Tag Archives: voter rights

NORTH CAROLINA: Appeals Court Refuses Stay On Ruling That Struck Down Racist Voter ID Law

Next stop, SCOTUS. Reuters reports: A U.S. appeals court issued an order on Thursday denying North Carolina’s motion to stay the court’s decision last week striking down the state’s voter ID law. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said staying its ruling now “would only undermine the integrity and efficiency of the upcoming election.” On Friday, the court ruled …

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SUPER SADZ: McCrory Says Dem AG Doesn’t Deserve Paycheck For Refusing To Appeal Voter ID Ruling

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: Gov. Pat McCrory on Tuesday called a news conference to announce that the attorney general will not appeal last week’s ruling by three federal judges throwing out the state’s requirement that voters produce photo identification, along with other changes to election law. The governor said the state would appeal the ruling without help from …

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John Oliver On Voting Rights [VIDEO]

TIME sets up the clip: Even idiots should have an equal vote, according to John Oliver. On his return to Last Week Tonight, Oliver jumped right into election year issues, specifically so-called voter ID laws, which have proliferated in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to curtail the Voting Rights Act. Proponents of such laws argue that requiring …

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Alabama To Shut Out Black Voters With DMV Closures

From an opinion piece on AL.com: Depending on which counties you count as being in Alabama’s Black Belt, either twelve or fifteen Black Belt counties soon won’t have a place to get a driver’s license. Counties where some of the state’s poorest live. Counties that are majority African-American. Combine that with the federally mandated Star ID taking effect next year, …

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TEXAS: Fifth Circuit Court Of Appeals Slaps Down State’s Voter ID Law

The Dallas Morning News reports: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Texas’ voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act — but it also said the law is not a “poll tax.” In an unanimous decision, a three-judge panel ruled that the controversial and Republican-backed measure violated Section 2 of the landmark civil rights law. The law …

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Hillary “Lets Rip” On Voting Rights

The wingnuts are already very unhappy about this.

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Voter Turnout: Lowest In 72 Years

From the New York Times: The abysmally low turnout in last week’s midterm elections — the lowest in more than seven decades — was bad for Democrats, but it was even worse for democracy. In 43 states, less than half the eligible population bothered to vote, and no state broke 60 percent. In the three largest states — California, Texas …

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Quote Of The Day – Sen. Bernie Sanders

“Election Day should be a national holiday so that everyone has the time and opportunity to vote. While this would not be a cure-all, it would indicate a national commitment to create a more vibrant democracy. We should not be satisfied with a ‘democracy’ in which more than 60 percent of our people don’t vote and some 80 percent of …

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Phyllis Schlafly: Early Voting Must Be Stopped Because It Helps Democrats

“Democrats promote early voting for the same reason they oppose voter ID: because they view early voting as helping their side. In the absurdly long 35-day period of early voting in Ohio in 2012, Democrats racked up perhaps a million-vote advantage over Republicans before Election Day was ever reached. Republicans have been slow to realize how early voting helps the …

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Lewis Black On GOP Voter Suppression

Fantastic.

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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Announces Bill To Expand Online Voter Registration

Via the Associated Press: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says people across the country should be able use their computers, smartphones or electronic tablets to register to vote. The New York Democrat is announcing legislation Sunday that would force the 23 states that don’t have an online registration system to establish one. The bill also would expand enrollment access in states that …

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FRC Cheers Voting Rights Act Ruling

“There will no longer be a special category for these 15 states — many of which are now at the forefront of elected minorities! From now on, these regions will have the same equal opportunity to define their voting laws as anyone else. For too long, states like Alabama, which brought the lawsuit, have been prisoners of history. Instead of …

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Texas AG: Our Voter ID Law Is Now Valid Thanks To Supreme Court Ruling

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott reacted quickly to today’s Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act by declaring that all citizens must now present photo ID when voting. Via the Dallas Morning News: “With today’s decision, the State’s voter ID law will take effect immediately,” Abbott announced. “Redistricting maps passed by the Legislature may also take effect without approval …

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LGBT Rights Groups Denounce Supreme Court’s Ruling On Voting Rights Act

LGBT Rights Coalition We, America’s leading LGBT advocacy organizations, join civil rights organizations – and indeed, all Americans whom this law has served to protect – in expressing acute dismay at today’s ruling. Not only had Congress repeatedly reaffirmed the need for this bedrock civil rights protection, but authoritative voices from across America had filed amicus briefs urging the court …

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Supreme Court Strikes Down Key Portion Of Voting Rights Act Of 1965

From NBC News: The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — the map that determines which states must get federal permission before they change their voting laws. The ruling, a 5-4 decision by Chief Justice John Roberts, leaves the future of the law deeply uncertain because it will be up …

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ARIZONA: Gov. Jan Brewer Signs Bill Effectively Barring Third Party Candidates

Laurie Roberts writes for Arizona Central: This afternoon, Gov. Jan Brewer signed an elections bill that basically wipes out Libertarian and other third-party candidates, boosting their signature requirements to unattainable levels. Green Party candidates would actually have to collect more signatures than they have party members. Wasn’t it just a few months ago that our leaders were oh so concerned …

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Tea Party Targets Trans Voters

Above is the charming image Tea Party organizers are using as part of their “poll watchers” training. Teabaggers are told to try and spot trans voters who may be trying to vote under their new names.  The National Center for Transgender Equality has a voting guide to deal with just such assholery.  (Via Zack Ford @ Think Progress)

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Obama Votes Early

Yesterday President Obama became the first sitting president to use early voting. Have you voted yet? Unfortunately for those in the tri-state NYC area, we have no early voting.

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MARYLAND: Absentee Ballots Missing Page With Marriage Equality Section

JMG reader Mike tips us to this developing story out of Maryland: With two weeks left until the election, the News4 I-Team is uncovering ballot problems in Maryland. We got a tip from a Maryland voter who says his absentee ballot arrived in the mail missing an entire page. That means he couldn’t vote on some of the most talked-about …

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Supreme Court Shoots Down GOP Plot To Thwart Early Voting In Ohio

Great news. The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Ohio’s request to curtail early voting in the state leading up to the November 6 presidential election. Ohio, critical to the election hopes of Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, began early in-person voting earlier this month but planned to cut it off on November 2, the Friday before …

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