Open Left - presidential election 2008

After 2008 Election, Some States Want to Make Voting Easier; Others Determined to Make it Harder

project vote — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:32:40 GMT

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

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

By Erin Ferns

Following an historic turnout in the 2008 election comes a flurry of election reform agendas from both sides of the battle over voting rights. Since November 4, some state lawmakers have seized on the success of early voting and Election Day Registration (EDR) as models for facilitating voter registration, while others appear to have been threatened by the heightened turnout and inspired to introduce restrictive voter ID and proof-of-citizenship bills for the 2009 legislative session.

Following what appears to be significant progress this year in closing participation gaps among historically underrepresented young and minority voters, we review Election Day stories in states with voter ID and EDR laws, and preview next year's legislative battle for election reform.
Election Day Registration

In North Carolina, lawmakers report being "proud" of the implementation of the state's 2007 Same Day Registration law, which permits early voters to register and vote at established "One-Stop" voting sites, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. In the 2008 primary and presidential elections, the law seemed to boost voter registration while cutting the use of provisional ballots by more than half, compared to figures from the 2004 election. On average, EDR states tend to outperform non-EDR states in election outcome by a minimum of 10 percentage points, according to public policy group, Demos.

"State Rep. Paul Luebke said he expects other states to model North Carolina's early voting system," according to the report. "The only change he would suggest for the next elections would be to standardize the hours, encouraging local boards of elections to stay open longer in early voting."

Despite the smooth success of Same Day Registration at early voting sites in North Carolina and other states,Republican lawmakers in Ohio are pushing to end the state's new mandate to allow voters to register during the early voting period.

State Republicans recently announced that they would file legislation to move the voter registration deadline to 65 days before Election Day, according to an Associated Press report. They hope to pass the bill before the 2008 session ends "and a new, Democratic-controlled House takes over in January."

However, election law expert Dan Tokaji said the bill will likely run into opposition as "federal law clearly prohibits states from having registration deadlines earlier than 30 days before an election."

Before the Nov. 4 election, the "Republican Party sued Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to stop the same-day window...but state and federal courts upheld it."

Brunner has planned an election summit in December to review the elections process and will likely not adhere to any changes before the new legislature takes over, according to the AP report.

Meanwhile, states like West Virginia are considering implementing Election Day Registration, which currently exists in about eight other states in its traditional form whereby eligible citizens may show up at their polling place on Election Day, register to vote and cast a ballot. First implemented in Maine in 1973, EDR is also practiced in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire and Wyoming. Other states, like North Carolina, Ohio and Connecticut permit variations of the option to register and vote at the same time, either during an early voting period, or-in the case of Connecticut-on a special ballot that only allows them to vote for the president.

"I lost my card, and I didn't think I could do it too close to the time," said one West Virginia voter and supporter of an EDR law, according to Parksburg, W. Va. News station, WTAP. "So, if it was that way, I could have voted."

However, Woods County clerk, Jamie Six, who "studied the idea for the state clerk's association" is against the implementation of EDR.

"The poll workers have a long and very busy day already," Six said. "And to add this to their plate to take care of on election day, we don't feel it would be fair."

While EDR in the state is unlikely, Six says it is possible to allow voters to register during the early voting period. "A committee of the West Virginia Legislature is to hear from Six on Monday," according to WTAP.

In the 2008 session, about 19 states introduced EDR legislation. Bills are pending in four states: Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio. None of these bills have moved since this summer.

At least two states, Texas and Montana, which currently practices EDR, have pre-filed several bills relating to EDR for the 2009 session.

Voter ID

While some states were facilitating voter registration and voting this year, Indiana - home of the country's strictest voter ID law - reportedly turned some of its young voters away without casting a regular ballot, and even encouraged poll workers in other states to mandate voter ID when no such law existed in the first place.

Despite being properly registered and equipped with out-of-state and student ID, the young voters were only allowed to vote provisionally on Nov. 4, leaving some discouraged and others in tears, according to a letter to the Indianapolis Star by Leon Riley, an election official at Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse precinct.

"The Indiana voter ID law amounted to disenfranchisement for a number of young, well-informed voters, as well as some voters who have various limitations of resources, transportation and problem-solving ingenuity. Is this what we want for some of our brightest and best, or for some who need help along the way? In fairness, this unnecessary barrier must be abolished," wrote Riley.

The day before the election, an emergency motion was filed to stop enforcement of the voter ID law based on constitutional violations. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago denied the motion a week later without citing any reasons why, according to the Indiana Lawyer.

With the controversy over the U.S. Supreme Court's upholding of Indiana's voter ID law, and a flurry of voter registration fraud allegations in the weeks before the election, poll workers in some states appeared confused over their own states' laws. Voters in Mecklenburg County, Virgina, for example, complained that poll workers illegally asked them to provide proof of identification, including photo ID, according to the Smith Hill Enterprise. There were also reports of misleading signs outside of polling places that indicated photo ID was required.

The misinformation amounted to a misinterpretation of the Help America Vote Act, which required voters who registered by mail after 2003 to provide proof of ID.

"The voter being asked to present a photo ID is not the preferred language to use," said Jessica Lane of the State Board of Elections. The preferred language, she said, is to ask for "a form of ID."

Whatever the intention, voters were set back after waiting hours in long lines, leaving to get their IDs, or possibly, not return at all, according to the Enterprise.

"I am registered with neither party. I am a devout independent with libertarian leanings, but I believe in the constitution and the fact that everyone needs to get out and vote," wrote one concerned voter. "Was anyone denied the right to vote? If they did not have a photo ID and saw the sign, did they say 'Oops. I guess I can't vote' and leave?".

For voter ID advocates, preventing the extremely rare crime of individual voter fraud is worth the risk of compromising a voter's right to cast a ballot. However, preventing many eligible voters from casting a ballot just to prevent a rare crime hardly seems on par with democracy. A four year investigation by the federal government found only 24 instances of voter fraud out of more than 214 million votes cast. Several studies have found that a number of already under-represented Americans - primarily young, elderly, minority and poor - would have a difficult time meeting the requirements. These studies include a Brennan Center survey that found 21 million Americans were without the required identification; a University of Washington study that found about a quarter of Indiana's young, African-American and low income voting-age populations lack the necessary ID; and a University of Georgia study found the state's Latino and Black voters were twice as likely not to posses required ID compared to White voters.

Yet despite the lack of evidence of voter fraud, and a well known, recent history of young and elderly voters missing out on the democratic process in Indiana (including Indiana nuns and Notre Dame University students who were turned away in the 2008 primaries) lawmakers in states like Oklahoma and Texas are hoping to make voter ID a reality in 2009.

While acknowledging that Oklahoma Speaker of the House Chris Benge "and the others pushing for a voter ID system have a certain level of common sense on their side (one idea is to offer free ID with their plan), Wayne Greene of the Tulsa World dismisses the argument that if people are required to show photo ID to cash a check, they should be required to show ID when they vote. Greene points out that there is plenty of evidence of people attempting to cash fraudulent checks, but no evidence of people attempting to cast fraudulent votes in Oklahoma.

"Benge told me he didn't have any examples of fraudulent voting to justify what sounds like a pretty expensive free ID system," Greene says. The state, which introduced and failed seven voter ID bills this year, will convene for the 2009-2010 session next February.

Immediately after Election Day, lawmakers in Texas - where there was a serious voter ID battle during the 2007 session - pre-filed a few bills requiring voter ID as well as proof-of-citizenship at registration.
Supporters of voter ID hope to have it in effect by the next gubernatorial election, according to local publication, Athens Daily Review.

In total this year, 25 states introduced voter ID bills, and bills are still pending in four states: Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Track these and other election-related bills by visiting www.ElectionLegislation.org.

After this presidential election's phenomenal turnout that showed the American electorate is finally closer to representing all of its citizens, lawmakers should recognize that voters take this fundamental right seriously. The passage of laws that help facilitate that right are far more conducive to a fair and healthy democracy than the passage of those that prevent some citizens from voting at all.

Quick Links:
www.ElectionLegislation.org

In Other News:

More minorities voted this year, but white turnout dropped - McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama's 8.5 million-vote margin over John McCain was fueled by a more than 20 percent surge in minority voting, a new analysis of exit polling data suggests.

Minnesota group asks feds to investigate problems with state's voter rolls - Associated Press
ST. PAUL (AP) - A group opposed to Minnesota's same-day voter registration law has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate problems it suspects with the state's voter rolls.

Woman seeks limits on mentally disabled voters - Associated Press
GRINNELL - A Deep River woman wants to change a[n Iowa] state law to require that mentally disabled voters be supervised when they cast a ballot.

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

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).

Youth Voter Participation Surges - But So Do Voter Suppression Attempts

project vote — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:39:45 GMT

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

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

By Erin Ferns

Young voters have arrived.

Finally.

Since the voting age was lowered to 18 in 1972, predictions of the increasing impact of young voters on the outcomes of elections have consistently been proven wrong on Election Day. In fact, youth voting rates have rarely been as strong as they were in 1972 and young people continue to be among the least represented groups in the electorate and in the voting booth.

Until now.
The 2008 primary season, remarkable for so many reasons, has seen a veritable firestorm of interest from young people that has driven their civic participation rates to record-setting levels. Super Tuesday alone yielded 3 million votes from voters younger than 30 while voter registration rates have increased exponentially across the country. As states with upcoming primaries brace themselves for the influx of voter registration applications - and even the possibility of youth "swinging" Pennsylvania's election next week - presidential candidates and youth voting advocates have taken a more "hands on" approach in engaging young voters in the political process. However, as we've seen when other historically underrepresented groups dramatically increase their participation, partisan agendas centered on excluding people from the electorate bring forth rules and regulations - often couched in terms of "ballot integrity" or "combating voter fraud" - that restrict access to the ballot.

"Candidates are tapping into the so-called millennium generation, the children of baby boomers who grew up demanding much from their elders and keenly interested in the world around them," wrote Barbara Barrett of Pennsylvania's Centre Daily Times Monday. "Everyone is sick and tired of the way things are going, and they want change," a Penn. State voter told Barrett. "Now is a good year for young people."

Presidential campaigns and groups like Rock the Vote have been reaching young voters through Internet networking and texting, an effective way of reaching highly mobile young people, according to a 2007 study by the Student PIRGS. The report found text message reminders to vote increased likelihood to turnout by 4.2 percentage points.

"Now reaching the masses, particularly the younger masses, means putting the power in their hands," the Associated Press reported Monday. All candidates have visited college campuses as part of their youth outreach campaigns. But both Barrett and the Associated Press point to presidential hopeful Barack Obama - who recently rallied 20,000 "shrieking, sign-waving" Penn State students and promised a game of basketball with high school and college students who helped register Indiana voters - as one of the biggest reasons for the revival of the youth electorate.

"[Obama] has drawn a lot of momentum from the buzz generated by young people, whose cultural upbringing has been in a highly fragmented media world of online social networking,"AP reported. Future Majority's Michael Connery also commented yesterday on the difference in Obama's campaign: "It's not just technology and it's not just star power. It's a real commitment to field organizing, and making sure that young people are targeting their fellow youth. In other words, it's all about the peer-to-peer organizing."

Engaging voters in the political process and allowing them to take part in campaigns, voter registration drives, and even media coverage, helps foster a healthy democracy and balances the electorate. In midterm election year 2006, just half of eligible voters younger than 30 were registered to vote. The disparity was even greater among young voters of color. While 54% of white youth were registered, just 46% of Black and 43% of Latinos were registered. In 2008, however, young Latinos are "shaping up to be this election's 'soccer moms,' a decisive group of swing voters," the San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday.

In an effort to reach the millions of young Latino voters, non-profit group, Voto Latino and SiTV, a cable and Internet company created "Crash the Parties '08" to politically engage young, English-speaking Latinos by "crashing" Republican and Democratic conventions this summer.

The groups are recruiting young, Latino reporters to "produce newscasts, video blogs and interviews with candidates and convention delegates for a growing audience of hip, bicultural Latinos who may not be all that plugged in yet to the political process."

"The health of a democracy depends on active, informed voters," opined Oberlin College president, Marvin Krislov, in the Washington Post Saturday. "Numerous studies have shown that young people who vote are likely to become lifelong voters. So a young person's first experience of voting should be welcoming, not frustrating."

The frustrating experiences Krislov refers to are Election Day barriers, including restrictive proof-of-residency requirements that hurt students, a highly mobile population that is more prone to rejection from voter rolls and ballot access because of constantly changing residences. Oberlin recently helped its students overcome that barrier by providing utility bills in order to prove residency for on-campus residents who couldn't vote before, a measure Krislov encourages other states to emulate.

"That would be a welcome change from past practices that discouraged the youth vote."

Some challenges young people face when registering to vote or voting at the polls include proof of citizenship and voter identification requirements. Both were sold to lawmakers and the public as ways to stop so-called "voter fraud," a crime that rarely occurs. Government records show that only 24 people were convicted of or pleaded guilty to illegal voting between 2002 and 2005. That is out of 214 million ballots cast for elections to federal office in the same period. The bigger loss of valid votes is among young people, four million of which do not have valid proof of identity that includes current address in order to cast a ballot, according to a 2006 study by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. And despite proof that voter fraud is virtually non-existent, voter ID bills were pushed in 20 states this legislative session. Two of those states, Kansas and Oklahoma introduced voter ID proposals that have made significant progress in the legislatures. The Kansas bills (SB 169 and HB 2019)have received media attention in the recent past, but just this week, one of the Oklahoma bills, S 1150 made headlines after passing the House.

The study also found that about 13 million individuals do not have ready access to documentary proof of citizenship, a voter registration requirement that lawmakers pushed in 18 states this year. Currently, Missouri's House Bill 1317 is moving in the legislature. Progress of this bill may be monitored at Project Vote's bill tracking Web site, ElectionLegislation.org (registration required).

Other historically disenfranchised groups would benefit from the acknowledgment of today's "highly mobile society," include low income and minority voters. With such intense voter engagement occurring across the board - the sign of a healthy and vibrant democracy - it is worrisome that partisan activists and lawmakers in state legislatures would pursue policies and laws that institutionalize aggressive voter roll purges, and restrictive proof of residency, identity, and citizenship requirements. Most of these restrictions are expressly designed to perpetuate the imbalance of the electorate under the seemingly innocuous guise of protecting "election integrity."

"Voting in America is not restricted to taxpayers or property owners," Krislov said. "And in our highly mobile society, millions of voters do not live where they grew up. Denying such people the right to vote, which even the homeless are guaranteed, would be unthinkable."

Quick Links:

Oklahoma House of Representatives and Senate
Kansas House of Representatives and Senate

In Other News:

How Republicans Quietly Hijacked the Justice Department to Swing Elections: The GOP may have committed massive vote fraud in plain sight by encouraging widespread voter purges and restricting registration campaigns - AlterNet

States Failing to Implement Critical Voting Rights Laws - OMB Watch

Advocate group: Florida voter registration not adequate - Bay News 9

House OKs voter identification measure - Associated Press

Voter ID Apparently Dead for 2008 - Associated Press

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