws, including Maine's, require disclosure of contributions solicited for the purpose of supporting political activities such as ballot measures or candidate campaigns.
State officials appear to be investigating possible illegal activity involving absentee ballots, and looking into whether people working on Harris' behalf illegally collected the forms from voters.
Since voting is a learned activity, something young people are encouraged to do by watching their parents, the next generation stands to lose quite a lot when the adults around them are unable to cast a ballot.
The reason for allowing voter registration materials in general, but prohibiting applications for absentee ballots, she said, was that while voter registration happens all year, applying for an absentee ballot is more akin to a campaign activity.
