Open Left - Ohio

Bipartisan Support for Bringing Voter Registration to the 21st Century Underway

project vote — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:10:50 GMT

Not too long ago, the means of accessing and staying on the voter registration rolls was a highly controversial issue that often got lost in a partisan shuffle. However, after more than two million voters were unable to vote due to problems with their voter registration last year, policymakers and advocates on both sides are finally listening. Whether it is extravagant efforts to automate voter registration on the national level or revamping state voting systems to utilize citizens' access to the Internet, improving voter registration is a glimmering goal in 2009 that brings promise for restoring the democratic process in the years to come.
"We have a voter registration system that doesn't really do what it ought to do," said former general counsel for Republican John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, Trevor Potter, in a National Public Radio report last week. "If we have a law that says you have to be registered in order to vote, then why wouldn't the government do something to put you on the list if you're entitled to be there, and to make sure the list is accurate?" Potter says.

"For now, there's a lot of bipartisan support to do something," NPR's Pam Fessler reports. "Democrats think a more automatic system would make it easier to get people registered. And Republicans think it would reduce the potential for fraud."

Potter, along with Senator John Kerry's general counsel for his 2004 presidential campaign, Marc Elias, and "a number of election officials, experts and interest groups" have assembled the Committee to Modernize Voter Registration, an effort to "upgrade our system and bring voter registration into the 21st century," according to the group's Web site.

The group advocates for automatically enrolling and maintaining current information of eligible voters through government databases. However, despite these preliminary efforts to "inform and discuss" modernizing voter registration, some say it could take years to realize.

"How do we make sure the system is secured and that people can feel confident that their information won't be in some way lost, stolen or otherwise used?" Thad Hall, an election technology expert with the University of Utah, told NPR.

In the meantime, other voter registration improvement efforts are underway on the federal and state levels. Providing for same-day voter registration in Federal elections, companion bills, HR 3957 and S 1986 were introduced in the House and Senate in late October. Both bills are sponsored by legislators from states that have experienced decades of above-average voter registration and turnout, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

"Minnesota routinely leads the nation in voter turnout - usually over 70 percent. ..." said House bill sponsor, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), according to the Minnesota Independent. "Enacting a National Election Day Registration law would do for the nation what same day registration has done for our State - give a voice to all who want to vote."

In support of a similar measure considered in the District of Columbia last week, Senate bill sponsor, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI)blogged about the benefits of Same Day Registration that go beyond getting voters on the rolls - it also helps legitimate voters get counted.

"In addition to increasing voter participation, SDR reduces provisional ballots. When voters who believe they are registered show up at the polls only to find out they are not listed on the voter rolls, they are usually provided a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots are rejected and discarded if it turns out the voter was not properly registered. SDR will allow voters to register on the spot, if they are qualified to vote."

Feingold's bill is currently in the Senate Rules and Administration Committee.

On the state level, voter registration overhaul appears to be gaining some headway. Ohio House Bill 260 was heard Tuesday with a number of updates to benefit Ohioans. The bill would not only follow recent state legislative trends to provide online voter registration, but also allow voters to "be automatically given the opportunity to register when they deal with agencies such as the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services," according to the Associated Press. "Ohioans are already given the opportunity to register when they get a driver's license."

Whether through "modernization," same-day-registration, or simply providing more voter registration opportunities for voters, bringing America's voter registration system to the 21st century - that is, making it accessible to all voters - is key in strengthening democracy.

Go Inland, Young Progressives!

davidswanson — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:35:20 GMT

By David Swanson

Separating the Midwestern state of Ohio, where soda's called "pop" and workers are sometimes allowed to unionize, from my East Coast home state of Virginia, where a governor perched on a diseased branch of my own family tree gave the nation its first right-to-work-for-less law, is nothing other than the beautiful and brutal mountains of West Virginia. As you climb those mountains headed west two things plummet to the valleys below: the employment rate and the price of housing.
On a recent book tour of Ohio, I stayed with author, attorney, and activist Bob Fitrakis at his hundred-year-old mansion just down the street from the state capitol in Columbus. This house is large enough for gatherings of thousands of your closest allies and associates, and offices for dozens of them, and Bob bought it for about the price of a half a bathroom in San Francisco or a share of a one-room apartment in Queens. The mansions nearby are for sale too, some of them for less than the price of my own small house in rural Virginia.

Columbus has a terrific progressive activist community. Virginia is worse off politically than Ohio, and I'm tied to it in lots of ways. But here's what occurs to me. Progressive activists working online can, in many cases, work just about as well from anywhere that has high-speed internet. Rather than setting up offices in coastal cities, why not set them up in swing-states and overpowered early primary states like Iowa, boosting local activism there and investing most of the rent or mortgage funds into actual work instead? If the weapons makers can manufacture a single instrument of death in hundreds of congressional districts, why can't we inject life into some of them? Why are so many labor unions headquartered in Washington, D.C.? Are those high costs a good use of working people's money?

The national president of Veterans for Peace, Mike Ferner, another of the best authors and activists we have in the country, was also my host on the book tour. He lives in Toledo in the most beautiful spot I saw on my journey, and he paid for it perhaps the equivalent of six-months' rent on a parking place in a major coastal city. Veterans for Peace is headed to Pittsburgh later this month to protest the G-20 along with many other organizations, and the working (and no longer working) people of Ohio are going to be well represented.

Also in Toledo I had a chance to see Ben Davis, a professor at the University there who has been advocating the prosecution of torturers. When torture lawyer John Yoo recently spoke in Toledo and was booed and protested, Yoo exclaimed "What is this, Berkeley?" to which another citizen activist who came to my book event replied: "No! It's Toledo!" I also met a woman in Toledo named Peggy Daly Masternack, who along with many others recently persuaded the school board to stop administering military tests to students and to notify parents of the right to opt-out of having children's contact information provided to military recruiters. This was not an insignificant accomplishment in a context where a military job looks more and more preferable to other available possibilities.

There are engaged progressives in all corners of this country. Why not join them?

Expanding Discovery in Criminal Cases

John Terzano - The Justice Project — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:53:57 GMT

Last week a news story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer reveals that resistance to the American Bar Association's recommended open-file discovery laws are still strong in some jurisdictions. Open-file discovery - or the process in which the prosecution discloses to the defense all relevant information that is known concerning a criminal proceeding, including police reports, witness names, and witness statements - is now being demanded by judges in Cuyohoga County. Ohio does not have an open-file discovery statute.
The proper functioning of the criminal justice system - accurate verdicts, fair sentences, and the protection of fundamental constitutional rights, depends on effective discovery procedures. Discovery is a crucial procedural safeguard that protects against wrongful convictions, helps to make the legal system more transparent by increasing pretrial disclosure, and ensures a fair procedure by allowing each side in a trial to adequately prepare their case. Unfortunately, in most jurisdictions, discovery is not automatic - it depends on a motion or request from the defense. Furthermore, prosecutors are only constitutionally required to disclose "exculpatory" evidence, or evidence that tends to negate guilt, under Brady v. Maryland. Any additional discovery obligations can only be imposed by a statutory requirement put in place by the legislature.

Suppression of exculpatory evidence is one of the leading causes of wrongful conviction. Exculpatory evidence can be withheld for years, even decades, while an innocent person sits in prison. Whether the state fails to disclose evidence inadvertently or intentionally, clear rules about what is subject to discovery - and clear consequences for failure to disclose discoverable material - should be implemented to minimize the risk of these mistakes. The need for expanded discovery procedures was recognized by the ABA in 1994, when they recommended all states adopt open-file discovery.

Open-file discovery creates a more level playing field by ensuring that evidence can be meaningfully challenged and tested by removing much of the uncertainty inherent in the discretionary disclosure decisions prosecutors now have to make. Any possible risks associated with open-file discovery are greatly outweighed by the benefits because it can eliminate one of the most dangerous and widespread prosecutorial errors - the inadvertent suppression of potentially exculpatory evidence.

The Justice Project's publication, Expanded Discovery in Criminal Cases: A Policy Review (pdf), offers recommendations and solutions for expanding discovery laws. It provides information on states which have enacted expanded discovery legislation, case studies, voices of support, and a model policy.

Some states like North Carolina, Florida, Colorado, New Jersey, and Arizona have already taken a step in expanding discovery. Legal practicioners in these jurisdictions report a more efficient process, with fewer reversals and retrials and more cases resolved earlier in the process. In short, expanded discovery practices also enhance judicial efficiency.

It is in the best interest of everyone that broad safeguards like expanding discovery laws exist to improve the fairness and accuracy of the criminal justice system. I applaud the judges in Cuyohoga County for demanding such an important practice to take place in their courtrooms. It is no small testament to the importance of discovery reform that groups such as the American Bar Association, the National Conference of Commissioners for Uniform Law, and state criminal justice commissions have addressed the need for clearer and more transparent discovery regulations.

John F. Terzano is President of The Justice Project, a nonpartisan organization that works to increase fairness and accuracy in the criminal justice system.

Lawmakers Target Individual Voters, While Failing to Address Systemic Problems

project vote — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:36:20 GMT

Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

By Erin Ferns

Recent analyses of the 2008 general election find that overall participation increased on November 4, with a significant surge in voter participation among historically underrepresented Americans. Yet, while some lawmakers have been inspired by the recent voter turnout to propose election reforms that expand access to voting rights, others continue to focus on creating additional barriers to voting.
While new legislation aims to create additional hurdles to prevent one of the rarest election crimes-individual voter fraud-- some more serious election administration problems have still not been addressed a month (and, in some cases, years) after they were identified as Election Day problems, and little to no legislation to improve the way states manage voter rolls or distribute provisional ballots has been filed to date.

"I know there's a perception out there that this election proceeded more smoothly than the one four years ago," said election law expert at Ohio State University, Dan Tokaji in a recent Associated Press report. "But it's also clear from this election that we've got serious problems that remain," he said.

The inconsistency among states in interpreting federal election law is proving problematic in the administration of elections. Provisional ballots, for example, which are granted to voters who encounter "voter registration problems or because a person had signed up to vote by mail but wanted to cast their ballot at the polls," are counted differently from state to state, rendering many legitimate ballots ineligible if not cast within the correct county or even precinct.

In Colorado, a recent lawsuit to look into the questionable purging of 44,000 voters led to the investigation of whether 69 rejected provisional ballots were actually legitimate, according to Rocky Mountain News reporter, Myung Oak Kim.

"The analysis is being done as a result of a lawsuit filed last month by state and national voter-rights groups against Secretary of State Mike Coffman," Kim wrote. "The plaintiffs claimed that Coffman inappropriately removed scores of people from the voter rolls in violation of a federal law that prohibits purging of voter files within 90 days of a federal election. Coffman contends that it was legal to remove 44,000 voter files since May."

About 365 voters with canceled registrations cast provisional ballots, wrote Kim. Statewide, more than 53,000 provisional ballots were cast, about 80 percent of which were actually counted.

In 2004, acceptance rate of provisional ballots varied from 96 percent in Alaska to 6 percent in Delaware, according to a Project Vote report, Maximizing the Effectiveness of Provisional Voting.

These kinds of inconsistencies are also being challenged in Ohio for their potential to violate "citizens' equal protection and due process rights," according to the Associated Press . The report announced the court's decision to move forward with a lawsuit challenging the state's voting system after the 2004 presidential election.

"The Ohio lawsuit cites examples of voters in some counties who were misdirected by poll workers, believe their votes were miscounted or not counted at all, found broken or not enough voting machines at their polling sites, and it also alleges misuse of provisional ballots. It claims the irregularities fell disproportionately on minority voters," AP reports.

The case, filed by the League of Women Voters three years ago, cites election system issues that date back to 1971. And yet the problems persisted in 2008, according to Pete Johnson of The Free Press. According to this story, a coalition of Election Day observers from The Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism and the Ohio Green Party found an "outrageous" number of provisional ballots being distributed in inner city precincts due to misinterpretation of voter ID law and even data errors on voter rolls. Malfunctioning machines were also reportedly a serious voting inhibitor.

Despite state compliance issues with state and federal election law to protect and facilitate voting rights, from registration to ballot casting, several states are attempting to institutionalize barriers instead.

After instituting Same Day Registration during the early voting period this year to the dismay of state partisans, Ohio Republican lawmakers are attempting to halt the practice by passing a bill (SB 380) that would require voters to be registered 30 days before the early voting period, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Most states require voters to register 30 days before the actual election.

Proposals in other states to implement Same Day or Election Day Registration are being met with resistance from election officials. In West Virginia, for example, according to local newspaper, Beckley Register-Herald, "a proposal before a legislative interims panel would allow potential voters to come by Election Day, get registered and promptly mark ballots, all in one convenient trip."

But many elections clerks are against the proposal out of unsubstantiated fear of voter fraud.
"They don't realize what a monster they're trying to create," Raleigh County, W. Va. Clerk, Betty Riffe said of proposed EDR in the state. "They should, with other states trying it and all the problems they've had. I don't think it's a good idea." According to public policy group, Demos, voter fraud in EDR states is rare. Over three federal election cycles (1999-2005), "only 10 discrete incidents of voter fraud or alleged voter fraud that appeared
to have some merit [were found]. Of these, there was only one case of voter impersonation at the polls-ironically one of the most frequently claimed abuses when fraud enters the public debate."

And the isolated voter fraud problems that led to federal investigation "were directly attributable
to clerical errors, poll worker shortages and incompetence, not any organized scheme or intent on the
part of voters to scam the system," according to the report.

The Orlando Sentinel criticizes the "movement brewing to overhaul the nation's system of elections through a series of federal mandates." The editorial not only slams the prospect of federally mandated Election Day Registration because of the "chaos" that uninformed voters would bring to the polls, but inexplicably dismisses the idea of providing high school graduates the opportunity to register to vote.

"In Florida, the deadline is about one month before the general election. It's hard to muster much sympathy for someone who doesn't start paying attention until a few weeks before Election Day."

The editorial trivializes the need for such reforms by pinning the problem on the voter who, presumably, could not take the time to register before Election Day. In reality, voters who do not have stable residences and set incomes face more hurdles when it comes to registering to vote and staying on the rolls. Young, low income, and minority voters change residences at much higher rates than the national average of 14 percent, according to recent Census Bureau data. This requires them to go through the often untimely process of re-registering whenever they change residences and the headache that may result from overzealous list maintenance procedures (as illustrated in Colorado). Election Day Registration would help ameliorate those problems.

Like the argument against EDR in West Virginia, unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud are also perpetuating the demand for voter ID by lawmakers in numerous states for the 2009 legislative sessions.

In Mississippi, secretary of state and longtime voter ID advocate, Delbert Hosemann hopes to resurrect nine failed voter ID bills from 2008 by supporting early voting as long as it involves voter identification in 2009, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. However, House Apportionment and Elections Committee Chairman Tommy Reynolds said the two reforms are unrelated and should not be tied together.

Maryland, another state hoping to pass a voter ID law, is also making headlines.

"Republican Delegate Nic Kipke drew headlines earlier this month when he said he would propose the requirement for Anne Arundel County during the 2009 General Assembly session," according local publication, the Frederick News-Post. However, lawmakers say that the law, which is criticized for its potential to "disenfranchise poor voters because there is a fee for state-issued identification such as a driver's license" is unlikely to pass.

Finally, one state actually has a voter ID bill filed and ready to be heard in 2009. The Oklahoma bill will be carried over from the 2008 session, according to the Associated Press. "Senate Bill 4 changes the types of documents that would be required, but still requires voters to provide identification. The new measure requires a photo identification that is issued by the federal government, state government or a tribe. If one of those items is not available, the voter can show a county-issued voter ID card."

Seemingly ignoring numerous lawsuits and reports that point to systemic problems in recent elections, lawmakers continue to point the finger at individual voters-not the state election system-as the biggest threat to election integrity. Enacting laws to prevent the rare crime of voter fraud does not alleviate the real issue of long lines, misuse of provisional ballots, data errors on voter rolls, or voting machine malfunctions. Until states get the system right, and remove state-to-state inconsistencies and barriers to participation, shouldn't the real focus be on reforms that create easier access to voting such as EDR?

Quick Links:
www.ElectionLegislation.org

In Other News:

Some confusion over motor-voter - Fredericksburg Free Lance Star [Va.]
A Virginia driver's license is not a ticket to vote.

OPINION: Where Are The New Voters? Look Closer: Overall Turnout Increased, But Some Sections Of The Population Took A Giant Leap Forward - National Journal
Given voter registration spikes and widespread predictions that this year's turnout would shatter records, it's tempting to look at exit polls and ask: Where did all the voters go?

Exit Poll Analysis Suggests Obama Victory Due to Surge in Youth and Minority Voting

project vote — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:43:42 GMT

The United States saw dramatic increases in voting from traditionally underrepresented groups, including minorities and young voters, according to a new analysis released this week by Project Vote. If borne out by systematic analysis of the voter rolls, this change in the electorate is evidence of the power of successful voter registration drives and an indication of the strong inclination of voters to participate in the process when candidates address their issues.
Countering the conventional wisdom that the voting population on November 4 did not change as dramatically as predicted, the analysis, The Demographics of Voters in America's 2008 General Election: A Preliminary Assessment, demonstrates that African-Americans, Latinos, and young voters cast millions more ballots in 2008 than in 2004.

"The analysis estimated that about 5.8 million more minorities voted in this year's presidential election than in 2004, while nearly 1.2 million fewer whites went to the polls," wrote Greg Gordon of McClatchy Newspapers. "The figures appear to reflect the success of Project Vote and other liberal voter registration groups in registering millions of young, poor, elderly and minority Americans to vote in recent election cycles."

According to the analysis, African-Americans cast nearly three million more ballots nationwide in 2008 than in 2004-an increase of 21 percent. The total votes cast by Latinos went up by 16 percent-more than 1.5 million-and young Americans aged 18-29 cast 1.8 million more votes, a nine percent increase. That the overall totals did not increase significantly compared to 2004 was in part due to a decrease in voting by white voters.

In addition to presenting an analysis of ballots cast from the United States as a whole, the memo by Project Vote consultant and Ph.D. candidate Jody Herman and Barnard College political science professor Lorraine Minnite examines several key states in detail, including Colorado, Florida, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

The Project Vote data is preliminary, and does not speak to "turnout," which is traditionally a measure of the percentage of the voting-eligible population that shows up to vote. Project Vote expects to release a full report on turnout in the 2008 election in 2009 when government survey data on the voting-eligible population comes available. Yet, this preliminary analysis indicates that a significant shift occurred this year.

"There is no doubt that this surge in voting by Americans of color and young people had a powerful impact on the outcome of the election," said Michael Slater, executive director of Project Vote, in a press release issued today.

"Separate opinion polls and election results themselves indicate that an overwhelming majority of African-Americans and Latinos backed Obama," according to Gordon.

"Thus, the appearance of an African-American presidential candidate with a sympathetic message may have prompted the nation's minorities to vote at levels approaching white voters -- if final state vote counts do not upend Project Vote's figures," wrote AlterNet's Steve Rosenfeld last week. "Its findings also suggest the U.S. electorate is not an inflexible assembly of voting constituencies, but has segments that are mobilized -- or demobilized -- depending on the year, candidate and message,"

In an email exchange with Rosenfeld, Frank Sharry, executive director of pro-immigration reform group, America's Voice, said "neither the turnout increase among Latinos -- nor the swing in support to Democrats -- were surprising."

"Telling people you don't like them and don't want them is not a winning electoral strategy," wrote Sharry. "But that is what the Republican Party has been saying to immigrants, Latino immigrants in particular, for the past four years. No surprise, then, that record numbers of Latinos turned out in 2008 and that the swing away from Republicans to Democrats among Latino immigrants in particular was dramatic."

Election Reform: Universal Registration and Early Voting Take Lead in Voting Rights Discussion

project vote — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:54:29 GMT

Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

By Erin Ferns

Following one of the most momentous elections in the nation's history, officials and advocates across the country are already turning their attention to the future of American democracy. After a grueling battle over voter registration, voter roll maintenance, and ballot access for the ever growing electorate, leaders and advocates are evaluating what worked this year and considering major administrative and legislative overhauls before coming elections.
Last week, voters exhibited "remarkable persistence and patience" after "waiting in lines way too long" or "questioning challenges to their right to cast a ballot," the Washington Post editorialized Sunday.
"The fact that problems were not as pervasive as they might have been is due to the hard work of the voting rights community and election administrators in the months and even years before the election and the enthusiasm and persistence of voters," wrote voting rights expert, Tova Wang of Common Cause at AlterNet.

Some are calling the turnout of 132 million voters, according to figures from Monday's Los Angeles Times, a "record." However, others claim the turnout, while high at 62 percent, was just shy of beating the record 67 percent turnout of 1960, according to Curtis Gans, director of American University's Center for the Study of the American Electorate on NPR Tuesday. Although the number of voters always goes up-by about 6.5 million this year--Gans said the percentage may not. Despite clear electoral excitement across the country, with record numbers of young and minority voters registering to vote earlier this year, the relatively unremarkable turnout and the "forbearance" voters needed to cast a ballot may be indicative of a need to revamp the election system to provide access to all eligible citizens without compromising the democratic process.

After what voting rights advocate, Wendy Weiser calls the "ACORN issue," - referring to partisan attacks against third-party voter registration drives - voting rights advocates hope to "shift the onus on registering from the individual to government" through Universal Voter Registration, according to the Post.

"This means the registration process would no longer serve as a barrier to the right to vote," said Weiser, a lawyer at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law in the Times.

"All across America, our people wasted untold hours dealing with duplicate registrations," said R. Doug Lewis, executive director of the National Assn. of Election Officials, according to the Times. This issue, along with high mobility rates in the country (which tend to be higher among lower income and younger citizens), warrant a revamping of the system. Under the current system, voters are required to update their registration every time they move, something that many voters do not realize, according to the Times.

To help resolve this, groups like the Brennan Center are proposing Universal Voter Registration, whereby states "update their computerized voter rolls when residents move from one city to another. And they could add new voters who move to the state and apply for driver's licenses." Others propose to "automatically add teens when they turn 18," the Times reports. "Under some plans, Congress could create a national voter registration roll, modeled after the Social Security database. Others say states should take the lead in expanding and improving their voter rolls."

Similar methods have been discussed by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D N.Y.), who has said she plans to introduce legislation to move automatic voter registration, according to the Times.

With an estimated third of all voters taking advantage of their state's early voting laws this presidential election, convenience voting (voting early or by mail without an excuse) is taking the lead in election reform discussions. According to the Post, "studies have shown that early voting results in greater participation."

As a result of the apparent early voting success across the country, various jurisdictions are considering early voting, including the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. City Councilors hoped to file legislation to allow early voting as well as Election Day Registration in the city, two measures that are not allowed under state law, according to the Worcester Telegram.

"The intent behind early voting is to increase voter participation and relieve congestion at the polls on Election Day," according to the Telegram.

However, some election experts are still skeptical of early voting and its mobilization powers: "There's no evidence that convenience voting...enhances turnout," Gans told NPR. "There is some evidence that it detracts from turnout. Of the 13 states that had the greatest decrease in turnout this time around, 12 of them had one of the convenience voting features. Of the 14 states that had the greatest increase, only six had convenience voting. This has been true in every election."

Gans continued, "this is a time shift for some people. Some people with no excuse absentee [voting] leave their ballots on the kitchen table. You diffuse mobilization over a period of X number of days rather than one day and you reduce the power. In this election, the Democrats did a major early vote mobilization effort, but it's not clear that they would've gotten the same amount of votes had they showed up on Election Day."

Other issues in election reform discussions include anti-voter caging and deceptive practices measures. After incidences of voter intimidation, such as a phony flier in Virginia that misled voters to believe Republicans voted Tuesday while Democrats voted Wednesday, advocates are pushing legislation to ban deceptive practices. "It's amazing how many emails with deliberate misleading information were sent out this year," Wang told the Times.

Wang said that a pending 2007 U.S. bill banning deceptive practices (S 453) has not yet become law, but stands "a good chance next year" because a key sponsor of last year's bill to outlaw deceptive election fliers was Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). In an AlterNet opinion piece, Wang also touched on the issue of voter caging, providing support for anti-caging U.S. Senate Bill 2305. The pending bill is similar to U.S. House Bill 5038.

On a state level, key states Ohio and Colorado are taking measures to evaluate this year's election issues. Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is planning a one-day, bipartisan summit "to see what worked well and see what the state can do better," reported the Associated Press, referring to a slew of recent election issues, including multiple Republican filed lawsuits regarding voter registration lists; the state's "unique" same day registration/early voting period; and the "surge in voters" who opted to vote on paper ballots, overwhelming officials in several large counties on Election Day.

Similarly, Colorado's Election Reform Commission was scheduled to meet Wednesday "to begin identifying ways to improve future elections in Colorado," particularly regarding mail voting, voter registration, voter purging and provisional balloting, according to the Rocky Mountain News. "The commission, established by a state law passed in the spring, is charged with making recommendations to the legislature by March."

Quick Links:
Weiser, Wendy. Universal Voter Registration. Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. 31 October 2008.
Convenience Voting. Project Vote [Web page].

In Other News:

Polls show big Hispanic voter turnout: Univision hails registration effort in state - Las Vegas Sun
A few days before early voting began Oct. 18, Univision anchor Luis Felipe Godinez stood next to a giant thermometer like the ones used for fundraising drives. He issued a challenge to his audience.

Let the bills begin: Area legislators get early start on 81st legislative session - Athens Review [Texas]
...Brown filed a bill requiring voters to present identification to vote. She said a voter will present either one photo identification card, such as a drivers license, or two forms of non-photo ID.

Erin Ferns is a Research and Policy Analyst with Project Vote's Strategic Writing and Research Department (SWORD).

OBAMA WINS!!!!!!!

Chris Bowers — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:23:48 GMT

Obama has won Ohio per MSNBC. The election is over. Obama will be the next President.

YES!!!!!!!!

Update: Obama wins double, as Colorado tips over the edge.

Update 2: Obama wins triple, with Virginia.

Voters Eager to Have A Stake in Historical Election: Early Voting Predicts Strong Turnout Tuesday

project vote — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:47:47 GMT

Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

By Erin Ferns

In the last two weeks voter registration and early voting has shown that voters are geared up and ready to take part in what has been called a "historical event" on November 4.
Last week, voters scrambled to register at drive-thru election office windows in Southern California, busy street corners in Wichita, Kansas, and post-naturalization ceremonies in Los Angeles County. These efforts to meet the Oct. 20 registration deadlines in some states are seen as evidence of a surge in voter registration among historically underrepresented communities, including newly naturalized Latino and Asian citizens, and Black voters as well as formerly disenfranchised ex-felons.

This week, early vote turnout gave a sneak peek at what voters and election officials can expect at the polls on Tuesday, and it's "going to be busy as heck" said one official in Orange County, Calif., where registration rates went up 15 percent since 2004. To accommodate the high turnout, which is expected to exceed "the recent high-water mark in voter participation set in 2004," some states are taking precautionary measures, adding new machines and even extending early voting.

Experts predict "huge turnout" of as much as 132 million people, or 60.4 to 62.9 percent of eligible voters this year, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The last presidential election brought 60.7 percent of eligible voters to the polls, "the highest since 1968, when 61.9 percent cast ballots." Election officials in many states, including Ohio, Arizona, New Mexico, and Minnesota, have predicted turnout as high as 80 percent.

"We are going to have long lines," with some states expecting voting machine shortages, according to Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate. "But long lines in this election, as in 2004, are not going to deter people from voting, because of the emotional context of this election. They didn't deter people in 1992 or in 2004, and they're not going to deter people now."

Managing long lines has already been a point of contention in key states. In Georgia, voters waited four to five hours to cast early ballots on Wednesday, in spite of last minute changes Tuesday to reduce the eight hour waits voters encountered on Monday, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. A combination of "high turnout, staff and equipment shortages and state computer problems slowed the process."

Like Gans predicted, however, these issues are not stopping voters from showing up at the polls bright and early.

"It's a historical event and I want to be part of it," said Hampton, Ga. voter, Dara Christian, who arrived at her precinct to be second in line shortly after 5 a.m. on Wednesday. According to a Tuesday AJC report, a million ballots had already been cast during more limited voting in the last few weeks. And about 125,095 of those were cast as of Tuesday night.

While officials in various counties addressed some of the problems by supplying extra equipment and staff, according Tuesday's AJC report, the Democratic Party and election officials are still pleading with Secretary of State Karen Handel to extend early voting in order to support high turnout, including state Democratic Party chairwoman Jane Kidd and DelKalb County Commissioner Lee May.

"It is not my intention to lay blame on any particular, person or body of government," May wrote in a letter to Handel and Ga. Governor Sonny Perdue. "It is my desire that we don't inadvertently squelch the desire of so many Georgians to participate in the political process."
"Handel said Tuesday that Georgia law doesn't include a mechanism to allow her or Perdue to extend early voting," according to AJC. Handel said that even if she could allow the extension, it would be a "logistical disaster," dismissing Kidd's plea an "orchestrated effort of that political party across the country."

In Florida, on the other hand, after record turnout Monday,Governor Charlie Crist listened to similar concerns and signed an order to extend early voting hours to 12 hours a day, over the objections of Secretary of State Kurt Browning, according to the Miami Herald.

"It's not a political decision," said Crist, a Republican. "It's a people decision."

In Broward and Miami-Dade counties alone, more than 43,000 people cast their votes Monday, "roughly 5,000 more than on any other previous day."

Other efforts to help ensure Election Day runs smoothly for voters are underway, including the National Campaign for Fair Elections' hotline, 1-866-OURVote. The line has already received up to 4,000 calls a day, according to New York Times blog, The Caucus. The group plans to have 20 call centers set up around the country by Tuesday with a capacity of handling 100,000 calls on Election Day.

"The notion behind the non-partisan National Campaign phone line is that if problems erupt at polling places on Election Day, the group will have lawyers at the ready to respond to the complaints," the Times reports.

"So far, most calls have been from voters experiencing problems with their registration along with those trying to locate their polling place, according to Ken Smukler, president of InfoVoter Technologies, the Bala Cynwyd, Pa.company that which manages the call system."

Among those who will benefit from the voter protection hotline and other precautions learned are the large numbers of new voters around the country. Since 2004, voter registration rose 15 percent in Orange County, Calif. where citizens were allowed to register at a drive-thru elections office window last week, according to the Associated Press. Alabama has 76,000 new voters since 2004, two thirds of whom are African-American, according to the Mobile Register-Press. Last week, two thousand voters registered on a street corner in Kansas, about a quarter of whom were ex-felons who until then thought they were ineligible to vote, according to MSNBC. Newly naturalized Latino and Asian citizens in Los Angeles County doubled last year's registration rate with 64,000 new voters this year, according to the Los Angeles Times. Up until last week, community groups were "walking precincts, conducting phone banks, holding forums, and distributing multilingual voter guides" to help new citizens become a part of the democratic process.

Historically, Latino, Asian, and African-American citizens have registered and voted at alarmingly lower rates than their White counterparts. In 2006, just 41 percent of African-Americans and 32 percent of Asians and Latinos, respectively, voted in the midterm election compared to 52 percent of Whites, according to Project Vote report, Representational Bias of the 2006 Electorate. But that may just be changing this year.

"We want people to know we're here and our next generation is going to be very important in the process," said recently naturalized citizen, Carlos Romero in the Los Angeles Times.

In Other News:

In Ohio, Wary Eyes On Election Process: Fears of Fraud and Blocked Votes - Washington Post
CLEVELAND -- With Ohio still up for grabs in next week's presidential election, the conversation here has expanded from who will carry the state to how -- the nitty-gritty of registration lists, voting machines, court challenges and whether it all will play out fairly.

Provisional Ballots Get Uneven Treatment - Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- Provisional ballots, one of the fixes the government implemented following the disputed 2000 election, are often proving to be a poor substitute for the real thing.

Erin Ferns is a Research and Policy Analyst with Project Vote.

Fighting for Democracy vs Fighting the Spread of Democracy

project vote — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:21:23 GMT

Scaling the Mountains and Molehills of the "Voter Registration Fraud" Controversy

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

By Erin Ferns and Michael McDunnah

With a constant barrage of allegations against ACORN and other voter registration organizations coming from the McCain-Palin campaign and the Republican National Committee in recent weeks, it's worthwhile to take a look back at this ongoing war between partisan forces on the right and community based voter registration drives-a war that has largely been fought in the media and nowhere else, and which has threatened to drown out real issues in these crucial weeks before the election.
On October 6 ACORN and Project Vote held a press briefing call in which they announced the completion of their 2007-2008 voter registration drive, a massive 21 state effort that succeeded in registering over 1.3 million low-income and minority people, an apparent record for any single nonpartisan voter registration drive in history. This exceptional news, however, has been nearly lost in a tempest-in-a-teacup brewed by Republicans around a relatively small number of faulty or falsified voter registration applications handed in through the effort.

On October 2, the RNC held a press briefing call attacking the organization. Republican National Committee chief counsel Sean Cairncross called ACORN a "quasi-criminal organization" that is "engaged in systematic fraud and attempts to undermine our electoral system." The RNC, however, did not produce any evidence to support these allegations, other than a handful of problem cards that ACORN itself has identified and alerted election officials about. A small number of ACORN canvassers have been fired for falsifying cards-not in any effort to subvert the election by enabling illegal voting (which is incredibly rare and incredibly difficult), but simply in an effort to get paid for doing work they didn't feel like actually doing. ACORN has encouraged, and offered to cooperate with, investigations and prosecutions against these workers.

ACORN's encouragement and cooperation, however, has not prevented the organization from being the subject of politically motivated attacks. In Nevada, ACORN had already turned over extensive documentation of problem registrations turned in by former workers, and had been working with election officials and law enforcement for weeks when law enforcement nevertheless decided to stage a highly publicized raid of ACORN's Nevada office that occurred on October 7, the day after the announcement of the drive's success. (It was highly publicized, in part, because news crews and photographers just happened to be invited.) ACORN has called the raid a stunt, and interestingly, the very affidavit used to support the search warrant documents the extensive quality control procedures ACORN uses to guard against voter fraud, as well as ACORN's thorough cooperation with law-enforcement officials.

ACORN and Project Vote launched back in a news conference call on October 10. "This is the third election cycle in a row where we've seen partisan interests take the same issue-which is canvassers trying to defraud ACORN by not doing their work and instead fabricating applications-and trying to exaggerate that and turn it into an argument that there is 'widespread fraudulent voting' going on," said Project Vote executive director Michael Slater. "These allegations have been debunked now in several election cycles, and we'll find by the end of this election cycle they'll be debunked as well."

ACORN spokesperson Scott Levenson also made the point that the term "voter fraud" does not apply to these cases. "There haven't been any cases where anyone even suggested that someone attempted to vote under these circumstances," said Levenson. "There are no votes that are really in question here."

Another "Scare Tactic" to Prevent Voter Participation

So what's the motive behind the attacks? At the Huffington Post on October 10, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) said "the real reason is obvious: Because ACORN, along with Project Vote, just announced that they had successfully registered 1.3 million poor people this year." Calling ACORN "one of the strongest, hardest-working, most dedicated community organizations" in the United States, Jackson said "thank you, ACORN. Thank you, Project Vote, for taking our democracy seriously enough to try to include 1.3 million more poor people in a more perfect union."

On the same day election law attorney Rick Hasen at the Huffington Post said, "For the last three elections, Republicans have been ramping up cries of voter fraud as a way of undermining the legitimacy of the election results should they not turn out in their favor and providing a reason for strict voting purges that are likely to remove many Democratic voters from the rolls."

Greg Gordon of McClatchy Newspapers concurred, and helped put these most recent attacks in context. "Republicans have leveled similar allegations against the coalition known as ACORN in every election since at least 2000, but they have yet to produce proof that the group poses a threat to election integrity," Gordon wrote.

"I'm astounded that this issue is being trotted out again," former U.S. attorney David Iglesias recently told TPMmuckraker. "Based on what I saw in 2004 and 2006, it's a scare tactic." In 2007, the myth of voter fraud was exposed during the U.S. Attorneys scandal, which propelled inquiries into the firing of at least nine federal prosecutors, including Iglesias. Iglesias says he received political pressure to bring charges of voter fraud against ACORN in New Mexico despite the fact that there was no evidence of any criminal activity.

On Tuesday, October 14 the confrontation between ACORN and the McCain-Palin campaign almost literally came to a head with dueling press conferences at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Speaking for the McCain-Palin campaign, former senators John Danforth and Warren Rudman once again raised the same old concerns about ACORN's voter registration work, without citing any new evidence. Immediately following, ACORN held a press conference across the hall, where ACORN leaders were joined by leaders from the voting rights groups Common Cause and Demos, as well as by actual voters to testify to the importance of voter registration.

"We have an opportunity this year," said Miles Rapoport of Demos. "People by the hundreds of thousands and millions are anxious and eager to register to vote and be part of it. I think the criticism of ACORN is a diversionary issue that should not be allowed to cloud what is happening this year, which is an extraordinary flowering of democracy. ACORN is to be applauded for encouraging that, not criticized, and I am proud to stand with them."

The following day, October 15, ACORN and other advocacy leaders-including leaders of the NAACP and People for the American Way (PFAW)-held another press conference in which the allegations were placed in their proper context: as a civil rights issue, and part of a long history of attempts to use accusations of voter fraud to suppress the votes of low-income and minority voters. "This latest attack on ACORN follows a sorry pattern, played out in election after election," said Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP. "Republicans have practiced an assortment of subtle and overt methods to suppress and smother voter registration and turnout...Ever since they first practiced voter suppression, they've yelled, 'Voter fraud!' " The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights also provided a statement of support, and PFAW President Kathryn Kolbert said McCain "should be ready to disavow the organized effort his party has made to subvert the democratic process."

"Those who are stirring the 'voter fraud' pot don't want to talk about voter suppression and intimidation," said Kolbert. "They want to use the code word of 'voter fraud' as cover for their real objective of voter suppression. It's a sad day when a campaign's success strategy is dependent upon keeping voters away from the polls," she said.

Far from "disavowing" the attacks, however, McCain himself took the baseless allegations to a new level on October 15 in the final presidential debate. McCain lashed out at ACORN, attempting to tie his opponent Barack Obama to the controversy. "We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama's relationship with ACORN," said McCain, "who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."

Senator Obama quickly dismissed both the charges against ACORN and his own "connection" to the organization: "ACORN is a community organization...they were paying people to go out and register folks, and apparently some of the people who were out there didn't really register people, they just filled out a bunch of names." While defending ACORN, Obama also clarified his own ties to the organization, which partisans have grossly exaggerated. "The only involvement I've had with ACORN was I represented them, alongside the U.S. Justice Department, in making Illinois implement a motor voter law that helped people get registered at DMVs," said Obama.

Key State Officials Report No Problems With ACORN Voter Registration Efforts

Even election officials in key states have said that they detected no problems with ACORN's voter registration drives. According to Aaron Deslatte of the Orlando Sentinel, election officials in Florida's Seminole and Orange counties stated that they did not suspect the bad cards collected to be a scheme to defraud the election. Furthermore, "Both Gov. Charlie Crist and Secretary of State Kurt Browning have said they don't mind ACORN being active in Florida's election process. When reporters asked Crist if there was a problem with ACORN here, he said, 'No.'"

And the Miami Herald reports that "Crist's Republican Secretary of State, Kurt Browning, said he doesn't think ACORN is committing systematic voter fraud...Like ACORN spokesmen, Browning says the false voter registration forms could be blamed on unethical canvassers or on citizens who themselves fill out fictitious voter cards." About the exaggerated claims of voter fraud, Crist is quoted as saying "As we're coming into the closing days of any campaign, there are some who enjoy chaos.''

In Missouri, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Republican St. Louis elections director Scott Leiendecker says that ACORN's registration efforts have been problem-free this year. "Everything's been on the up and up," he says.

In Newsday, Cathy L. Richter Geier, the Republican commissioner of the Suffolk County Board of Elections in New York, told the reporter "We have not seen anything out of the ordinary."

In an interview with Democracy Now, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said she's "had nothing but good experiences working with" ACORN.

In Texas, according to the Houston Chronicle, the Harris county registrar reports that "there is no evidence of intentional manipulation of the voter rolls here," and a spokesperson for the Secretary of State's office said that "no problems involving ACORN have been brought to their attention."

The Press Sees Through the Partisan Attack

Putting the number of bad registration cards discovered among the 1.3 million into context, the Baltimore Sun editorializes that "any operation that big is bound to produce errors, but the irregularities cited by GOP critics are minuscule compared with the number of valid applications. ACORN hasn't been charged with violating any law, and it says it has fired workers caught trying to game the system with forged or fraudulent documents."

"Real voter fraud - the intentional corruption of the electoral process by a voter - happens at the polls, not when new voters try to register," the Sun writes. "So far, ACORN's accusers haven't come up with convincing evidence to back up their charges."

There is an important difference between this and previous election cycles, however: the GOP's strategy is not working. In previous years the press didn't catch on to the spurious nature of the attacks until long after the election, and so media coverage became an inadvertent part of a successful strategy to create an unfounded specter of voter fraud and perpetuate the myth that more extreme restrictions were necessary to prevent illegal voting. This year, fewer and fewer reputable news outlets seem to be buying what the GOP is selling.

While some histrionic stories have appeared on Fox News (which has mentioned ACORN more often in the past week than it has mentioned either of the vice-presidential candidates) and CNN-both of which have done stories that have been debunked by independent sources including the watchdog group Media Matters-other reporters and editorial boards have been vigilant in getting to the truth (and the true motive) of the allegations.

In an editorial in the Capital Times (Madison, WI) on October 10 entitled "GOP Battles the Spread of Democracy," Joel McNally says:

"Republicans have another underlying motive for attacking ACORN. It is an organization that engages in that dreaded community organizing. It actually tries to give a voice to the poor and most vulnerable among us...Clearly, organizations like ACORN are on the front lines of promoting democracy in this country while Republicans are trying to stop its spread."

And the Kansas City Star's Friday editorial says:

"Let's look at the facts. The single most important one: Voter registration fraud - where bogus names, addresses or signatures of potential voters are submitted to election authorities - is far different from actual voter fraud, where unqualified people show up and try to vote...

"So why all the caterwauling from Republicans? The most salient point is that ACORN has registered more than 1.3 million voters this election cycle. Of course many of these people are in demographic groups - minorities, and lower- and middle-income Americans - who tend to vote for Democrats. And many of these people are ready to vote for change..."

In an editorial today the New York Times calls the charges against ACORN "wildly overblown - and intended to hobble ACORN's efforts":

"..for all of the McCain campaign's manufactured fury about vote theft (and similar claims from the Republican Party over the years) there is virtually no evidence - anywhere in the country, going back many elections - of people showing up at the polls and voting when they are not entitled to...

"Meanwhile, Republicans aren't saying anything about another more serious voter-registration scandal: the fact that about one-third of eligible voters are not registered. The racial gaps are significant and particularly disturbing. According to a study by Project Vote, a voting-rights group, in 2006, 71 percent of eligible whites were registered, compared with 61 percent of blacks, 54 percent of Latinos and 49 percent of Asian-Americans...

"The real threats to the fabric of democracy are the unreasonable barriers that stand in the way of eligible voters casting ballots," the Times concludes. "That would go a long way toward explaining the GOP's frenetic attacks on ACORN."

Finally, today, as reported by Bloomberg, the Obama campaign asked U.S. attorney general Michael Mukasey to "add a probe into allegedly false Republican claims of voter fraud to the investigation into the firings of U.S. attorneys."

In the letter to Mukasey and special prosecutor Nora Dannehy, who is investigating the U.S. attorney firings, Robert Bower, general counsel for Obama for America, says: "The current surge of improper Republican activity must be understood, first and most fundamentally, in context of years of concerted partisan activities to use bogus claims of 'vote fraud' to suppress voting and to influence elections in the eleventh hour by pressuring federal and local officials-including the Justice Department-to investigate and prosecute allegations of fraud where none exists."

Quick Links:
Minnite, Lorraine. The Politics of Voter Fraud. Project Vote. March 2007.
Hess, Douglass R. "Representational Bias in the 2006 Electorate." Project Vote. Sept. 2007.

In Other News:

House speaker to push for voter ID - Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - House Speaker Chris Benge says he plans to push for a new law requiring Oklahoma voters to present identification when heading to the polling booth.

Judge declines to halt Georgia's voter screening - Atlanta Journal Constitution
A federal judge on Thursday allowed the state of Georgia to continue verifying the citizenship of registered voters with a statewide database.

High court rejects GOP bid in Ohio voting dispute - The Gainesville Sun
The Supreme Court sided Friday with Ohio's top elections official in a dispute with the state Republican Party over voter registrations.

A Win (For Now) In Ohio

blueleader — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:23:28 GMT

Cross-posted at overdetermined.net

As you may have seen, the Supreme Court ruled that the Ohio Secretary of State no longer has to match newly-registered voters against other government databases before allowing them to vote. This is a major win for Democrats (who registered the vast bulk of new voters in Ohio this year, thanks to their record-breaking ground game) and for people who care about voting rights. The first one should be obvious, but let me explain the second.

There's more...

Why doesn't it make sense to check voter registration records against other databases? Because unless you're very sure that both databases are extremely accurate and high-quality, this will cause more problems than it solves. One problem is clerical error. Voter registration is not uniform across the year; instead, there are huge spikes just before the registration deadlines for major elections. This situation--with low levels of work most of the year, and a short-term spike--is tailor-made for temp work. Secretaries of State will bring in additional staff as needed to handle the extra workload. Unfortunately, in the rush of new applications, there will be additional errors as new workers get used to the system and existing workers rush to keep up. Remember--at some point, all data is entered by a human. There are doubtless many people listed in the Ohio file as "Jhon". These people, meanwhile, are probably listed correctly in other databases. So if you're "Jhon Smith" in the voter file, "John Smith" in the Social Security database and "Johnny Smith" on the property tax rolls, you could be dropped from the voter rolls.

Even when data is entered correctly, there might still be problems. For example, you might live on "Sixth Avenue". Or "6th Avenue". Or "6 Ave". Any one of these is a valid way to record streetname, but will not be seen as the same by a computer.

There is a solution to this problem; address standardization software will put most addresses into a standardized format with a relatively low error rate (see this for an example). But there is an error rate--and in a state with 10 million voters, for instance, even an error rate of one-tenth of a percent would lead to 100,000 potentially disenfranchised voters.

Part of the problem is the onerous and antiquated system we have for monitoring voter registration; Matt Yglesias has some good points in that regard here. But part of it is simply planning for failure in the voter registration system.

This goes back to the discussion that Dirty D, Student Redux and I had the other day about data mining. No database will ever be perfect, and even if it is perfectly accurate there's still the possibility of human error in interpretation or implementation. Failure is inevitable.

What this means, of course, is that we should make failure graceful. Provisional ballots are a good first step in this regard. And we should absolutely not simply drop people from the rolls or force them to show restrictive forms of identification if we know that the problem is likely to be database error. Kudos to the Court (for now; this was only a preliminary step to determine if the GOP had standing to sue, not a full suit).

Latest chapter in GOP voter suppression efforts

21st Century Democrats — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:53:40 GMT

Cross-posted at 21st Century Democrats blog.

Afraid that they will lose this election, Republicans have turned ACORN into the boogie man. They are making baseless claims that ACORN is perpetuating voter fraud due to its voter registration activities.

In fact, the Republican National Committee's chief lawyer has labeled ACORN a "quasi-criminal organization," and McCain's campaign has launched ads accusing the group of "massive voter fraud" and bullying banks into making risky home loans. McCain's camp is also trying to link Democratic Sen. Barack Obama to ACORN. Last night, McCain said, "ACORN is destroying the fabric of democracy."
Rather than cower in fear, 21st Century Democrats is proud we honored Katy Gall of Ohio Acorn with our 2008 Paul and Sheila Wellstone Award. And we are equally proud to have honored Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, as one of our Leaders-in-Action - another target of Republican voter suppression tactics.

Now we will be partnering with No Voter Left Behind to fight voter suppression and vote theft in Ohio and throughout the country because these charges are just another chapter in the long history of conservatives trying to suppress and steal votes.

Paul Weyrich, "father" of the right-wing movement and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, Moral Majority and various other groups telling a gathering of conservatives that he doesn't want people to vote. In fact he says, "Our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."

Here are some additional facts:

ACORN has helped 1.3 million citizens from all parties and all walks of life register to vote.
In most states, ACORN is required by law to turn in every voter registration card - even in cases where the cards are not valid.
It is ACORN that has reported almost all of the issues regarding voter registration cards.
Invalid voter registration cards do NOT constitute voter fraud. Even RNC General Counsel Sean Cairncross has recently acknowledged he is not aware of a single improper vote cast as a result of bad cards submitted in the course of an organized voter registration effort.
A 2005 study by the League of Women Voters and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio found that only 4 of about 9, 000,000 votes cast in the state from 2002-2004 were fraudulent.

Here are some additional links to the voter suppression efforts in Michigan this cycle: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

The Fat Lady Clears Her Voice: Now What?

Mike Lux — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:00:00 GMT

As those of you who read my stuff know, I have been haranguing people like a madman in recent weeks that this thing isn't over, that we should never let up, that we should not be cocky or take anything for granted. And I will say down to the last day that anything could happen, that we don't know what the Bradley effect will be on the Presidential level, that we should keep pouring our heart out until the very last hour. But even I am starting to listen for the sounds of the Fat Lady singing. Even I am reaching for the fork to stick in this turkey.

Barring a truly catastrophic last-minute event or mistake, or a Bradley effect on the Presidential level completely beyond the realm of expectation, this thing is done. To those pundits who said this was McCain's best debate, or that he held his own with Obama, I have to ask: what were you smoking during last night's debate? Obama crushed McCain in that debate, adding to the cumulative effect of the two other Presidential debates and the VP debate: the Democrats are calm and steady and talking about the things that matter to the American people; John McCain is, in the words of Democracy Corps focus group participants last night, a "grumpy old man" (must have read my blog post the other day) and "a jerk." Obama won over undecideds and even McCain leaners last night in all the surveys and focus groups that were done, dominated in his responses to McCain's attacks, and dominated in his discussion of the most important issues, especially health care and the economy.

So with this thing moving so much in our direction, here's what I would do if I were running the Obama campaign:
1. Lock down Ohio, Florida, and Virginia in the next few days. With momentum we have we are in a position if we move aggressively to solidify ourselves in these three states. I would spend the next week really focused on nailing them down. We're a few points up in all of them, but they are all historically volatile and competitive. I would add even more to your advertising buys there; have both Obamas and both Bidens and both Clintons and other major surrogates flood the zone in these states; dump more staff and money into early voting. If we can build a double-digit, super-reinforced wall in all of these states (which also have at least nine swing congressionals in play), we will have a lot of flexibility in the last ten days to run up the score and help tons of House and Senate candidates.

2. House and Senate candidates. I'm hearing way too many stories about the Chicago office keeping too much distance between the Obama campaign and House/Senate folks in the states. It's time to dive in and do everything possible to help Democrats win a lot of the toughest races around the country, which has the twofer benefit package of helping build your governing majority and repairing some damaged relationships with the members of Congress and Senators you are going to need next year. Add other Dems to your fliers and door hangers, embrace fellow Democrats at rallies, etc.

Here's what I absolutely would not do if I were running the Obama campaign: glide. It's time to go for a landslide, carrying Democrats with you in a massive tidal wave. Do not relax or slow down or lose your focus or drift. If you win this thing going away, and pick up 35 House members and 10 Senators as a result, the odds of you being a successful President are dramatically increased. Since I have been involved in politics full-time (28 years now), I have lived through three absolutely crushing elections: 1980, 1994, and 2004. I have also lived through some good Democratic years: 1982, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2006. But there's a big difference between a good year and a truly crushing victory: with the latter, you have so much more power to actually get real things done. This year, we have a real opportunity to win a crushing victory. Let's finish off the job.

Talking Cities: A Video Letter from the Nation's Mayors

Harry M — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:33:34 GMT

As final preparations for the last presidential debate are made - water glasses weighed and secret memoranda consulted - both candidates have revamped their economic plans for the economic crisis now gripping the country.

McCain was uncertain, at first, about whether to release a revised plan. But even after deciding that certain "economic news and conditions" demanded such action, he seems to have omitted several critical elements from the proposal. No, if you were concerned, he remembered to include a cut in the capital gains tax. And yes, if you're worried he was going soft, he will employ a surge strategy to prevent foreclosures.
What McCain forgot is perhaps less obvious, unless you're Mayor Doherty of Scranton, Mayor Wilder of Richmond, or Mayor McLin of Dayton. Although the McCain-Palin team rallied recently in each of these cities - McCain even announced Palin's vice presidential candidacy in Dayton - the Republican's campaign seems not to have taken to heart their experiences in these swing state cities.

Indeed, the McCain-Palin ticket thrived off the rallies' rabid crowds , but their economic recovery plan provides no aid for the struggling state and local, including city, governments that employ, provide benefits to, and protect the crowds. Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio all face midyear FY2009 budget gaps and city governments are increasingly pessimistic about their economic health. This is just one more example of the McCain camp's failure to address urban issues.

Tonight is the final opportunity that both candidates will have to demonstrate their understanding of the importance of cities. We've put together a short video to remind the candidates why cities matter:

Early Exit Polls: Obama Leads In Georgia

Chris Bowers — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:51:09 GMT

Survey USA is starting to report crosstabs for early voters in many of their recent state polls. In every state where they have such crosstabs, Obama is ahead by shocking margins. First, Georgia:

Early and absentee voting began in Georgia on 09/22/08. Among the 18% of Georgia voters who tell SurveyUSA they have already voted, Obama leads by 6 points; among those who have not yet voted, McCain leads by 11.

With 18% of the vote in, this crosstab is effectively an "exit poll" showing that Obama is literally winning in Georgia right now. Similarly surprising pro-Obama margins can be seen in several other states, like Iowa:

Among the 14% of Iowa voters who say they have already cast their ballot, Obama leads by a 2:1 margin.

And New Mexico:

Among the 10% of New Mexico voters who say they have already voted, Obama leads by 23 points.

And North Carolina:

Obama has a slight advantage among those who tell SurveyUSA they have already voted. North Carolina has 15 Electoral College votes

And Ohio:

Of the 12% of respondents who tell SurveyUSA they have already voted, Obama leads by 18.

None of the other Survey USA polls released this month included early voting subsets. Still, these numbers are enough to indicate that Obama is clearly over-performing among early voters compared to his standing among all voters. This means that the Obama field campaign is obviously superior to McCain's, and that even if McCain tightens the campaign later on, Obama will already have banked a substantial lead. Early voting is also an excellent protection against the voter suppression tactics Republicans regularly employ.

Obama is winning big across the board right now. Best of all, this lead is not just in polls, but in actual votes.

Update: Survey USA also reports that Jim Martin leads by 4% in the Georgia Senate campaign, among early voters.

Update 2: Also, I should note that I share skepticism of those who think this all sounds like 2004, and as such is too good to be true. However, keep in mind that during the early voting phase in 2004, Kerry never actually led Bush. During early voting in 2008, we all know that Obama is well ahead right now. That, combined with a less than effective McCain ground game (Bush's was excellent, McCain's isn't) makes things very different from 2004.

Update 3: It should be noted that these subsets have very high margins of error. However, that Obama is outperforming his overall numbers in every single one of these subsets makes it highly unlikely that this is just "statistical noise." If it were truly random, than the early voting numbers would be pro-McCain in at least one of the five states listed here. Instead, Obama outperforms in all five.

Update 4: If Obama is ahead by 30% in Iowa with 14% reporting, should we already call the state for Obama? I'm tempted.

Update 5: 538 has more on this.

Open Season on ACORN and the poor

mrburns17 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:43:02 GMT

Keeping track of all the recent Conservative attacks on poor people and their "lobby" (ACORN) is getting to be a bit of a task.
The latest "outrage du jour" involves these (oh so obviously fake) voter registration forms that a few idiots (?) decided to turn in.
A few things to consider here.....
There are several ways to explain this ACORN voter registration "controversy". The first one is obvious: Hiring someone to register people on a commission basis, although not illegal, basically provides an incentive to make up names in order to turn in as many completed forms as possible. Something like this will not effect election results unless the actual person filling out all these forms shows up to vote over and over and over. That's what a Homer Simpson caliber scam would look like; doomed to failure and guaranteed to make the culprit look like a boob. I'm sure that in the end it will be "Jimmy John's" vote (as in the midwest sandwich chain) that will decide this election (...). Mr. Burns on the other hand would purge the Michigan voter rolls of black people, and those who lost their homes to foreclosure (now there's a scam worth writing about, huh?).

The bogus registrations I saw on CNN were amateurish and obviously fake. State officials were doing their jobs by catching them and setting them aside. These registration forms however were filled out in a such a transparently stupid and pedestrian manner, that another more sinister explanation might be worth considering.

How difficult would it be for a few Republican operatives to infiltrate ACORN and pose as poor people or students in need of a temp job? And how long would it take ACORN to actually trace these fraudulent registrations to them? By the time someone actually figures out who was walking what neighborhood and what registration forms they turned in... the culprits are long gone, and good luck finding them. Damage done, P.R. stunt successful. You think ACORN is an organization with the funds to conduct thorough background checks, or verify everyones identity before they let them volunteer or get them to register voters for a dollar or two per form? They're an advocacy group for poor people; not exactly in the same league as the Energy Lobby, or the Club for Growth.

Let's not forget that in 2007-2008 a group of "Movement Conservatives" (love that term), were doing the exact same thing in California (paying people to collect signatures) while attempting to steal 22 of our state's Electoral Votes. This was the famous "Steal the State" Petition, that was illegally funded by Rudy Giuliani backer, and hedge fund giant Paul Singer. Hundreds of (mostly out-of state) Conservative operatives were unleashed on California last year, and were caught on camera paying and/or buying alcohol for homeless people in return for them signing the petition. They were also caught lying through their teeth when questioned by passers-by about what exactly this "Electoral College Reform" proposition would mean for California. Ultimately their efforts failed, because we have a vigilant Democratic base here; many of us contacted local papers, protested, and got the word out about these Conservative wingnuts and their sham petition. But these types never give up; fast forward to September-November 2008. Now it's the Mormon Church who has unleashed it's money and army of fundamentalists to try and pass Prop. 8.

The notion that ACORN is perpetrating a fraud, or is somehow involved in a grand conspiracy to tip the election to Barack Obama is beyond laughable. Stealing elections is a craft mastered by Conservatives, their corrupt State officials, and their U.S. Supreme Court appointees. No individual or organization will ever come close to damaging our democracy the way that Ken Blackwell, Katherine Harris, Jeb Bush and the 5 Justices who decided Bush vs. Gore did.

But it's much easier for Fox News and Conservatives to attack ACORN. Poor people don't have the resources to defend themselves from right-wing smears. Conservatives even managed to find a way to blame poor people for our economic collapse.... nice going fellas.
There's a special place in hell for people like Sean Hannity and Michelle Bachman. The ultimately irony is that Bill Ayers probably won't be joining them there.

Are Voters Registered? Check Here to Ensure Every Vote Counts on Nov. 4

project vote — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:50:23 GMT

Cross posted at Project Vote's Voting Matters Blog

As history has shown, there is a difference between submitting a voter registration application and finding your name on the rolls when you go to vote. With registration coming to a close, Project Vote is conducting emergency efforts to ensure that no one who wants to vote is left out on Election Day.

Project Vote's Registration Repair Program is an intensive and urgent effort to collect and rectify large numbers of registrations that have been rejected by boards of election. We have been working all over the country to obtain disqualified applications and to contact would-be voters to repair applications with missing or erroneous information.

Check www.ProjectVote2008.org to see if your county has disqualified applications
Project Vote offers a Web site to help voters to check if they, their friends or neighbors were rejected by election authorities because of alleged or actual deficiencies in their application. Unless these people have already fixed the problem or filed another, corrected application, they will not be able to vote in November. The lists are available at www.ProjectVote2008.org. Currently featured states include Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Check back often as lists will be updated with more information in coming days.

Given that many of these counties have registration deadlines this Monday, we encourage voters to ensure they are not excluded from the voter rolls. Voters who discover they are not registered may fix the problem immediately by calling or visiting the local elections office to file a new, correct registration. This must be done before the Oct. 6 deadline to ensure all citizens who thought they registered to vote may cast a ballot on Election Day.

For more information on how to file a new, correct application, call these voter hotlines, provided by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: 866 OUR VOTE (866 687-8683) or 888 VE Y VOTA (888 839-8682).

No other organization is conducting such an effort to save registrations that have fallen through the bureaucratic cracks. Several boards of election have been cooperative, recognizing the importance of ensuring that every American who wants to vote is able to vote. In other cases, however, Project Vote is being met with reluctance, resistance, or outright refusal from election boards who seem content to allow thousands of would-be voters to turn up on Election Day and find that they've been left off the rolls.

Note: It is a violation of law in many states to use any of the information on any of these lists for commercial purposes.

The ad that wins Ohio

Todd Hoffman — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:58:59 GMT

Here's the ad that wins the Election in Ohio.

And it's crucial that we get this ad on the air right now, because voters - particularly persuadable voters - just started voting yesterday in Ohio.

The ad is tough, aggressive, and hard-hitting against the GOP's failed economic policies. But we need your help to get it on the air by Friday.

This ad highlights the report released by the Ohio Democratic Party on Monday, Ohio's Eight Years of Economic Pain. You can download the full report at www.ohiodems.org/economicpain
The ad's facts are simple: Under George Bush, 1,087 factories and companies in Ohio have shut down or had mass layoffs due to the failed Republican policies in Washington - an average of nearly three per week in Ohio each and every week for the past eight years.

These shutdowns or layoffs have put more than 180,000 Ohioans out of work, devastating their families and our communities.

These aren't just numbers - they are our neighbors.

John McCain cannot win without Ohio and the race in Ohio will come down to only a handful of votes. So we need you to be part of the momentum that puts Barack Obama over the top in Ohio on November 4.

There is no time to wait. The time for real change is now. And delivering Ohio to Obama will deliver him the Election.

Ohio and America cannot afford another four years. Please donate as much as you can afford TODAY. And then send this message to your friends.

Donate online at www.ohiodems.org/donate.

Thank you for your support!

Todd Hoffman
Director of Internet Operations
Ohio Democratic Party

ODP Report: 1,087 Ohio Companies Shut Down or Had Mass Layoffs under George W. Bush

Todd Hoffman — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:12:07 GMT

1,087 Ohio Companies Shut Down or Had Mass Layoffs under George W. Bush, Costing More than 180,000 Ohio Jobs
83 of Ohio's 88 Counties Hit by At Least One Shutdown/Layoff

Since 2001, 1,087 factories and companies in Ohio have shut down or had mass layoffs due to the failed Republican policies in Washington - an average of one shutdown or mass layoff in Ohio every 2.5 days, a new report revealed today. Read the report at www.ohiodems.org/economicpain.

These 1,087 shutdowns/layoffs cost 180,264 Ohioans their jobs - an average of 61 jobs lost each day for eight straight years. Many of these jobs were shipped from Ohio to China, Mexico, India, and other low-wage countries.
The new study, called "Ohio's Eight Years of Economic Pain, 2001-08," also found that 83 of Ohio's 88 counties-- a staggering 94 percent-- experienced at least one company shutdown or layoff since 2001.

The study is one of the most comprehensive to date and was released by U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH), and Ohio AFL-CIO President Joe Rugola. Both publically-available and private data sources were used in the analysis.

"Wrong-headed trade agreements have betrayed Ohio's middle class families and devastated our communities," Brown said. "Our current trade policy rewards companies that ship jobs overseas and forces businesses at home to close. Ohio can't afford four more years of Bush-McCain-style of trade. A new direction for trade isn't just sound policy for Ohio, it's good business."

Ohio AFL-CIO President Joe Rugola said, "John McCain has a 25 year track record of voting against working men and women and their families. That's why organized labor in Ohio is working so hard for Barack Obama. He represents the real change Ohio and America needs and he will be a true friend to working families everywhere."

The study is a joint project of the Ohio Democratic Party and the Ohio Campaign for Change. For a copy of the full study, go to www.ohiodems.org/economicpain.

OVERVIEW OF REPORT FINDINGS

• Since George W. Bush took office in 2001, 1,087 Ohio factories and companies shut down or had mass layoffs, resulting in 180,264 Ohio workers losing their jobs.

• That's an average of one Ohio plant closing or mass layoff every two and a half days and 61 job losses each day - for eight straight years.

• 83 of Ohio's 88 counties (94%) experienced at least one plant closing/mass layoff since 2001.

• John McCain has a long record of failing to protect Ohio jobs, including voting for NAFTA, CAFTA, and other unfair trade deals; voting against providing workers advance notice of plant closings; supporting overseas outsourcing efforts; and undermining programs designed to retrain workers.

• At least 286 individual Ohio cities have faced at least one plant shutdown or mass layoff. Ohio's larger cities - historically the heart of its manufacturing base - have been hit hard by the failed GOP policies, with 58,724 jobs lost due to 324 plant closings or mass layoffs.

• Smaller cities in Ohio - generally with a less diverse economic base-- are hit relatively harder by job losses or mass layoffs than are larger cities. In fact, cities with populations between 5,000 and 25,000 have lost a total of 64,189 jobs due to 362 plant closings or mass layoffs.

• More than 78,000 workers from over two dozen labor unions lost their jobs in Ohio due to 365 company shut downs or mass layoffs - that's 43 percent of the total job loss during that same time.

Read the report at www.ohiodems.org/economicpain.

Todd Hoffman
Director of Internet Operations
Ohio Democratic Party

On Winning the Midwest: Part 1

Andrew Davey — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:46:57 GMT

(Proudly cross-posted at C4O)

Last week, we finished surveying the lay of the land out West. This week, we begin to turn our attention to the Midwest. Yes, that's right. The Midwest looks to be once again a crucial battleground to win both the White House and Congress. And with just six weeks left until election day, we'd like to talk about the state of the races in America's Heartland.

So would you like to join us?

Let's begin with Ohio. Ohio may yet again be THE critical swing state this year, as polls show an extremely tight race here. However, the Presidential race isn't the only exciting contest in The Buckeye State. We also have some great opportunities to win some more Congressional seats as well!

In the Columbus based 15th District, we have a great candidate in Mary Jo Kilroy. She's currently a Franklin County (Columbus) Commissioner who has a terrific record of accomplishments in bringing Republicans and Democrats together to enact real solutions to the county's economic, health care, and environmental problems. But while Kilroy offers a message of real change, her Republican opponent only offers more of the same Bush-Cheney-McCain nonsense. Mary Jo Kilroy nearly ousted the Republican incumbent in 2006 (who's now retiring) and Bush barely squeaked by with 50% of the vote here in 2004, so this district is ripe for the picking in 2008! With the DCCC and EMILY'S List already all in here, our help can really help put Mary Jo Kilroy (and Barack Obama, for that matter!) on top this November.

Another race that the DCCC and other top Democrats are targeting in Ohio is the 16th District. Here, Air Force veteran and current state representative John Boccieri is running to bring some real change for Northeast Ohio. He's fought for our country, and he now wants to fight for Ohioans... For more and better jobs, affordable health care, and real help in these perilous economic times. Meanwhile, Republican Kurt Schuring... Well, he's not quite as fond of his possible future constituents. This race is quite winnable for Democrats, and we have a terrific candidate in John Boccieri. If we support him, he will win.

Another state that's critical for Barack Obama this fall is Michigan. The race here is close, but the renewed focus on the economy does seem to help Obama here. If there's any state that's been severely hit by the economic downturn, it's Michigan. And hopefully with Obama's message resonating here, we can also elect more good Democrats to Congress from here.

One great candidate running is Gary Peters from Michigan's 9th District (Oakland County, Detroit suburbs). Peters is an accomplished state legislator, business owner, and a Navy Veteran who signed up again to serve after 9/11. Unlike the incumbent Republican Joe Knollenberg, Peters wants to get to work to help rebuild Michigan's economy. But in order to make change happen here, we need to help Gary Peters win.

Michigan and Ohio are two critical swing states for Barack Obama to win this fall. If he wins them both, he'll likely win the White House. But in addition to the Presidential race, we have critical Congressional races to win as well in these two states. Please don't forget to help all these wonderful Democrats win by giving what you can here and by volunteering for the campaign if you live in or near any of these districts. With our help, we'll make victory happen on November 4 in the Midwest and all over the country! :-)

Veterans Advocates Skeptical Of New V.A. Registration Policies

project vote — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:32:42 GMT

Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

By Erin Ferns

We recently wrote about the Department of Veterans Affairs decision to open its facilities to voter registration drives after months of urging by voting rights groups and elected officials. This week, however, "VA voter suppression continues," as AlterNet's Steven Rosenfeld wrote Tuesday, with voter registration efforts being blocked in California and the VA general counsel criticizing the pending Veterans Voting Support Act (S. 3308), which would bolster federal protection of voter registration opportunities for all wounded veterans. With just three weeks left to register voters in most states, advocates say now is the time to support voter registration efforts in VA facilities and, most importantly, it needs to be explicitly protected from now on through federal law.
"Credibility of VA on this issue is very low right now," said Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. during a hearing on the Veterans Voting Support Act on Monday, according to Rick Maze of the Army Times. VA general counsel Paul Hutter says that the VA is being "proactive" in working with election officials and nonprofit groups to facilitate voter registration, but that "VA still believes that some limits are needed."

These limits were enforced this week at a San Francisco VA facility when the nonprofit group Veterans for Peace was blocked from helping register voters in time for the 2008 presidential election. According to Rosenfeld, the group filed a legal motion in California federal court Monday, claiming that VA was trying to require Veterans for Peace members to go through the same screening process that VA volunteers must go through - a process that would delay registration efforts. "In contrast, the VA does not require screening for most other visitors," Rosenfeld says.

Citing testimony from the Senate Rules and Administration hearing on S. 3308, the motion notes that of the 5.5 million patients in VA facilities, volunteers registered only 350 patients and 64 outpatients. "Those statistics show the VA's internal process of screening volunteers who are then approved to register voters has had the effect of suppressing the vote of injured veterans in 2008," writes Rosenfeld.

As VA voter registration is administered solely at the whim of the VA itself, advocates warn that, without a federal mandate to provide voter registration and information to the nation's wounded veterans, their right to vote could easily be lost. "VA can easily reverse course, again, and issue another policy banning voting assistance," or could "easily fail to implement their new policy," says Veterans for Common Sense executive director and S. 3308 supporter, Paul Sullivan.

Hutter claims a broad interpretation of the proposed law would open VA facilities as a voter registration agency to the public, potentially disrupting VA facilities and invading privacy of patients. Feinstein says that the intent of the bill is not to serve the public and that she is willing to make amendments.

"However, she did not see disruption as a major problem," Maze writes, "because setting up a voter registration drive could be as simple as putting a table in the lobby of a hospital or clinic."

In a recent New York Times report announcing the new VA policy, writer Ian Urbina quotes Sen. Feinstein: "Given the sacrifices that the men and women who have fought in our armed services have made, providing easy access to voter registration services is the very least we can do."

The companion bill to S. 3308, H.R. 6625 passed the House by voice vote on Wednesday.

Quick Links:
S 3308: Veterans Voting Support Act
Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
H.R. 6625: Veterans Voting Support Act
Rep. Robert A. Brady, D-Penn.
Veterans for Peace
Veterans for Common Sense

In Other News:

Voter Database Glitches Could Disenfranchise Thousands - Wired
Electronic voting machines have been the focus of much controversy the last few years. But another election technology has received little scrutiny yet could create numerous problems and disenfranchise thousands of voters in November, election experts say.

Ohio Republicans Use Lawsuit To Fight for State's Crucial Votes - Wall Street Journal
The Ohio Republican Party spearheaded a lawsuit Friday over a directive from the office of Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner that would allow some early voters to register and vote on the same day.

Democrats accuse state GOP of hypocrisy - Wisconsin State Journal
Democratic Party Chairman Joe Wineke said Monday it was hypocritical for Republicans to defend mistakes in their mailing databases while pursuing a lawsuit over the state's flawed voter registration system.

ACLU: Mississippi felons denied voting rights - Associated Press
JACKSON - Convicted felons in Mississippi are denied their constitutional right to vote in presidential elections, the American Civil Liberties Union alleges in a federal lawsuit filed Friday.

Erin Ferns is a Research and Policy Analyst with Project Vote's Strategic Writing and Research Department (SWORD).