- February 03, 2012 | Bangor Daily News Lawmakers reject voter ID bill but authorize study of election system A closer inspection of Maine’s electoral problems reveals clerical and administrative errors, not voter fraud.
- February 03, 2012 | Maine Public Broadcasting Network Maine Bill to Require Photo ID at the Polls Dies in Committee A provision that would mandate voters have current, government-issued photo IDs to vote in Maine was dropped in committee.
- February 02, 2012 | Madison.com Op-Ed: LWV’s Andrea Kaminski: Citizens without ID caught in ‘Catch 22’ Although public perception is that everyone has a current, up-to-date government-issued photo ID, studies consistently show that as many as 11% of the voting age population nationwide lacks the types of ID that are necessary to vote in an ever-increasing number of states - many of whom are caught in a Catch-22 situation.
- February 01, 2012 | Kansas Reporter New Kansas voter ID regs hitting voters in nursing home Around 50 elderly residents of a nursing home will likely not be able to vote for the first time in years due to new voter identification requirements.
- January 30, 2012 | NBC 29 AARP Stands Up Against Voter ID Law Virginia’s AARP warns the state legislature that elderly citizens could have their right to vote taken away by a newly proposed government-issued photo ID law.
- January 30, 2012 | The New York Times Albany Redistricting Plan Faulted as Unfair to Minorities Officials and citizens criticize New York’s proposed redistricting maps as unrepresentative of growing minority populations.
- January 30, 2012 | MTV Florida NAACP Members ‘Will Not Be Silenced’ By New Voter Laws Vanity Shields, a University of South Florida student and USF NAACP chapter president, expresses student concerns regarding changes to voting laws in Florida.
- January 27, 2012 | New America Media Civil Rights Advocates Meet in L.A. to Discuss Voter Suppression Laws Civil rights advocates recently gathered in LA to promote working together for open and accessible elections this year.
- January 26, 2012 | New York Times Op-Ed: Voting and Racial History Last week, the Federal Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. Section 5 requires that jurisdictions with histories of racial discrimination prove to the Department of Justice that new laws will not have a racially disproportionate impact before new voting laws go into effect.
- January 25, 2012 | Columbia Free-Times Dead Wrong? Election Official Disputes Claim That Deceased Voted in S.C. On January 11th, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles Director Kevin Shwedo claimed 957 dead people voted in the recent election, raising the specter of massive voter fraud. However, new findings have led to widespread skepticism of the DMV report.
- January 25, 2012 | South Carolina Election Commission SEC Executive Director Testifies on “Dead Voters” Claim Testimony by South Carolina Election Commission Executive Direct Marci Andino refutes the state’s Attorney General’s claim that 953 dead people cast ballots.
- January 23, 2012 | The Santiago Times Chile’s president signs new voting reform into law President Sebastián Piñera signs voting reform into law, automatically registering all eligible Chilean citizens to vote.
- January 23, 2012 | Time Magazine The New Battle Over Voting Rights Adam Cohen discusses the recent debate over government issued photo identification laws and the mounting aggressive attack on the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act.
- January 21, 2012 | USA Today Proposed State Voter ID Laws Could Have Big Impact on College Students Opponents of restrictive government-issued photo ID laws believe that the laws have a disproportionate impact on minorities, young adults, people with disabilities, and the elderly. Mimi Murray Digby Marziani, Counsel for the Democracy Program with the Brennan Center for Social Justice in Washington D.C., states that five million voters could have their right to vote taken away from them if these laws are passed.
- January 16, 2012 | NBC Connecticut Malloy Proposes Voter Registration Changes Governor Dannel Malloy of Connecticut announces proposal to expand voter registration.
- January 16, 2012 | CBS News Voter I.D. law met with tough criticism With the Department of Justice blocking South Carolina’s new restrictive government-issued photo ID law, many come out to explain why they support the federal government’s decision.
- January 12, 2012 | TPM James O’Keefe Says $50K Donation Funded Voter Fraud Stunt James O’Keefe reveals that it cost $50,000 for him and his crew to attempt to fraudulently obtain the ballots of about a dozen deceased voters.
- January 12, 2012 | Progressivetoo.com KanVote and Occupy Wichita Unable to Obtain Free Voter IDs Despite New Law In Kansas, the DMV is not ready for the rapid increase of people seeking free government-issued photo IDs that the new law guarantees.
- January 11, 2012 | Hattiesburg American 75 percent of non-white voters against ID A Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law study demonstrated the disparity between White and non-White approval of a proposed restrictive government-issued photo ID ballot measure in Mississippi.
- January 11, 2012 | TPM Lawyer Defending South Carolina’s Voter ID Law Thinks DOJ Is Biased Against White People South Carolina officials plan to challenge the Justice Department’s block of a voter ID law that statistics show would negatively affect non-white voters.
- January 11, 2012 | Media Matters O'Keefe Video Doesn't Show "Dead People Vote In NH" James O’Keefe’s recent video advocating restrictive voter ID laws shows no evidence that voter fraud is actually an issue, only that O’Keefe and his crew have engaged in manufacturing voter fraud.
- January 11, 2012 | Media Matters For America The Flaws In The O’Keefe ‘Voter Fraud’ Scheme Rather than demonstrating that voter fraud is an easily performed act, James O’Keefe’s “voter fraud” stunt demonstrates how difficult it would actually be to pull off an “election-changing” plot.
- January 11, 2012 | New York Times Voting in Plain Sight Linda Greenhouse examines the differences between the Bush and Obama Administrations’ approaches to voter suppression laws and the rise of voter ID laws since the Indiana Supreme Court case.
- January 10, 2012 | WAMU 88.5 Texas Redistricting Ruling Could Have Wide Implications The U.S. Supreme Court considers temporarily waiving Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act for Texas to hold primary on time.
- January 08, 2012 | Indianapolis Star How about a voter ID compromise? Striking a compromise might be the solution to the voter ID debate.
- January 05, 2012 | Burnt Orange Report What's Going on with Voter ID in Texas? The Department of Justice is still concerned with the restrictive voter ID bill in Texas, and awaits Texas’ proof that the new law will not have a discriminatory impact.
- January 04, 2012 | WOWT.com Proposed Voter ID Bill Meets Opposition A Nebraska senator recently proposed a new voter ID law and opponents of the legislation are already up in arms.
- January 03, 2012 | TheBaynet.com Deceptive Voter Practices Cannot Be Tolerated U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Charles Schumer are re-introducing the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2011 to protect the vote of minority communities.
- December 30, 2011 | The Sacramento Bee Op-Ed: Voter ID laws continue an assault on democracy In 2011, five states passed laws requiring voters to present government-issued photo identification before being allowed to cast their vote. Not only are these laws unnecessary because voters already have to prove their residency and citizenship when registering, they make voting more difficult for groups that are less likely to have or need government-issued photo ID in their daily lives.
- December 28, 2011 | The Grio Voter ID battle will spread from South Carolina to several other key states Restrictive government-issued voter ID laws in several states could dampen minority, elderly, student, and low-income citizen participation in future elections, prompting heightened scrutiny from the Department of Justice.
- December 27, 2011 | New Yorker Op-Ed: Holder's Legacy Restrictive new government-issued voter ID laws in South Carolina and other states highlight the importance of the Voting Rights Act, first passed in 1965 and renewed several times since by large bipartisan majorities.
- December 23, 2011 | Washington Post Justice Dept. rejects South Carolina voter ID law, calling it discriminatory Late Friday, Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division rejected South Carolina’s law requiring photo-identification at the polls as discriminatory against minority voters.
- December 16, 2011 | KnoxNews.com Gov. Bill Haslam voices concerns about requiring photo ID for voting Tennessee governor Bill Haslam worries that the new state law that requires voters to have government-issued photo ID will make it "unnecessarily hard" for some to cast their vote in next year's elections.
- December 15, 2011 | American Urban Radio Networks (Sheridan Broadcasting Network) Lawyers' Committee's Eric Marshall on Attorney General Eric Holder's Speech on Voting Rights Eric Marshall of the Lawyers' Committee applauded Attorney General Eric Holder's mention of modernizing the outdated voter registration system and support of federal legislation to eliminate deceptive practices.
- December 14, 2011 | Washington Post In wake of robocalls case, Cardin seeks new federal law against election tricks Senators Benjamin Cardin (MD) & Charles Schumer (NY) introduce the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Act of 2011. If passed the bill could lead to federal criminal charges to those convicted of providing false or misleading information to voters with the intent to suppress their vote.
- December 13, 2011 | New York Times Holder Signals Tough Review of New State Laws on Voting Attorney General Holder said the Department of Justice would be scrutinizing new state voter laws more closely to ensure they do not have a discriminatory impact. He also called for modernizing the voter registration system with automatic voter registration and introducing legislation to curb the practice of using deceptive robocalls and flyers to intimidate or trick voters into staying home on election day.
- December 12, 2011 | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Amended state voter ID bill moves forward Pennsylvania's state Senate narrowly passed a restrictive government-issued voter ID bill through committee. Like similar bills passed in states across the country, this bill, if passed, will make it more difficult for groups who are less likely to have the necessary qualifying identification -- senior citizens, people with disabilities, students, minorities, and low-income citizens -- to vote in the 2012 presidential election and beyond.
- December 12, 2011 | Charleston Regional Business Journal Civil rights groups attempt to block S.C. voter ID law from taking effect More than 200,000 registered voters in South Carolina who have already proven their residency and eligibility to vote, could have their right to vote taken away if a new state law goes into effect. The new law requires registered voters to present a current, valid government-issued photo ID in order to vote, but many voters, especially the elderly, people with disabilities, students, low-income voters, and minorities don't have the required ID.
- December 06, 2011 | Baltimore Sun Schurick guilty of election fraud in robocall case Today, top political aide to former Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich was found guilty of election fraud and using deceptive tactics to discourage voters from going to the polls.
- December 05, 2011 | Lawyers.com Don’t Let Rick Perry – or Anyone Else – Keep You from Voting Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's gaffe at St. Anselm College, where he asked students who would be 21 by November 12, 2011 to vote for him (the legal voting age is 18 and the general Election Day in 2012 is November 6th, not November 12th), provide an example of accidental misinformation that could confuse voters or potentially keep people from casting their ballots. However, significant changes to voter registration and proof of eligibility laws have the power to confuse and disenfranchise far more voters.
- December 05, 2011 | NPR Maryland Case May Discourage Political Dirty Tricks A Maryland case highlights the need for national legislation to combat deceptive practices. Some of the most common examples of these political dirty tricks include anonymous flyers and robocalls telling people to vote on the wrong day and flyers advertising false precinct changes intended to make voters go to the wrong polling place.
- December 04, 2011 | Wausau Daily Herald Voter ID becomes law of unintended consequences In her 84 years of life, Ruthelle Frank never needed a birth certificate -- until now. Wisconsin's restrictive new government-issued voter ID law goes into effect in 2012, and without a birth certificate, Ruthelle won't be able to get a state identification card to be able to vote. Born in her home in 1927, Ruthelle never had a birth certificate -- and never needed one. She's voted in every election since 1948.
- December 01, 2011 | The Tennessean Nashville homeless man says he got voter ID runaround
- November 29, 2011 | Roll Call Parties Contest Election-Monitoring Techniques Poll monitors for the King Street Patriots in Texas have been accused of intimidating voters under the guise of preventing election fraud. The group is also being sued for allegedly violating Texas campaign finance law.
- November 21, 2011 | The Florida Independent New bill would nix prohibition against poll workers asking voters for ‘additional information’ A newly proposed bill in Florida will make it even harder for eligible citizens to cast their ballots. Under the proposed bill, even if a voter brings their government-issued photo ID, and the address on the card matches the address in the voting rolls, and all of the signatures match, a poll worker can still insist on more proof that a voter is eligible.
- November 18, 2011 | Albuquerque Journal Possible Vote Fraud Findings Dwindle NM Secretary of State Dianna Duran, who had been investigating voter fraud in her state, revised her claims of voter fraud downward. Previously, she had claimed that 37 out of 1.1 million registered voters (0.0034%) were possibly non-citizens.
- November 17, 2011 | New York Times Disenfranchise No More The Department of Justice has been protecting the rights of voters for decades using a procedure called preclearance which prevents states from enacting major changes to its election law unless states can show that the new laws will not have a racially discriminatory impact.
- November 15, 2011 | The Tennessean Murfreesboro couple testify in D.C. about voter ID experience Lee and Phyllis Campbell, a retired couple from Tennessee who had difficulty obtaining a free ID card for voting testified before a panel of House Democrats on November 14. They explained how when they asked for the free ID, the driver's license testing center worker encouraged them to pay $8 for a new license, because a free ID involved "too much paperwork."
- November 15, 2011 | Brave New Foundation Who is Denying YOUR Vote: New Video on Voter Suppression Laws from Brave New Foundation! Proponents of government-issued voter ID laws claim that the laws prevent fraud - but invalid voter registrations are rarer than one in a million. Government-issued voter ID laws do nothing to prevent voter impersonation fraud - but they do disenfranchise targeted populations, particularly the elderly, people with disabilities, students, low-income voters, and minorities.
- November 08, 2011 | Huffington Post Election Day Robocall Instructs Voters To Go To Polls Tomorrow On November 8, Ohio voters received a suspicious phone call telling them the state election was a day later. On the morning of Election Day, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) office received the automated message, which stated that the election would take place “tomorrow.”
- November 08, 2011 | Associated Press Maine voters restore Election Day registration In a November 8 ballot referendum, Maine voters restored Election Day registration. 60% of voters called for the repeal of a law passed in June, which forced voters to register two days before an election. The measure had rolled back more than four-decades of successful same-day registration.
- November 07, 2011 | Middle Tennessee State University Poll Report Voters Don't Know Details of Tennessee Voter ID Law A new poll conducted by the Middle Tennessee State University Survey Group shows that voters do not understand the details of Tennessee's new government-issued photo ID law. Overall, 71% of those surveyed said they were aware of the law, but only 51% of those age 39 or younger knew about it.
- October 30, 2011 | The Commercial Appeal Voter ID Initiative Set for Mississippi Ballot On November 8, Mississippi voters will have the opportunity to decide whether the state should require government-issued photo identification at polling places.
- October 23, 2011 | Daytona Beach News-Journal New Florida election law stirs up controversy Civics teacher Jill Cicciarelli could face thousands of dollars in fines for helping her students to register to vote under Florida's excessively restrictive new law.
- October 20, 2011 | Daily News Journal 91 year-old Tennessee woman unable to stand in line for ID Virginia Lasater, 91, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee could not get a photo ID card to vote, because she could not physically stand in line at the driver testing center. Lasater has been voting and has worked on campaigns for the past 40 years, but has never had photo identification.
- October 20, 2011 | Reuters League of Women Voters files suit to block Wisconsin's new voter ID law The Wisconsin League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit on October 20 to block the state's government-issued photo identification law.
- October 20, 2011 | Slate The ugly parallels between Jim Crow and modern vote-suppression laws. Although the most obvious forms of vote suppression have faded away, new and inisidious suppression efforts have sprung up, cloaked in the language of preventing voter fraud - much like vote suppression during the Jim Crow era.
- October 19, 2011 | ABC 27 Pennsylvanians Rally Against Voter ID Voters gathered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to protest House Bill 934, which requires voters to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls. The bill has passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and is pending before the Senate.
- October 19, 2011 | NPR, Associated Press Stories of Disenfranchisement in South Carolina Delores Freelon and Willie Blair are just two of the 178,000 South Carolina voters who may lost their right to vote because of the state's new government-issued photo ID law.
- October 12, 2011 | Wisconsin State Journal New student IDs for voting could cost UW-Madison $700,000 every two years Issuing new ID cards to students that comply with the new Wisconsin government-issued photo ID law would cost UW-Madison alone $700,000 every two years.
- October 05, 2011 | Times Free Press 96-year-old Tennessee Woman Denied Voting ID Dorothy Cooper, 96, of Chattanooga was denied an identification card required to vote last month. Although Cooper provided a birth certificate, a rent receipt, and a voter registration card, officials at the Tennessee Department of Safety still refused to give her a photo ID card because her current surname did not match her maiden name listed on her birth certificate.
- October 04, 2011 | TPM Muckraker Voter ID Under Fire At Progressive Conference; Obama Calls Restrictions A 'Big Mistake' In this article, Ryan J. Reilly discusses the progressive community's response to recently-passed voter ID restrictions.
- September 29, 2011 | ThinkProgress Maine Secretary of State Targets Student Voters Maine Secretary of State Charlie Summers gave 206 university students a grim ultimatum: register a car in the state, give up their right to vote. The letter gave the students 30 days to register their vehicle with the Maine DMV, or return an enclosed form canceling their voter registration. College students had the right to vote in their school’s state affirmed by the Supreme Court in 1979.
- September 09, 2011 Countering the Assault on Voting Rights Panel Videos Videos from the September 8th Panel Discussion, "Countering the Assault on Voting Rights"
- September 07, 2011 Assault on Voting Rights Panel This Thursday, September 8 The Lawyers' Committee is hosting an exciting panel discussion exploring how we can best fight back against the current assault on voting rights this Thursday at 10 a.m.
- September 07, 2011 | THE CAPITAL TIMES (MADISON.COM) Top DOT official tells staff not to mention free voter ID cards to the public — unless they ask "An internal memo from a top Department of Transportation official instructs workers at Division of Motor Vehicles service centers not to tell members of the public that they can obtain voter identification cards free of charge - unless they know to ask for it. The memo was sent to all state Department of Transportation and Department of Motor Vehicles employees on July 1, the same day employees were to begin issuing photo IDs in accordance with a controversial new Voter Photo ID law adopted earlier in the year."
- September 01, 2011 DOJ Requests that South Carolina Provide More Information to Prove Voter ID Law Won’t Disenfranchise The U.S. Department of Justice has told South Carolina it needs to provide further evidence that its new voter ID law will not disenfranchise minority voters before it will pre-clear the law.
- August 12, 2011 | www.mysanantonio.com Veterans Affairs Photo IDs Not Enough to Vote in Texas The controversial voter ID bill in Texas would exclude VA photo IDs from the list of accepted photo IDs required to vote.
- August 03, 2011 | The Miami Herald Miami Herald Chastises Florida Secretary of State for Views on Judicial Preclearance An August 3rd editorial in The Miami Herald claims Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning wants to reform the way elections laws are precleared for purely partisan reasons. The Herald argues that Governor Rick Scott and his administration want the court system, not the Department of Justice, to review Florida’s new voter ID law because they feel it has a greater chance of being precleared in front of certain judges.
- August 01, 2011 Deceptive Absentee Ballots Sent to Wisconsin Voters Wisconsin voters in at least two state senate districts have reportedly received misleading absentee ballots, underlining the need for legislation that combats voter deception and intimidation during and around elections.
- July 26, 2011 | BET Floridians Protest New Voting Law Civil rights groups have urged the Justice Department to reject the new law.
- July 25, 2011 | Charleston Democrat Examiner Getting the "Free" Voter ID in Wisconsin an Ordeal Getting the "free" Voter ID in Wisconsin proves to be an ordeal for one citizen whose personal banking statement was scrutinized.
- July 24, 2011 | Columbus Dispatch New Ohio Law Ends Popular Voting Options 234,000 absentee or early ballots that new law ends were cast in county in 2008.
- July 20, 2011 Stephen Colbert Pokes Fun at Voter ID Bills Across the Nation On his July 20th show, Stephen Colbert pokes fun at the Voter ID bills springing up all over the nation, suggesting that they are thinly-veiled attempts to disenfranchise voters over a nonexistent issue.
- July 15, 2011 Rachel Maddow Denounces Voter Suppression Bills Across the Nation On her July 15th show, Rachel Maddow sharply denounces voter suppression bills popping up around the nation, noting that minority, elderly, student and lower-income voters would be the most affected by these bills. Her guest, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder of the Rainbow Push Coalition, adds historical context to the discussion.
- July 02, 2011 | Wisconsin State Journal Wisconsin Voters Struggle to Acquire Photo ID Cards Wisconsin voters looking to acquire free photo ID cards on Friday faced long waits and confusion, the Wisconsin State Journal’s Doug Erickson reports.
- June 28, 2011 National and State Resources to Combat Photo ID Bills Proposed legislation that would require voters to produce photo identification at the polls is popping up in roughly half of the states across the country. Click for a suite of national and state-specific resources that have been used in the fight against photo ID laws.
- June 23, 2011 | WRAL.com North Carolina Governor Perdue Vetoes Voter ID Bill WRAL.com’s Laura Leslie reports that North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue vetoed a bill that would have required voters to show photo ID at the polls.
- June 24, 2011 Ohio Republican Secretary of State Blasts Voter ID Poll Tax Jon Husted, former Republican Speaker of the Ohio House and current Secretary of State, blasted the General Assembly for passing a voter ID bill that, "does little to protect against fraud and excludes legally registered voters' ballots from counting."
- June 21, 2011 | The Washington Post Washington Post Denounces Voter ID Bills A June 21 editorial by The Washington Post denounces legislation that restricts early voting or requires voters to show photo ID at the polls, contending it moves “the nation in the wrong direction.”
- June 17, 2011 | CTPost.com Missouri Governor Nixon Vetoes Photo ID Bill The Associated Press’ David Lieb reports Missouri Governor Jax Nixon vetoed legislation that would have required voters to show photo ID at the polls. In striking down the bill, Nixon also vetoed the creation of an early voting period, a measure he supports. Ultimately, however, Nixon could not justify making the voting process more difficult.
- June 14, 2011 | BlackAmericaWeb.com Civil Rights Groups Denounce “Voter Suppression” Bills BlackAmericaWeb.com’s Jackie Jones reports on a group of civil rights organizations that held a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Monday, June 13 to address legislation it amounts to “voter suppression.”
- June 12, 2011 | The Associated Press Missouri Governor Nixon Faces Tough Decision The Associated Press’ David Lieb reports Missouri Governor Jay Nixon must decide whether to veto a bill that institutes early voting but also requires voters to show photo ID at the polls. While Nixon supports early voting, he has said a provision that demands voters present photo ID is an “onerous requirement.”
- June 12, 2011 | USA Today USA Today Criticizes Voter ID Laws A USA Today editorial condemns voter ID laws, describing them as a partisan attempt to lower voter turnout for political gain. This type of legislation, according to USA Today, has the potential to dissuade the “old and infirm, the young and the poor” from voting.
- June 07, 2011 | Project H.O.M.E. Tell Your PA House Legislator to Vote ‘No’ on HB 934 Project H.O.M.E. is giving residents of Pennsylvania an opportunity to tell their House legislators to vote ‘No’ on HB 934, a bill that would require voters to present photo identification at the polls.
- June 05, 2011 | The New York Times New York Times Editorial Critical of Voter ID Bills In a June 5 editorial, The New York Times argues that Republicans have shown support for voter identification bills only because Democrats will stand to lose votes at the 2012 elections. According to the Times, minorities and young people are at the highest risk of being disenfranchised.
- May 30, 2011 | The Portland Daily Sun Maine Bill Could Disenfranchise Thousands In a May 30 editorial published in The Portland Daily Sun, Maine Representative Ben Chipman (I) argues against a bill that would do away with same-day voter registration. Chipman writes that “voters registering for the first time, college students, single parents, homeless, and low-income people who move frequently” would be negatively impacted by the bill.
- May 26, 2011 Executive Director Barbara Arnwine in The Root: ID Laws Burdensome for Minority and Low Income Voters Election Protection leader Barbara Arnwine, Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, was quoted in an article in The Root describing the effects of new voter ID laws on black voters.
- May 26, 2011 | Office of Governor Mark Dayton Minn. Gov. Vetoes Voter ID Bill Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton vetoed a bill requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. In his May 26 letter to the President of the Minnesota Senate, Dayton writes that it is his "duty as Governor to ensure every eligible Minnesota voter is able to exercise this fundamental right and does not face barriers to doing so."
- May 25, 2011 | MSNBC MSNBC Weighs Effect of Voter ID Laws MSNBC National Affairs writer Tom Curry discusses the effect voter identification laws will have on the outcome of the 2012 elections. Curry quotes Daniel Tojaki, a Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Board Member and an election law expert at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, as saying that “elderly, disabled, minority, and poor voters…are likely to be especially hard hit.”
- May 25, 2011 | Associated Press Wisconsin to Require Photo Identification at Polls Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed into law a bill that requires citizens to show photo identification before voting, potentially disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin voters.
- May 24, 2011 | www.NPR.org NPR Debates Need for Voter Identification Laws NPR’s Talk of the Nation hosts a debate on whether states should require citizens to show photo identification before they may vote. Featured on the program is Justin Levitt, an associate professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and former Election Protection alumnus.
- May 06, 2011 | OrlandoSentinel.com Florida Legislature Passes Disenfranchising Bill The Orlando Sentinel’s Aaron Deslatte and Kathleen Haughney report that the Florida Legislature has passed an election bill limiting the franchise.
- April 27, 2011 Election Protection Testifies Against WI Voter ID Election Protection leader, Eric Marshall, of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, submitted testimony opposing Wisconsin Assembly Bill 7 - requiring government-issued photo identification in order to vote - stating that it would, "make Wisconsin among the most restrictive election systems in the country."
- April 27, 2011 New York Times Editorial on the “Threat to Voting” The New York Times published an editorial on April 27, 2011, "The Republican Threat to Voting," that highlights the raft of disenfranchising legislation that has been sprouting up across the country.
- April 15, 2011 | Tampa Tribune Florida Election Bill a Step Back for Voters The Tampa Tribune’s Jerome Stockfisch reports that voting rights activists are outraged at some of the provisions of Florida House Bill 1355 which would make drastic changes to Florida’s current voting rights laws, likely disenfranchising many.
- April 14, 2011 | greatfallstribune.com Governor Schweitzer Vetoes Montana Bills That Threaten Voters' Rights The Great Falls Tribune reports Montana Governor Schweitzer vetoed, among other bills, one that would eliminate same-day voter registration.
- April 08, 2011 | The Columbus Dispatch Ohio Secretary of State Husted Opposes Photo ID Bill Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted opposes a photo ID bill introduced in the state legislature. Husted argued that current identification requirements, including bank statements and utility bills, should be sufficient.
- March 31, 2011 | AP Arkansas Senate Rejects Voter ID Bill Election Protection applauds a decision by the Arkansas Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee to reject a plan that would require voters to show photo identification at the polls.
- March 25, 2011 | Associated Press State Lawmakers Across the Nation Push for Disenfranchising Voter ID Bills Mike Baker of the Associated Press reports that state legislators across the country are pushing for voting reforms that impose the burden of requiring voters to have valid and current photo ID with them to cast a ballot.
- March 21, 2011 Election Protection Testifies Against Voter ID in WI, PA and OH Election Protection continues to lead the fight against disenfranchising voter ID bills across the nation.
- March 16, 2011 | news-record.com Proposed Photo ID Bill Could Disenfranchise Many in North Carolina A proposed photo ID bill before the North Carolina state House and Senate would require voters to present photo identification at the polls. The Greensboro, NC, News & Record's Mark Binker reports on the burden the bill would place on college students and the elderly.
- March 07, 2011 | Washingtonpost.com Protecting the College Student Vote The Washington Post’s Peter Wallsten reports that Republicans in state legislatures “are pushing for new laws that would prohibit many college students from voting in the state—and effectively keep some from voting at all.” Election Protection hopes that legislators will look at ways to expand access to include every eligible American voter, rather than seeking to limit the franchise in an effort to combat in-person voter fraud that has yet to prove substantial.
- February 15, 2011 | desmoinesregister.com IA County Election Officials Oppose Bill Requiring Photo ID at Polls An article in the Des Moines Register highlights local election officials' statements saying that a proposed bill that would require Iowans to show photo identification to cast a ballot "would be expensive, would pinch voter turnout-and is unnecessary."
- February 07, 2011 Election Protection Partners Oppose MO Voter ID Bills A group of Election Protection partners sent a letter to the MO House Elections Committee opposing HJR 14 and HB 239 for the anti-democratic and discriminatory effect they would have if enacted.
- December 26, 2010 | NYtimes.com Election Protection's Daniel Kolb NYT Letter to the Editor Election Protection's Daniel Kolb wrote a letter in response to "How to Turn Off Voters" (editorial, Dec. 15) suggesting reforms that could "make the democratic process far more inclusive."
- December 06, 2010 Mayor Bloomberg's Report on New York Voter Access Mayor Bloomberg issued a report showing New York state last in voter access. His report advocates certain reforms, including early voting, no-excuse absentee voting, and increasing voter registration opportunities.
- November 11, 2010 | Philadelphia Daily News Voter Required to Swear on Bible when Confirming Identity According to the Philadelphia Daily News, a Philadelphia voter was forced to affirm her identify by swearing on a Bible before being allowed to vote on Election Day.
- November 10, 2010 | Baltimore Sun Maryland Attorney General Files Complaint in Election Night Robocall Incident The Maryland Attorney General is seeking millions of dollars in fines for robocalls to thousands of Maryland residents on Election Day, stating that the calls were a clear attempt to suppress voter turnout among minority voters.
- November 04, 2010 | New York Times New York Times Highlights Election Protection and Issues at the Polls In a New York Times article featuring the Election Protection coalition, the various issues voters faced on election day across the country are highlighted.
- November 03, 2010 | The Atlantic MAP OF POLL CLOSINGS - IN EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME The Atlantic has posted a great map of poll closings, IN EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME.
- November 02, 2010 A Host of Monitors Will Watch NYC’s Electronic Voting Election monitors will greet voters across the city. Phone lines have been set up to field questions about electronic voting machines. And Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, fearful of widespread confusion, has urged residents to call 311 and to post complaints on Twitter.
- November 02, 2010 Deceptive Flyer Targets African American Voters in Texas
- November 02, 2010 Georgia: Political Shirts Not Allowed in Polls People heading to vote Tuesday wearing tea party shirts could be heading into trouble.
- November 02, 2010 | Associated Press Group used Arpaio's name without his permission Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's name was mistakenly signed onto a fundraising e-mail by the group Ban Amnesty Now that warned that illegal immigrants were compromising the election.
- November 02, 2010 | Talking Points Memo Muckraker MN Anti-Voter Fraud Group: Ignore Judge's Ruling Against 'I.D. Me' Buttons Minnesota Majority, one of the groups behind the anti-voter fraud initiative in the state called "Election Integrity Watch," told supporters in an e-mail last night to go ahead and wear their "Please I.D. Me" buttons and Tea Party apparel to the polls today despite a federal judge's ruling yesterday that such items would interfere with the elections process.
- November 02, 2010 New York City Voters Encounter Only Scattered Problems Election Protection volunteers help monitor scattered reports of issues at the voting polls, noting that New Yorkers appear to have experienced fewer issues casting ballots this year.
- November 02, 2010 Record Number of Early Ballots Cast A record number of voters have cast early ballots for a midterm election. The total number of early votes has topped 16 million, according to one preliminary analysis, and is on track to be slightly shy of the historic number of early ballots cast in the 2008 presidential election.
- November 02, 2010 Some newly registered voters through Nevada DMV will be turned away Nevadans who applied to become registered voters through the Department of Motor Vehicles after Oct. 2 and expect to vote in today's election will be turned away at the polls, according to the Washoe County Registrar of Voters office.
- November 02, 2010 Vist www.OurVoteLive.org on Election Day! We'll be posting updates on our blog at www.OurVoteLive.org all day on Election Day. The website also features a search page where you can view all reports logged by our hotline and field volunteers.
- November 02, 2010 Voting Allegations Begin Every Election Day brings allegations of voter intimidation and voter fraud from both sides. This year, numerous allegations have already emerged.
- November 01, 2010 | The Grio 10 Ways to Protect Your Vote on Election Day The Grio has posted their Top 10 tips to ensure that all voters can successfully cast their vote on Election Day.
- November 01, 2010 AL Secretary of State Offers Reward for Voter Fraud Reports Alabama Secretary of State Beth Chapman announced today that her office is offering a $5,000 reward for reports of voter fraud that lead to a felony conviction.
- November 01, 2010 | Associated Press Alaska Supreme Court Allows for Write-In Lists The Alaska Supreme Court holds that election workers can provide a list of write-in candidates to voters who request one -- but only when a list is necessary to meet a voter’s specific need.
- November 01, 2010 Early Voting Battles in Harris County Continue Reporting on voter fraud and voter intimidation cases continues in Harris County.
- November 01, 2010 Election Fraud Charges Swirl Even Before Election Day Democrats and Republicans gear up for legal battles over tight races.
- November 01, 2010 Election Officials Ready for Tuesday, But Wild Cards Could Disrupt the Voting Process Once Again After a decade of adjusting to new rules, new machines, and new voters, many experts claim that election officials and polling places have finally started to work out the issues.
- November 01, 2010 Feds to Monitor Elections in Three Arizona Counties In Arizona, Federal Election Officials will be stationed in the Navajo, Apache, and Maricopa counties to observe polling places and field complaints about the ballot casting process.
- October 29, 2010 African American Voters and 2010 Midterm Elections Executive Director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law, Barbara Arnwine speaks on Tea Party affiliated "Election Integrity" programs across the country aiming to suppress the vote. Their efforts have already affected early voting efforts of African American and Latino voters in Texas. A group in Minnesota called "Election Integrity Watch" sponsored by the Minnesota Majority is running a campaign to monitor voter fraud on election day. Groups looking to intimidate African American voters tend to use "voter fraud" regardless of a lack of examples of actual voter fraud.
- October 29, 2010 Campaigns Monitoring Voter Fraud Raise Suppression Fears In the lead up to the November elections, there have been many reports in the media about organized campaigns to monitor voter fraud at the polls. There is no question that voter fraud is a crime. However, these campaigns must be careful not to suppress the rights of eligible voters. If you have any questions or if your right to vote is being challenged, please call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
- October 29, 2010 New York City’s Board of Elections Continues to Misstep New York City has come under fire for a litany of mistakes in the months leading up to Election Day. A recent New York Times editorial titled, “At the Polls, With Fingers Crossed,” outlines these complaints and calls for reform of the Board’s selection process.
- October 29, 2010 News & Reports on Early Voting Early Voting is underway in 30 states, giving voters a chance to cast their ballots before Election Day, Nov. 2nd. Turnout has been high in many states, with most districts reporting no problems. But some voters have reported difficulties casting their ballot.
- October 28, 2010 DOJ Probes TX Voter Intimidation Complaints Early Voting began on October 18th with reports that a group called the King Street Patriots had been monitoring polls looking for voter fraud and causing complaints from some voters about their tactics.
- October 28, 2010 Early Voting in Dallas County Shatters Previous First-Day Record Early Voting began on October 18th and Dallas County voters broke the previous record of turnout on the first day of voting.
- October 28, 2010 Early Voting Up in Georgia Over 300,000 Georgians have cast early ballots or completed absentee ballots, surpassing the number of voters who participated in advanced voting during the last gubernatorial race.
- October 28, 2010 Election Officials Encourage Absentee, Early Voting Thousands of voters have turned out to take advantage of Early Voting, which runs through Sunday, October 31st. Elections officials in the state are urging voters to cast their ballots before Election Day by voting early or submitting an absentee ballot.
- October 28, 2010 Harris County Warns Parties to Watch the Poll-Watchers After complaints of poll watchers intimidating voters in predominantly minority polling locations, the Harris County Attorney warned the leaders of both major political parties that poll workers must obey the law.
- October 28, 2010 In North Carolina, White GOP Men Lead the Numbers in Early Voting According to a nonpartisan campaign watchdog, Democracy North Carolina, white Republican men have been the largest group to participate in Early Voting. This contrasts with the 2008 election when black women led all groups in Early Voting.
- October 28, 2010 Parties Seek Edge via Head Start at Georgia Ballot Boxes After waiting in line for long periods of time in 2008, voters throughout the State have been pleased with the convenience of Early Voting this year.
- October 28, 2010 Rev. Sharpton Urges Gainesville Crowd to Vote Early During the African American Accountability Alliance's Empowerment Sunday in Gainesville, community leaders urged blacks to participate in early voting.
- October 28, 2010 Voters & Candidates Continue Talk of Voting Problems New Hanover County, which has reported high numbers of early voters, has experienced some difficulties at polling stations.
- October 28, 2010 Voters Meet Long Lines on First Day of Early Voting in Southwest Florida Hoping to avoid the crowds on Election Day, voters in Southwest Florida have sought participate in Early Voting, which started on October 18th.
- October 20, 2010 ACLU Announces 2010 Voter Empowerment Program The ACLU recently announced its 2010 Voter Empowerment Program, which includes voter education materials in 19 states, plus information about voting with a criminal conviction in several others. The ACLU has a number of available resources to assist voters.
- October 19, 2010 "Latinos for Reform" Urge Latino Voters NOT to Vote According to The Politico, Latino voters in the State of Nevada are being urged to not vote in the 2010 midterm elections by “Latinos for Reform.”
- September 15, 2010 DC Primary Program in the News The Washington City Paper posts problems reported to the 1-866-OUR-VOTE hotline and mediated by the Election Protection Coalition in DC.
- September 14, 2010 NY Primary Program in the News Today is Primary Day in New York and The New York Times, WNYC, and the New York Daily News recently posted online stories highlighting Election Protection's program.
- August 03, 2010 Early Voting Locations Cut Broward and Palm Beach county residents will find far fewer locations to cast early voting ballots.
- August 03, 2010 | SunSentinel.com Florida Early Voting Locations Cut Broward and Palm Beach county residents will find far fewer locations to cast early voting ballots.
- July 23, 2010 | McAlester News-Capital Oklahoma County Election Board Advises: Bring ID to Polls Pittsburg County Election Board Secretary advises that voters who registered by mail will be asked for identification when they vote in a federal election for the first time as required by the Help America Vote Act.
- June 16, 2010 New York Senate Passes Anti-Deceptive Practices Bill On June 15, 2010 the New York State Senate passed S2554B, “The Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act,” by a vote of 33-28. Election Protection’s New York leadership played an important role in the bill’s passage, working with the Senate on the legislation, testifying in front of the committee last year, and sending a letter of support on the eve of the vote.
- June 07, 2010 Election Protection and Lawyers’ Committee Support Legislation Allowing Vote By Mail Election Protection and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law support the Universal Right to Vote by Mail Act of 2010
- May 28, 2010 South Carolina House Passes Voter ID BIll On May 5, 2010, despite strenuous objections of Democratic members, Republican Representatives of South Carolina’s General Assembly pushed through a bill through the House that would require voters to present a photo-ID prior to voting.
- November 19, 2009 Ohio House Passes Election Reform Bill In an article today, The Columbus Dispatch reports on the Ohio House passing a bill that would change ”virtually all aspects of the voting process.”
- November 18, 2009 ACLU’s Executive Director Calls for Modernizing Virginia Elections The Augusta Free Press published a column on November 12 by Kent Willis, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia. Willis mentions two major issues Virginia voters faced during the November election – undertrained poll workers and the state’s “antiquated election laws.”
- November 18, 2009 Secretary of State to Streamline Minnesota's Absentee Ballot Process On Friday, Nov. 13, Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie proposed a redesign of absentee ballot envelopes and instructions, reports Hometownsource.com. The redesign will encompass recommendations made by voters, experts and election officials in a series of meetings held by the Secretary of State across the state after the 2008 elections.
- November 14, 2009 Ohio Considers Election Reform, Voter Registration Modernization With election reform bills introduced in both chambers of Ohio General Assembly, two newspapers The Intelligencer and The Columbus Dispatch published articles that examine major recommendations. One of them is to modernize state’s outdated voter registration system.
- November 12, 2009 Rear Admiral James J. Carey Explains Why the MOVE Act Is Not Enough A Veterans Day op-ed in The Washington Times highlights Congress’ recent efforts to overcome the shortcomings of our absentee ballot process by enacting the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act. However, as the author of “Securing the vote for all” Rear Admiral James J. Carey points out, while the MOVE Act will greatly aid the ability for our military members to cast ballots, we truly need to modernize our outdated voter registration system.
- November 10, 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act to Streamline Absentee Voting A November 9 article in The Hill reports on Congress’ efforts to reform our outdated absentee voting system, which commonly disenfranchises Americans serving in the military.
- November 09, 2009 Virginia Students Volunteer on Election Day Election Protection would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone who volunteered with us on Election Day. Some of Election Protection’s student volunteers, including Melinda Hightower, one of Election Protection’s student leaders in Virginia, were even cited in Virginia Law Weekly for their contributions.
- November 03, 2009 Election Protection ready for Nov. 3rd Elections Today, with Virginians across the Commonwealth turning out to elect a new Governor, Election Protection is on the ground to ensure the voting process is a smooth one.
- October 05, 2009 Last Day to Register to Vote for Virginia's 2009 General Election It's the last day to register to vote in Virginia's general election which will take place on November 3.
- September 17, 2009 Absentee Ballots Available In Va. Beginning Friday Absentee ballots will be available in all 134 localities beginning Friday, September 18, 2009.
- August 31, 2009 Election Protection Fights for Student Voting Rights in Virginia Election Protection has been an active member of the Virginia State Board of Elections Task Force on Residency, fighting to ensure students across the Commonwealth will not be prevented from registering to vote where they go to school.
- August 31, 2009 Voter Registration Modernization The 2008 election was just another illustration of what makes our democratic system so great - millions of voters streaming to the polling place regardless of age, race, income or level of education. Unfortunately, the news wasn't all good. Voters across the country arrived at the polls to find that their registrations had never been processed, that their names had been purged from voter lists, or that they had missed the registration deadlines altogether. Fortunately, there is a solution to the problem - Voter Registration Modernization.
- August 31, 2009 Voter Registration Modernization is Gaining Momentum! A bipartisan group of officials, including former Senators Thomas A. Daschle and John C. Danforth, as well as Trevor Potter, former general counsel for John McCain's presidential campaign and Mark Elias, lead lawyer for Al Franken's 2008 recount, have come together in support of modernizing our antiquated voter registration system. The Lawyers' Committee applauds the Committee to Modernize Voter Registration's support of this critical reform.
- August 07, 2009 Kansas Ahead of the Pack As of last week, Kansas voters are able to register to vote online, a huge improvement to our outdated registration system. According to a local news source, KCTV5 News, Kansas's Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh said, "An online voter registration application is the next step in making the traditional elections process easier, faster and cheaper."
- August 07, 2009 Voting to Be a Little More Straight-Forward in Ohio An Associated Press article reported on Tuesday that if the Ohio legislature does its job, Ohio voters can look forward to what will hopefully be a smoother registration and voting experience this year.
- July 28, 2009 New York Times Highlights Failures in Voter Registration System Election Protection Coalition partner The Brennan Center for Justice has released a study examining voter registration systems in sixteen different countries and four Canadian provinces. With only 68 percent, the United States fell far behind countries such as Argentina and Belize, which both register more than 95% of their eligible population.
- July 23, 2010 | McAlester News-Capital Election Board Advises: Bring ID to Polls Pittsburg County Election Board Secretary advises that voters who registered by mail will be asked for identification when they vote in a federal election for the first time as required by the Help America Vote Act.
- July 09, 2009 Election Protection Partners File 2 Major Voter Registration Lawsuits Citing clear evidence that hundreds of thousands of low-income Indiana and New Mexico residents have illegally been denied the opportunity to register to vote, Election Protection legal leader the Lawyers' Committee and its partners filed lawsuits on Thursday, July 9, 2008 against officials in both states for violations of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).
- July 09, 2009 New Jersey Now Offers Permanent Absentee Request New Jersey governor Jon S. Corzine has signed into law a new bill allowing residents to sign up for a permanent absentee registration.
- July 07, 2009 Get More Americans onto the Voting Rolls The Kansas City Star joined a growing number of newspapers supporting voter registration modernization when it published an editorial using a recent study released by Election Protection partner, the Brennan Center for Justice, ranking America dead last in a rating of voter registration among 17 democracies, to urge Congress to act.
- June 30, 2009 Another editorial in support of Voter Registration Modernization The Baltimore Sun published an editorial on June 22nd blaming the United States' abysmally low number of registered voters on our inefficient paper-based registration system, and urging Congress to take immediate action to reform the system.
- June 30, 2009 U.S. Voter Registration System in Need of an Update Roll Call joins the growing chorus urging Congress to modernize our voter registration system in an editorial published on June 29. The editorial points out the United States' embarrassingly low level of voter registration in comparison to other nations, including some less-developed, and puts the blame squarely at the feet of our antiquated voter registration system.
- June 26, 2009 Election Protection Leader Quoted in Kansas City Star The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law's legal director, Jon Greenbaum, was quoted in the Kansas City Star today discussing the settlement reached with the state over its implementation of the National Voter Registration Act, "'The lawsuit has led to a 2,000 percent increase in the number of people registering to vote at Missouri public assistance agencies,' Greenbaum said. 'We appreciate that since they've been under court order, Missouri's Department of Social Services has been a national model in showing how to implement this law.'"
- June 26, 2009 Settlement in Missouri is a Victory for Low-Income Voters In a victory for low-income voters, Election Protection and its partners reached a settlement with the state of Missouri that will continue a program that has already resulted in over 100,000 new voter registrations collected at public assistance agencies in just a few months.
- June 25, 2009 Bipartisan Support for Voter Registration Modernization The former general counsels to the Obama and McCain presidential campaigns, Bob Bauer and Trevor Potter, published a forceful op-ed in support of modernization our nation’s antiquated voter registration system today in the Washington Post.
- June 17, 2009 League of Women Voters of Ohio v. Brunner In a giant step towards equal access to the ballot box for all Ohio voters, the Lawyers' Committee and its partners reached a landmark settlement with the State of Ohio that on June 15' 2009 will radically transform the way elections are run.
- June 15, 2009 Why the Voting Rights Act Matters On the eve of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, the New York Times highlighted the Lawyers’ Committee’s recent victory in Georgia as evidence to why the law is so vital.
- June 02, 2009 Georgia Proof of Citizenship Policy Denied When Election Protection first learned of Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel’s use of a new database matching program aimed at removing ineligible non-citizen voters from statewide databases, the issue was brought to the Department of Justice’s attention.
- May 21, 2009 Election Day Registration Bill in New York Election Protection New York leader, Zoe Segal-Reichlin, was quoted in an article published in the Queens Tribune on May 15 about an Election Day Registration bill in the New York State Senate. “Far and away, voter registration problems were the No. 1 reason New Yorkers called the Election Protection hotline last year” Segal-Reichlin stated.
- May 21, 2009 Senator Durbin Introduces Student VOTER Bill Senator Richard Durbin introduced a bill today that would require all colleges and universities receiving federal funds to offer voter registration services to students. “Many students are first-time voters and are often unfamiliar with how to register to vote. Our bill would make registering to vote as simple as registering for class,” Durbin said. According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, the hurdles of the voter registration process is the biggest reason for low youth voter turnout in America.
- May 19, 2009 Senator Schumer Aims to Fix Military Voting Problems Last week, the New York Times published a piece by Brian Knowlton called "Lawmakers Seek Ways to Fix Military Balloting Problems." The Article focused on the efforts of Senator Charles Schumer who is looking to create legislation that will ease the problems faced by overseas voters.
- May 13, 2009 Modernizing Voter Registration in New York On April 24th the New York State Senate Standing Committee on Elections held a hearing on voter registration reform. In addition to testimony by Election Protection New York leader, Zoe Segal-Reichlin, New York State Board of Elections Co-Chair Doug Kellner provided testimony in support of modernizing our voter registration system, adding his voice to the growing chorus in support of registration modernization. Click here for more and video highlights of the hearing.
- May 12, 2009 Florida Legislators Withdraw Bad Elections Bill Thankfully, as Gary Fineout reported in last Thursday's New York Times, the bill's supporters "abandoned their plans to overhaul the state's voting rules before the legislative session end[ed] Friday."
- May 07, 2009 The Nation Looks at Election Reform The Nation's Katrina Vanden Heuvel posted a piece on Monday examining election reform topics. Citing the 2008 Election Protection Report, Heuvel discusses the problems seen in 2008, including under-resourced election officials, long lines, and registration problems.
- May 06, 2009 In Support of the Voting Rights Act Both the Washington Post and the National Journal published pieces on Monday in support of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act
- April 28, 2009 Lawyers’ Committee’s Jon Greenbaum Voices Support for Section 5 Greenbaum said, "we believe that Section 5 is constitutional and the Supreme Court will rule in our favor," adding that "any ruling by the Supreme Court that Section 5 is unconstitutional would be detrimental to the voting rights of some of the nation's most vulnerable citizens."
- April 24, 2009 Election Protection Calls for Modernizing New York’s Voter Registration System New York’s voter registration system, which was responsible for 56% of call calls to Election Protection’s non-partisan hotline last year and led to the disenfranchisement of thousands of eligible New Yorkers, urgently needs to be modernized, according to testimony before the New York State Senate Standing Committee on Elections by Zoe Segal-Reichlin, a New York City attorney and member of the New York Election Protection Coalition.
- April 21, 2009 More Editorials and Crist may Veto Disenfranchising Bill The chorus against the Florida Legislature’s rushed move to pass disenfranchising legislation grew today as the Miami Herald and the Daytona Beach News-Journal published forceful editorials opposing the bill. Additionally, Republican Governor Charlie Crist indicated he may veto the legislation when he told the St. Petersburg Times, "What is it we're trying to cure? The more opportunity you give people to vote, the better it is for democracy. So that aspect of it concerns me."
- April 20, 2009 More on Onerous Florida Bills This past weekend the St. Petersburg Times and The New York Times ran forceful editorials speaking out against the “naked power grab” that “would make it harder for eligible voters, especially those from minorities and those who are poor, to register and vote.”
- April 16, 2009 Election Protection Opposes Onerous Florida Senate Bill Today, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and other coalition partners submitted testimony to the Florida Senate Ethics and Elections Committee in opposition to Senate Bill 956. Not only would this bill increase the number of election-related problems on and before Election Day, it would severely- if not completely -- restrict the ability of non-partisan programs, like Election Protection, which solves many Election Day problems, from providing critical assistance to Florida's voters.
- April 15, 2009 More Momentum for Reforming Elections On Monday, the National Journal reported that New York Senator Charles Schumer "signaled his interest in voter registration last week, when he called on the Justice Department to sue states that fail to comply with a federal law governing how voter registration materials are disseminated."
- April 14, 2009 New York Times Renews Their Call for Registration Modernization In an editorial last Friday, the New York Times once again expressed their support for modernizing our voter registration system.
- April 09, 2009 Election Protection Partner Releases Ohio Elections Report Yesterday's Columbus Dispatch included an article covering the release of a report by Election Protection partner the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School. The report covers a variety of election reform issues, including registration issues, provisional balloting, early and mail-in voting, and poll worker recruitment and training among others
- March 20, 2009 Conservatives invoke Obama in Voting Rights Act challenge The Los Angeles Times examines one of the central arguments conservatives are making to the Supreme Court in their bid to overturn Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act – that Obama’s victory in November signals the “emergence of a colorblind society.” The Lawyers’ Committee’s Jon Greenbaum, using state-by-state voting that still shows persistent racial polarization in the South, rebuts their statements as, “an overly simplistic argument that doesn't reflect the facts."
- March 19, 2009 National Journal Highlights Election Reform Goals David Herbert’s article in yesterday's National Journal highlighted last week’s Senate Rules Committee hearing on voter registration, and cited the Lawyers’ Committee’s Jonah Goldman’s argument that “changing voter registration from an opt-in to opt-out system will have direct and indirect benefits."
- March 19, 2009 The New York Times is on Our Side, Too! The New York Times reminded us that “supporters of a more fair, efficient and inclusive system of voting should not let this moment slip away,” in their editorial “Still Broken”, which calls for a much-needed update for our antiquated voter registration system.
- March 16, 2009 Washington Post Echoes Election Protection’s Concerns The Washington Post published an editorial today reminding Congress that even though November’s election saw “no widespread fraudulent voting, electronic machines overall performed well and the vote was not too close to call,” the election was still “marred because millions of Americans were not able to cast ballots for candidates of their choice” because of problems with voter registration.
- March 13, 2009 Senate Committee Hearing Examines Flaws in Voter Registration System Jonah Goldman, Director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and emphasized that “the antiquated voter registration system ‘prevents more eligible voters from casting a ballot than any other part of the process.’”
- March 11, 2009 Senator Schumer Holds Hearing on Voter Registration Jonah Goldman, Director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, testified before the Senate Rules Committee about the effects of our flawed voter registration system on the 2008 election.
- March 10, 2009 Bipartisan Support for Voter Registration Modernization In an editorial in today’s Roll Call, “Voter Registration System Needs to be Modernized”, Robin Carnahan, the Democratic Secretary of State for Missouri, and Trey Grayson, the Republican Secretary of State for Kentucky, encouraged the Senate Rules Committee to, “in a bipartisan way, to consider the challenges of our [voter registration] system and ways in which its efficiency, accuracy and cost effectiveness can be improved.”
- February 27, 2009 Election Reforms in MN: Early Voting and Simple Absentee Early voting “cuts down dramatically on the need for absentee ballots” as “nearly one-third of the electorate nationwide voted early in the 2008 election.”
- February 26, 2009 Ritchie Seeks Front-Line Advice on Elections Reform Earlier this month, Ritchie released his 2009 agenda and before finalizing reform proposals, his office is seeking “input from local officials who are on the front lines of election administration.”
- February 24, 2009 “Commonsense” Voting Reforms Benson explains the popularity and success of early voting and no excuse absentee systems in other states and further gives examples of additional “commonsense solutions” to voting problems.
- February 18, 2009 IN Sec. of State Supports Legislation One bill would allow online voter registration and the other would establish a committee to “consider moving Indiana’s presidential primary to be one of the first on the calendar.”
- February 18, 2009 MN Sec of State Supports Early Voting Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a proponent of early voting, emphasizes how such a system would reduce costs and increase convenience for voters.
- February 12, 2009 Hope of Bipartisan Effort for Less Voting Restrictions State Senator Daylin Leach, a Democrat, is the sponsor for a current bill allowing for “early voting at designated polling places in the two weeks leading up to Election Day.”
- February 06, 2009 Republican Counsel Opposes Restrictive Voter Laws J. Randolph Evans, general counsel to the Georgia Republican Party, says the proof-of-citizenship requirement “goes too far” and claims “the burden it imposes is greater than the justification for it, or the harm the state suffers.”
- February 06, 2009 “Civil Right No. 1” Under Attack Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. considered voting rights to be “'Civil Right No. 1’ calling it ‘the foundation stone for political action’ and surest means to racial equality.” Aligned with that perspective, Section 5 was reauthorized by Congress in 2006, but now “Civil Right No. 1 is under scrutiny.
- February 05, 2009 High Turnout with Iowa’s Election Day Registration Law This pattern is consistent across the board; “[a]ll states with higher turnout offer Election Day registration…'It shows that when you open up to the door to the democratic process, people take advantage and participate,’ said Phil Roeder, a spokesman for Gov. Chet Culver.”
- February 03, 2009 Holder to Prepare Doctrinal Shift in Justice Department One lawyer discusses the expectations for the division to be "restored to its historic role of largely enforcing prohibitions against racial and ethnic discrimination," a task that had been largely forgotten.
- January 29, 2009 Eric Marshall of Lawyers’ Committee Testifies in Favor of Same Day Registration Eric Marshall, Campaign Manager for the National Campaign for Fair Elections at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, explained that Election Day Registration substantially increases average voter turnout.
- January 29, 2009 N.D. Secretary of State Opposes Restrictive Bills The two House bills opposed by Jaeger, also a Republican, would shorten the period of early voting and limit counties to three days to verify affidavit ballots of college students and other voters without proof of residency.
- January 27, 2009 A Plea to Protect Minority Voting Rights “If Section 5 is stuck down, states and localities would have far more freedom to erect barriers for minority voters—and there is little doubt that some would do just that.”
- January 22, 2009 Texas Voter ID Bill Strikes Divide Over Civil Rights Concerns Rep. Marc Veasey, a Texas Democrat, calls the bill up for consideration the "anti-voter participation" bill as photo identification laws "disenfranchise the elderly, minorities, people with disabilities, homeless people, and other segments of the electorate."
- January 16, 2009 Holder Assures Senate of a Restored Justice Department Holder, commenting on the corruption, “said that the conduct was ‘appalling’” and he will restore “civil rights enforcement, which has been criticized by the Democrats as weak.”
- January 15, 2009 Election Protection Wins “Best Election Day Guardian” Award The Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network awarded Election Protection with its Best Election Day Guardian Award for 2008. NVEN recognized Election Protection as an invaluable resource for assisting voters and helping to make the 2008 election, “the most documented in American history.”
- January 15, 2009 Holder’s Big Task: Restoring Trust in the U.S. Justice Department The investigative report comes an appropriate time, serving as a reminder for the nation’s next attorney general. “Mr. Holder's main task, should he be confirmed, will be to restore Americans' trust in a fair, honest and independent Justice Department, respectful of Congress and the Constitution.”
- January 14, 2009 Investigation of DOJ Official Reveals Political Motives Though federal prosecutors are not pursuing criminal perjury charges, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy says the investigation confirms “some of our worst fears about the Bush administration’s political corruption of the Justice Department.”
- January 14, 2009 Overburdened Early Voting Process Elicits Plea from Local Supervisors Although Florida’s early voting process was fairly effective in 2004 and 2006, the 2008 election overwhelmed the system and now a “resounding plea” is coming from elections supervisors for more “flexibility to respond to the influx of early voters.”
- January 13, 2009 Supreme Court to Hear "Most Controversial" Election Case in Years This case has launched “a national debate on racial discrimination” that legal theorists say “could be one of the most consequential election law cases on the court’s docket in years.”
- January 09, 2009 Dispute over Voting Rights Act in the Hands of Supreme Court Supreme Court will decide as soon as Friday whether “they will hear a challenge to the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act renewed by Congress in 2006”—a case that, if heard, may “be the most important election case since Bush v. Gore.”
- January 08, 2009 Ohio Governor Vetoes Restrictive Election Reform Bill The bill sought to eliminate “Golden Week” (a week in which voters could register and cast absentee ballots simultaneously) by “narrowing the window for voters to caste absentee ballots in person.”
- January 07, 2009 Pew Center on the States report finds some troops "effectively excluded from voting" David Becker of the Pew Center on the States explains, “Right now while these soldiers are serving America, America’s voting system is not serving them.”
- December 30, 2008 Hot Topics in Elections Information about suggested election reforms, resources for voters, and a summary of Election Protection's legal activities.
- December 19, 2008 Ohio Governor Strickland to Veto Elections Bill Ohio Governor Ted Strickland announced yesterday that he would veto an elections bill designed to eliminate the weeklong period that Ohioans can register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day, referred to as the “Golden Week.” The Lawyers’ Committee applauds the governor for taking a strong stand in support of Ohio voters. Allowing eligible Americans the opportunity to register and vote at the same time increases civic participation and provides more opportunities to vote, thereby reducing the strain on the system on Election Day.
- December 09, 2008 Ohio's State Senate Rushes to Pass Voting Reform An article in the Columbus Dispatch Friday, December 5, describes Ohio's Senate acting in its waning days to pass Senate Bill 380.
- November 20, 2008 DOJ Sues Alabama for Failing to Report on Absentee Voting The Associated Press reported the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the State of Alabama
- November 17, 2008 Thank You! After a year of planning, over 200,000 calls into the Our Vote Hotline, nearly 90,000 reports into OurVote Live, a quarter-million visits to www.866ourvote.org, and millions of votes protected, YOU DID IT! I want to thank you for your dedication and commitment to the fundamental right of all Americans to cast a meaningful ballot.
- November 12, 2008 Oprah advocates for Election Protection Oprah Winfrey tells viewers to call 866-OUR-VOTE if they have any problems at the polls.
- November 07, 2008 NYT: Push for Expanded Early Voting and Voter Registration Reforms The New York Times today is reporting on the from voting rights experts to reform the national voting system in light of the lessons learned from the 2008 Election.
- November 04, 2008 50,000 calls to Election Protection From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Breaking News from FL: Lines at Florida universities up to five hours long From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Breaking news from Georgia: Federal observers sent to monitor controversy over college student registrations From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Breaking news from Ohio: voters inexplicably dropped from the rolls From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Developing Reports in MI From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Developing Stories - 10 a.m. Edition From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers. News on Virginia, Michigan, and Florida.
- November 04, 2008 Developing Stories - 9 a.m. Edition From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers: News on Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio.
- November 04, 2008 Developing Stories: 2:45p.m. Edition From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Developing Story in MI: Major machine malfunctions From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Developing Story in MO: Swapped poll books From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Developing Story in OH: Multiple Machine Problems From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Developing Story in Virginia From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Developing story: Intimidation and long lines in Wisconsin From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Developing: Problems in South Florida From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 ELECTION ALERT: VA and PA voters face serious threats to their voting rights at the polls From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers.
- November 04, 2008 Early Morning Reports Update From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Election Protection Reaches #1 on YouTube From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 IMPORTANT: Stay in line - you can vote From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Inadequate Translation Services Proving to Be Voting Barrier in Colorado From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Jonah Goldman on Problem Spots Around the Country Election Protection's Jonah Goldman tells MSNBC viewers about the problem spots of Virginia and Pennsylvania in this morning's voting.
- November 04, 2008 Lines at Penn State reach nearly 1,000 by 7:00 a.m. From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Misleading Flyers found in Virginia and Louisiana
- November 04, 2008 New Type of "Dirty Trick"… From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 News in Philly: Multiple Machine Problem Reports From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Over 1,000 calls from Georgia From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Problems in Michigan Voting Machine Malfunctions. From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers.
- November 04, 2008 Report: Missouri judge denies hearing to eligible voters From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Stories from Real Voters From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Technical difficulties with searching reports From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 The Big Picture From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 The Youth Vote From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Today's Briefing Schedule From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 UPDATE: Colorado From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 UPDATE: Virginia Lines Reach 7 Hour Wait From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 VOTER DECEPTION: Fradulent Emails From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Virginia: an Update From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 04, 2008 Voter Problems in Virginia and Pennsylvania From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers. Watch YouTube video.
- November 04, 2008 Voters Across Florida At Risk of Being Disenfranchised From Election Protection's Our Vote Live Bloggers
- November 03, 2008 Jonah Goldman on Problems at the Polls Election Protection's Jonah Goldman tells MSNBC viewers about registration backlogs, deceptive robocalls, and more.
- November 02, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 11/2 A brief rundown of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 31, 2008 Election Protection's Barbara Arnwine on MSNBC Barbara Anwine tells MSNBC viewers about voter suppression tactics currently underway.
- October 31, 2008 Voter Rights Roundup - 10/31 A brief rundown of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 30, 2008 About 1/3rd of the Electorate Votes Early An article in today’s New York Times reported that about a third of the electorate is expected to vote early in this year’s presidential race.
- October 30, 2008 Election Protection appears on NBC Nightly News Nightly News segment includes the breaking down of misconceptions about the voting process, an interview with Jonah Goldman.
- October 30, 2008 Salon.com Blog Lists 1-866-OUR-VOTE in Online Resource Guide The Machinist, a technology blog on Salon.com, posted an online voter resource guide.
- October 30, 2008 Voter Rights Roundup - 10/30 A brief rundown of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 29, 2008 Celebrities team up with Election Protection to film PSAs Samuel L. Jackson, Robert De Niro, and Rosie Perez featured in new Election Protection public service announcements
- October 29, 2008 Election Protection featured on The Today Show Segment highlights things voters should know before going to the polls, Election Protection's resources
- October 29, 2008 LA Times: Hollywood stars back Election Protection's efforts The Los Angeles Times reports about a dozen Hollywood celebs -- including Samuel L. Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg and Blair Underwood -- have teamed with Election Protection to encourage voting, particularly among young people, and to ensure fair voting procedures.
- October 29, 2008 National Journal highlights Election Protection's on-line resources Election Protection's Web offerings include videos, Twitter, and interactive maps
- October 29, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 10/29 A brief rundown of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 28, 2008 Election Protection Partners Release “Deceptive Practices 2.0” Election Protection coalition partners the Century Foundation, Common Cause, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law released a document Friday, October 27, explaining deceptive electronic practices meant to disenfranchise voters.
- October 28, 2008 Federal Court Ruling: Ohio State Officials Responsible for Implementing National Voter Registration Law According to a unanimous federal appeals court decision, the state of Ohio may no longer shirk its responsibility to ensure that low-income citizens are offered the opportunity to register to vote
- October 28, 2008 Georgia Election Officials Violate Voting Rights Act The United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia today issued a preliminary injunction against Secretary of State Karen Handel
- October 28, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 10/28 A brief rundown of the latest voting rights news from across the country
- October 28, 2008 What Could Go Wrong on Election Day The cover story of the November 3 issue of Time Magazine summarizes the issues that will plague the polls on Election Day.
- October 27, 2008 Denounce dirty tricks: Ensuring a fair vote is a responsibility, too Lawyers' Committee board member John McKeever wrote an op-ed that was published in today's Philadelphia Inquirer.
- October 27, 2008 Election Protection Public Service Announcements PSAs recorded by Ashanti, Tyler Perry, Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L. Jackson, Angela Bassett, Blair Underwood, Tichina Arnold, Vanessa Williams, Ana Ortiz, Rex Lee, Michelle Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, and Zachary Quinto.
- October 27, 2008 NYT: Election-help phone lines are already starting to ring off the hook The New York Times writes that the purpose of 866-OUR-VOTE is that if problems erupt at polling places on Election Day, the group will have lawyers at the ready to respond to the complaints.
- October 27, 2008 State of the Vote: 10 Days to Go A Round-up of Problems Facing Voters Nationwide
- October 27, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 10/27 A brief rundown of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 27, 2008 White House Asks DOJ to Investigate Ohio Registrations House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio wrote to President Bush for his support in asking Attorney General Mukasey to investigate the registration of 200,000 Ohio voters whose “registration information conflicts with other data,” the Washington Post reported Saturday, October 25.
- October 24, 2008 Group of Civil Rights Attorneys Raise Concerns about DOJ Fraud Investigation A group of former attorneys with the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice sent a letter today to the DOJ raising concerns about the timing of the Department’s election fraud investigations.
- October 24, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 10/24 A brief rundown of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 23, 2008 Election Protection on Unprecedented Turnout in Georgia Election Protection held a press conference in Atlanta today, urging voters to vote early and avoid long lines on Election Day. NBC's Atlanta affiliate reports.
- October 23, 2008 Jonah Goldman: West Virginia Voting Machines Jonah Goldman speaks with MSNBC on what to do if voters encounter problems with touch-screen voting machines.
- October 23, 2008 NYT: Voter Rolls are “Weakest Links” In a New York Times article Wednesday, October 22, voter rolls “which are maintained by local election officials” were named “the weakest links in American democracy.”
- October 23, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 10/23 A brief rundown of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 22, 2008 Associated Press Glimpse at Early Voting In an article Tuesday, October 21, the Associated Press took a look at early voting in battleground states Nevada, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Ohio.
- October 22, 2008 Election Protection and MSNBC Team Up MSNBC and 866-OUR-VOTE: Making your vote count.
- October 22, 2008 Jonah Goldman: Fighting Misconceptions Jonah Goldman speaks with MSNBC on the potential problems voters will face on Election Day and how 866-OUR-VOTE can help.
- October 22, 2008 Roll Call: Close Race Will Expose Failing Electoral System An article in Roll Call Tuesday, October 21, chronicled the “’unprecedented stress’ on the nation’s polling infrastructure this year and a possible ‘wave of provisional ballots’ being cast in battleground states could leave races up and down the ballot still undecided well after Nov. 4.”
- October 22, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 10/22 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 21, 2008 American Lawyer Daily Highlights Lawyers’ Work on 866OurVote In an American Lawyer Daily blog post Monday, October 20, Francesca Heintz described how an “army” of “lawyers around the country will set aside the billables and devote their time instead to fielding frustrated voters' calls at a national voter-protection hotline.”
- October 21, 2008 The Nation Discusses Voter Registration, Poll Preparedness An editorial in The Nation Monday, October 20, detailed the saga of voter registration, from disenfranchisement and partisan litigation to polling place preparedness.
- October 21, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 10/21 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 18, 2008 Miami Herald: Don't Fall for Voting E-tricks Tova Wang of Common Cause and Jonah Goldman of Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law discuss "Voter Deception 2.0."
- October 18, 2008 Washington Post: Thousands of Voters Wrongly Flagged as Ineligible The Washington Post reports on the thousands of voters who were incorrectly marked as ineligible to vote amidst voter database mix-ups.
- October 17, 2008 BREAKING: Supreme Court Sides with Ohio Secretary of State The Associated Press reported the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ohio’s Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, in a voting rights case on Friday, October 17.
- October 17, 2008 Ohio Election Litigation Before Supreme Court Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has been involved in eight lawsuits regarding voting policy this election cycle.
- October 17, 2008 Real Clear Politics: Parties Prepare for Voting Problems As Election Day nears, both parties prepare for serious voting problems amidst the expected high levels of turnout.
- October 17, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 10/17 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 16, 2008 Associated Press Reports Problems in Soldiers’ Absentee Voting In an Associated Press article released October 10, Deborah Hastings wrote that, “[i]n the last federal election, only about 30 percent of overseas military ballots were tallied."
- October 16, 2008 Federal Appellate Court Requires Disclosure of Ohio No-Match Voters A federal appellate court decision requires "the disclosure of lists of voters whose names did not match those on government databases” in Ohio.
- October 16, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 10/16 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 15, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 10/15 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 14, 2008 Real Incidents of Actual Voter Fraud Minimal to Non-Existent The Demos analysis of voter fraud cases in the United States found that evidence does not support allegations that voter fraud frequently--if ever--occurs during elections.
- October 14, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup 10/14 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 10, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 10/10 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 09, 2008 CBS News Reports on Voting Rights Lawsuit in Georgia CBS News is reporting on the lawsuit filed by a coalition of civil rights groups to stop the illegal purging of voters in Georgia.
- October 09, 2008 Coalition Partners Challenge Georgia Voter List Purge in Federal Lawsuit Tonight, Election Protection Coalition Partners the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the ACLU Voting Rights Project and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational fund filed a lawsuit in Georgia...
- October 09, 2008 DOJ Says GA’s New Voter Registration ID Rules Unenforceable without Approval under Voting Rights Act The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an article Thursday, October 9, about the U.S. Department of Justice’s response to the efforts of Georgia election officials “to verify the identities and citizenship of registered voters.”
- October 09, 2008 USA Today Quotes Election Protection’s Jon Greenbaum about Polling Place Problems USA Today published an article Thursday, October 9, highlighting the possibility of problems arising from high turnout at unprepared polling places.
- October 09, 2008 Voting Rights Roundup - 10/9 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 08, 2008 MO Daily Dunklin Democrat Profiles Election Protection The Daily Dunklin Democrat ran a story highlighting the work of Election Protection.
- October 08, 2008 The American Prospect Warns About Disenfranchisement Writer Paul Waldman warns that perhaps the public’s attention should be focusing on the possibilities of disenfranchisement come November 4th
- October 08, 2008 Video: Jon Greenbaum on College Students Right to Vote Election Protection's Jon Greenbaum discusses some of the misleading information being directed at college students this election.
- October 08, 2008 Voter Rights Roundup - 10/8 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 07, 2008 Voter Rights Roundup - 10/7 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 06, 2008 NYT Editorial Urges Vigilance for Victims of Foreclosure at the Polls The New York Times editorializes that there is "a real danger that voters who are in foreclosure will be misled or intimidated into not casting ballots."
- October 06, 2008 Voter Rights Roundup - 10/6 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 03, 2008 Election Protection Joins Coalition Partner in Applauding Ohio Supreme Court The Ohio Supreme Court came down on the side of Ohio voters yesterday, ruling unanimously that election officials must absentee ballot request forms that left a box unchecked.
- October 03, 2008 Voter Rights Roundup - 10/3 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- October 02, 2008 Gannett reports 10,000 Election Protection observers will be deployed across the country Civil rights and voter rights groups plan to deploy up to 10,000 volunteers across the country on Election Day to watch for problems at the polls, such as equipment failure and poorly trained poll workers.
- October 01, 2008 CBS News Reports on Major Flaws in States' Voter Purging CBS News is reporting on the purging of voter rolls. Many of these purges operate under little to no oversight, and 19 states are ignoring a federal ban on voter purging this close to a federal election.
- October 01, 2008 NPR Monitors Early Voting Sites in Ohio, Reports Suspicious Activity On the second day of Ohio's early voting window, an NPR reporter witnessed suspicious activity at an early voting site in Columbus.
- September 30, 2008 Election Protection Applauds Ohio Court’s Upholding of Newly Registered Voters’ Rights The US District Court and Ohio Supreme Court upheld the rights of newly registered Ohio voters to have equal access to absentee ballots on Monday.
- September 30, 2008 Voter Rights Roundup - 9/30 A brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- September 29, 2008 Voter Rights Roundup - 9/29 Election Protection presents a brief roundup of the latest voting rights news from across the country.
- September 26, 2008 McClatchy Highlights Election Officials’ Spreading Rumor College Students Cannot Vote McClatchy Newspapers' Greg Gordon wrote a piece covering the controversy surrounding a county clerk's spreading of false information to Colorado College students
- September 26, 2008 Wall Street Journal Examines Challenges Officials Face on Election Day The Wall Street Journal published an article chronicling Election Day worries
- September 25, 2008 Coalition Parners to Host Critical Election Protection Panel During Congress Black Caucus Foundation’s 38th Annual Legislative Conference Election Protection is hosting a workshop on Friday, September26th for attendees of this year's Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 38th Annual Legislative Conference.
- September 25, 2008 Election Protection Partners Join Fight Against Illegal Absentee Voting Restrictions in Ohio On September 23 the Election Protection coalition partners joined in filing a friend of the court brief before the Ohio Supreme Court in Colvin v. Brunner, No. 08-1813 (Ohio). Our brief explains in detail why both state and federal laws support Ohio's practice of allowing citizens to simultaneously register <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.866ourvote.org/tools/news/resources/tiny_mce/themes/advanced/langs/en.js"></script>and cast absentee ballots during the run-up to federal elections.
- September 25, 2008 Election Protection Responds to Online Rumors About Campaign Paraphernalia at the Polls Can I wear campaign shirts/buttons to the polls?
- September 24, 2008 Election Protection 2008 Launch: National Press Coverage On September 17, as reports of voter suppression and registration problems were already popping up around the country, Election Protection officially launched its general election efforts. With just 47 days to go before the election, the news was immediately picked up by outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, USA Today and more. As we approach November 4th, Election Protection will continue to get voters the information they need to make sure their votes are counted.
- September 23, 2008 Free Speech Radio News Reports on Election Protection The Free Speech Radio News did a piece on emerging litigation in Wisconsin
- September 22, 2008 The Nation Blogs on the VA Lag in Supporting Veteran Voters Although US Armed Forces Recruiters provide recruits with the option of registering when enlisting, the VA has banned veteran voter registration in its facilities.
- September 17, 2008 Official Launch of Election Protection 2008 The Nation's Largest Nonpartisan Voter Protection Coalition
- September 12, 2008 Election Protection Legal Leaders Participate in 2008 Leadership Institute This past Monday and Tuesday, legal leaders from across the country visited Washington, DC for a two day Election Protection Leadership Institute co-hosted by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Arnold & Porter LLC.
- September 11, 2008 Virginia Students at Risk for Disenfranchisement An article by Tamar Lewin in Monday's New York Times highlighted questionable guidelines on the Virginia State Board of Elections' website relating to students registering to vote.
- August 29, 2008 Promote the 1-866-OUR-VOTE Hotline! Help voters in your area.
- August 27, 2008 NYT editorial calls polling place problems “unworthy of the world's leading democracy” The New York Times published an editorial on Monday highlighting one of Election Protection’s main concerns: problems at polling places.
- August 18, 2008 The Clock is Ticking Last week, the Washington Post published my Letter to the Editor expressing approval for the August 4th editorial “Fear Mongers”...
- August 14, 2008 New York Times "Endorses" Election Protection The New York Times called Election Protection "an effort that anyone who cares about democracy should get behind" in an editorial on August 9th.
- August 06, 2008 NCFFE Director Offers Advice for Voters in Black Enterprise Article In the upcoming election, large turnout is expected across the nation. In a Black Enterprise article featuring our own Jonah Goldman, titled "Going to the Polls," Tamara E. Holmes discusses solutions to some anticipated problems.
- August 05, 2008 Washington Post Lambastes Virginia Party Chair’s “Rhetorical Hand Grenade” The Washington Post published an editorial yesterday in response to ridiculous statements made by the Virginia Republican Party chairman.
- August 04, 2008 Lawyers’ Committee Supports Voter Registration In an effort to support Election Protection coalition partners’ nonpartisan third-party registration programs, the Lawyers’ Committee and its pro bono law firm partners have compiled comprehensive third-party voter registration guides...
- July 25, 2008 The Year The Youth Vote Arrives Washington Post columnist, E.J. Dionne Jr. has an excellent piece in today’s paper about the impact of the youth vote in the 2008 elections...
- July 22, 2008 Influx of Voters Expected to Test New Technology Ian Urbina of The New York Times wrote an excellent column this week, “Influx of Voters Expected to test New Technology,” highlighting many of the issues Election Protection coalition partners are working on in preparation for November’s elections.
- June 30, 2008 Election Day on PBS As part of its Point of View series, PBS is airing an excellent documentary, Election Day, this Tuesday, July 1st at 10pm. Election Day is a fascinating documentary that gives viewers a first hand look at 11 stories from the November 2, 2004 elections. The documentary highlights the best and worst of our election system.
- June 27, 2008 By any other name… A federal court in Florida has refused to stop the disenfranchisement of more than 16,000 of the state’s residents because of how they spell their name. A press release by an Election Protection coalition partner, the Brennan Center for Justice, discusses the upholding of the "no-match, no-vote law" by a federal trial court.
- June 12, 2008 AZ Proof of Citizenship Continues to Disenfranchise Citizens 97-year-old Shirley Preiss was recently told that, despite having voted in the past 19 presidential elections, she will not be able to register to vote in November because she is unable to meet Arizona’s proof of citizenship requirement...
- May 30, 2008 Coalition Partner Wins Landmark VRA Case Election Protection’s legal lead – the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, - won a landmark victory when a special three-judge panel in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a landmark ruling on May 30, 2008 upholding the reauthorization of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
- May 22, 2008 No More Double Bubble Trouble Thanks in part to the great work of Los Angeles Election Protection, there is good news for LA County voters – no more Double Bubble confusion!
- May 21, 2008 Georgia Counties Seek Tech-Savvy Poll Workers Following up on one of the main issues seen in the Georgia Primary this year, poll workers having difficulty using the electronic poll books, the Georgia Election Protection Legal Committee met with local election officials in five counties to address the issue.
- May 21, 2008 National Network on Election Reform Applauds Governor Sebelius’s Veto The National Network on Election Reform, whose members include many Election Protection coalition members, released a joint statement commending Governor Sebelius for her veto of Kansas House Bill 2019...
- May 20, 2008 Protecting the Constitutional Right to Vote for All Americans Jonah Goldman, director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections at the Lawyers’ Committee, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 20, 2008 regarding the protection of the foundational issue of America’s great democracy – the fundamental right to vote...
- May 15, 2008 The Absurdity of Punitive Voter ID Laws Syndicated columnist Cynthia Tucker offered a well-deserved sarcastic “Congratulations to the Indiana legislature” on Monday in her column "Even God couldn't vote in Indiana without proper ID."
- May 14, 2008 New York Times examines the Myth of Voter Fraud In follow-up to Ian Urbina’s Monday article, the New York Times published an editorial yesterday commenting on The Myth of Voter Fraud. The editorial discusses bills requiring proof of citizenship requirements in Missouri and elsewhere, calling them an insincere...
- May 14, 2008 Our Primary Report in the News On Tuesday, the St. Louis American ran a story featuring Lawyers’ Committee Executive Director Barbara Arnwine and the Election Protection 2008 Primary Report: Looking Ahead to November...
- May 12, 2008 Do you know where your birth certificate is? In the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision upholding Indiana’s onerous voter ID law, national attention has turned to Missouri. An amendment to the state constitution has been proposed which would require proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, to register to vote.
- May 07, 2008 Indiana Voter ID Law Disenfranchises Voters, from Students to Nuns As predicted, the strict voter ID law in Indiana resulted in what Lawyers’ Committee board member John Borkowski called "an unnecessary barrier to the ballot box" which "disenfranchises legitimate voters." Borkowski witnessed firsthand an incident that was quickly picked up by national media.
- May 06, 2008 Voter ID Remains an Issue as Voters Go to the Polls As voters go to the polls in Indiana, the issue of voter ID remains at the forefront.
- April 30, 2008 Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE on May 6th! Attention Indiana and North Carolina voters...
- April 30, 2008 Lawyers' Committee Sends Letter to Chairman Richie Addressing Irregularities in Texas Primary The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law recently issued a letter to Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie, expressing deep concerns over the problems and difficulties voters in Texas faced during the recent primary and Presidential nominating process on March 4, 2008.
- April 29, 2008 Supreme Court’s decision on the Indiana ID Crawford Case in the News Yesterday’s Supreme Court unfortunate decision upholding Indiana’s voter ID law was all over the news today.
- April 28, 2008 Pennsylvania Election Protection a Huge Success Election Protection was on the ground in Philadelphia and Pittsburg on Tuesday, April 22nd for the largest single state primary program this year.
- April 21, 2008 Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE on April 22nd! Attention Pennsylvania voters
- April 16, 2008 Election Protection Primary Report Released With the Pennsylvania Primary less than a week away, Election Protection released a report detailing it’s findings in this year’s primaries thus far...
- April 10, 2008 Election Protection Info Submitted to the U.S. House Committee The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s, Jonah Goldman, submitted testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on House Administration...
- March 25, 2008 Caging in the News
- March 20, 2008 Check out how busy we’ve been! Election Protection has been hard at work...
- March 03, 2008 Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE on March 4th! If you have any questions or encounter any problems at the polls on March 4th...
- February 11, 2008 Potomac Primary: Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE If you have any questions or encounter any problems at the polls on February 12th...
- February 04, 2008 Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE on Super Tuesday! If you have problems at the polls today...
