Election season is already underway with the nation talking about the state of voting rights. The War on Voting that we discussed in last week’s roundup is now being tempered with congressional attention and even a people’s veto in Maine. Here’s a roundup of this week’s voting rights news.
- Tens of thousands of Maine residents showed their support for their state’s recently overturned Election Day registration law. The people’s veto of the same-day registration ban will be on the November ballot. “More than a thousand volunteers worked tirelessly to protect a system that has worked well for more than 38 years,” said Mark Gray, campaign manager for Protect Maine Votes in a Bangor Daily News report. “There’s no reason to change it.”
- Yesterday, members of Congress finally began to question the motivation behind the slew of restrictive voting laws cropping up across the states, asking if they were “barriers to the ballot.” The meeting was held by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights and was attended by Democratic and Republican leaders, as well as several civil and voting rights groups and election law experts. See Project Vote’s testimony here. Ari Berman at the Rolling Stone also has a short summary of the congressional investigation of the “GOP War on Voting.”
- The New Hampshire Senate voted, 17-7, to sustain Governor John Lynch’s veto of photo ID bill SB 129, allowing town clerks across the state to breathe “a collective sigh of relief.” However, the bill is expected to return in the next legislative session.For now, “I am happy they voted to sustain the governor’s veto,” said Salem Town Clerk Susan Wall in an Eagle Tribune report. “It would cause some problems. It would hold up the whole election. “
- North Carolina representatives may bring up a photo ID billthat was vetoed by Governor Beverly Perdue.” A motion to reconsider approved by the House during the last vote on the measure means the bill can be brought up again,” according to a recent report by the North Carolina News Network. “The Speaker of The House could put the bill back on the table this month or put it off until later in the year.”The legislature convenes on September 12.
- The Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation circulated a memo to discourage workers from informing citizensthat they can get voter ID cards for free, unless they specifically ask for it. The free ID, which is normally $28, is provided under the state’s new photo ID law.The memo further instructed DOT workers to divert questions on acceptable voter ID, referring voters to the Government Accountability Board. “Because voters who do not assert that they are seeking the free ID will be charged a $28 fee for the document, critics see the law as illegal because it may disenfranchise voters who don’t pay,” according to Reuters.