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Voting Matters - Project Vote's BlogFlorida's 2008 legislative session adjourned on May 2. The state passed only one substantive election-related bill out of 19 monitored by Project Vote this year.
The omnibus election bill, S 866 had many facets that address voter registration, voter purging procedures and voter identification requirements. This bill:
Weekly Voting Rights News Update
Project Vote normally uses this update to give news roundups on voting rights-related stories from the past week. However, with the reverberations from the Supreme Court's Crawford vs. Marion County voter identification decision just starting to filter down into statehouses across the country, we felt it was necessary to spend this update concentrating solely on voter ID, giving progressives a concise summary of the problems associated with it and offer some framing devices to help fight against it. Although voter turnout in presidential primaries has been at an all time high across the nation, voter ID laws bode ill for electoral participation in the future, especially in races that are not subject to the kind of energy and excitement engulfing the contested Democratic nominating contests. Supporters of strict voter ID requirements often invoke the ease of obtaining ID in order to dismiss any opposition to their measures... Maryland's 2008 legislative session adjourned April 7. All 12 election-related bills monitored by Project Vote failed this year, including a restrictive proof of citizenship requirement at voter registration as well as proposals to expand the electorate through Election Day Registration and youth voting.
In Maryland only one election related bill passed both chambers, but did not make it out of Conference Committee before adjournment. Senate Bill 201 would have allowed individuals who are under 18 to vote in a primary if they will be 18 at the time of the general election. An Election Day Registration bill was withdrawn from the House and a proof of citizenship bill did not get out of committee. Review Maryland election legislation monitored by Project Vote here. Georgia's 2007-2008 legislative session adjourned April 18. Of the 16 election bills monitored by Project Vote, the state passed two relating to election crimes and absentee voting while controversial election bills failed in committee.
The state passed a bill to create no-excuse absentee voting if the person requested the ballot by mail or in person. Another bill passed to toughen criminal sanctions for many election crimes to up to ten years and $100,000 fine. The state also introduced bills addressing several hot-button election administration issues. A proof of citizenship requirement in order to register to vote did not get out of the House. Likewise, an Election Day Registration bill and a felon re-enfranchisement bill were introduced, but failed. Review Georgia legislation monitored by Project Vote here. Weekly Voting Rights News Update
The ability of injured veterans to vote in November's presidential election rests in the hands of Bush Administration officials, who have so far refused demands from advocates and lawmakers that the Department of Veterans Affairs help hospitalized veterans register to vote. "'It is an insult to those who have fought to spread democracy and freedom overseas to be denied the right to participate in their own democracy here at home,'" wrote Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) to the Department of Veterans Affairs in March. "'If each facility took a few simple steps to provide voter registration materials, the VA could do its part to guarantee access to voter registration.'" In response, VA Secretary James Peake opposed efforts by lawmakers to get the federal agency to provide voter registration opportunities under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 "'without any legal basis or rational explanation,'" ... Weekly Voting Rights News Update
Young voters have arrived. Finally. Since the voting age was lowered to 18 in 1972, predictions of the increasing impact of young voters on the outcomes of elections have consistently been proven wrong on Election Day. In fact, youth voting rates have rarely been as strong as they were in 1972 and young people continue to be among the least represented groups in the electorate and in the voting booth. Until now. The 2008 primary season, remarkable for so many reasons, has seen a veritable firestorm of interest from young people that has driven their civic participation rates to record-setting levels. Super Tuesday alone yielded 3 million votes from voters younger than 30 while voter registration rates have increased exponentially across the country. As states with upcoming primaries brace themselves for the influx ... Steve Rosenfeld, writing for Alternet, has exposed top-level resistance within the Department of Veteran’s Affairs to implementing the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The first three paragraphs, almost of which is taken verbatim from a letter written by DVA Secretary James Peake to Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA).
“On the same day the Pentagon's commander in Iraq told the Senate that new troop withdrawals could not considered for months, Secretary of Veterans Affairs James B. Peake told two Democratic senators that his department will not help injured veterans at VA facilities to register to vote before the 2008 election. "VA remains opposed to becoming a voter registration agency pursuant to the National Voter Registration Act, as this designation would divert substantial resources from our primary mission," Peake said in an April 8th letter to Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA). He was referring to a 1993 federal law that allows governm... |