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August 14, 2012
GALVESTON, Texas – Today U.S. District Court Judge Gregg Costa upheld his earlier opinion in favor of plaintiff Project Vote and its affiliate in Voting for America v Andrade.
Judge Costa denied Texas’s motion to stay the August 2 preliminary injunction in which he ordered the state of Texas to stop enforcing certain laws that restrict voter registration drives.
“Right now, millions of Texans are not registered to vote and are not participating in our great democracy,” says Michael Slater, executive director of Project Vote. “It’s everyone’s responsibility to register and to vote, and voter registration drives help Americans become involved. Voter registration drives were burdened under the Texas election code, and the ruling removes some of the unnecessary hurdles.”
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Board of Elections votes across the state to have limited early voting periods
August 9, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Today, Secretary of State Husted took a step towards improving voter access by announcing the availability of an online change of address system for existing voter registrations. That’s one step but there is a long way to go to making voting accessible, fair, and equal in the state of Ohio. We as voting advocates are dismayed that Secretary Husted and several Boards of Elections have voted to restrict early in person voting opportunities. We are calling upon Secretary Husted and the Boards of Elections in Cuyahoga, Franklin, Lucas, and Summit counties to reconsider the recent decisions to deny in person voting opportunities during evening and weekends.
We all remember the long lines on Election Day 2004. In counties all across this state voters waited as long as four, five, even six hours in the cold rain for the opportunity to cast their ballot at the polls. Thankfully, those long lines have been a thing of the past since 2006 when the legislature allowed every Ohio voter the ability to vote absentee without a reason.
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August 2, 2012
GALVESTON, Texas – In a major victory for voting rights, today U.S. District Court Judge Gregg Costa ruled in favor of plaintiff Project Vote and its affiliate in Voting for America v Andrade and ordered the state of Texas to stop enforcing certain laws that restrict voter registration drives.
“This case is about making sure that voter registration drives, which are the foundation of our democracy, can operate without undue burdens,” says Michael Slater, executive director of Project Vote. “At this time when millions of eligible Texans are still not registered to vote, our focus should be to help them become voters. Instead, the Texas election code sets up a system that punishes voter registration drives for helping community members get access to voting.”
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July 5, 2012
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Earlier today the Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP) and ACTION United filed suit against Secretary of the Commonwealth Carol Aichele, Secretary of Public Welfare Gary D. Alexander and Secretary of Health Dr. Eli N. Avila in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs, represented by a coalition of national voting rights groups, including Demos, Project Vote and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, allege that the Commonwealth has systematically failed to comply with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Since its 1993 enactment, the NVRA has helped ensure that low-income residents receive an opportunity to register to vote by mandating that all public assistance agencies offer voter registration services.
The plaintiffs allege that the majority of clients seeking public assistance services in Pennsylvania are simply not being offered voter registration opportunities, and some public assistance agencies do not even have the voter registration forms available on request. Specifically, the Complaint alleges that, based on Pennsylvania’s own submissions to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the number of voter registration applications submitted at Pennsylvania public assistance offices decreased by a staggering 93% in recent years, from 59,462 in 1995-1996 to just 4,179 in 2009-2010. This steep decline in voter registrations is particularly significant because it occurred during the same period that both the population of the Commonwealth and the number of applicants for public assistance were increasing.
As a result of the Commonwealth’s failures, the Plaintiffs are forced to expend resources helping to register citizens who would otherwise be registered by the Commonwealth.
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July 3, 2012
Today, Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan vetoed a package of voter suppression laws—including HB 5061, SB 754 and SB 803—passed by the state legislature. Project Vote Executive Director Michael Slater issued the following statement in response:
“Governor Snyder is to be congratulated for doing right by Michigan voters and taking an important stand against the current onslaught of voter suppression laws. These laws would have expanded unnecessary voter ID requirements and imposed unfair requirements and restrictions on voter registration drives, making it harder for eligible Michigan citizens to participate in our democracy.
With this veto, Governor Snyder set Michigan apart from too many other states that have passed suppressive voting laws. From voter ID requirements in Pennsylvania, to attacks on voter registration in Florida and Texas, the current trend has been to suppress, not empower, American voters. With an estimated 51 million eligible Americans still not registered to vote, such laws represent a major step in the wrong direction.
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