Another big state has taken steps to modernize voter registration at its motor vehicle offices. The Texas Department of Public Safety, which oversees state driver licenses and identification cards, has instituted a new system that simplifies the voter registration process.
A disturbing and growing hysteria over immigration—most evident in Arizona’s horrifyingly oppressive new law—has now spread into election administration legislation in at least one state. On the same day that the Maine Republican Party adopted a blatantly xenophobic Tea Party platform, the Tennessee Senate injected anti-immigrant sentiment into a draconian bill to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
“As Maine goes, so goes the nation.” Let us hope the original bellwether state is no longer an accurate indicator of where American politics are heading, or we’re all in serious trouble. Yesterday the Maine Republican Party officially—and overwhelmingly—scrapped their near century-old platform in favor of a Tea Party wish-list that Maine Politics calls “a mix of right-wing fringe policies, libertarian buzzwords and outright conspiracy theories.” (The full platform is available at the Washington Post site here.)
After 15 years of declining compliance, several states are being brought into line with the National Voter Registration Act, a key federal election law that could help hundreds of thousands of citizens register to vote every year. Though some states are coming around due to lawsuits filed by voting rights organizations, others are voluntarily beginning to adhere to the NVRA. This week Project Vote released two new publications that explain what states are doing wrong and offer best practices for improvement.
Last week, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill to allow 16-year olds to preregister to vote. If signed by the governor, Maryland will join Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Rhode Island in enacting this important reform.
As Congress deliberates over setting a federal standard for restoring the civil rights of released felons, Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell appeared to be creating more roadblocks to the democratic process for felons in his state. However, after much criticism from lawmakers and voting rights groups in the last few days, the governor has backed down; McDonnell now says his new requirement for felons to write an essay outlining their contribution to society in order to restore their voting rights was merely a "draft policy proposal."
You might think that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's proclamation extolling the celebration of treason would have been the worst thing you'd read about him all week.
You'd be wrong.
In quick hits, lowkell calls attention to something McDonnell has done that directly impacts the rights of Virginians, not just their sense of right and wrong. While most states either allow convicted criminals to retain the right to vote, or have the right automatically restored at some point--typically after release from prison or parole--Virginia is one of a handful that treats restoration of voting rights as a privilege to be handed out on an individual basis at the discretion of the governor.
To be honest, I don't see how this situation can be regarded as constitutional. If voting is a right--which it is--it cannot coherently be treated as a privilege as well. But, of course, they see things differently down in the former slave states, where most such states are located.
Be that as it may, there's a very striking pattern here: Democratic governors Tim Kaine and Mark Warner restored the civil rights of 4,402 and 3,486 felons, respectively. Their Republican predecessors James Gilmore III and George Allen restored the rights of just 238 and 460 felons, respectively. While the Democrats are obviously far more willing to restore rights, they are far from being generous about it. Virginia has 300,000 felons who have served their time without having their rights restored.
This is the background against which McDonnell has decided that ex-felons seeking to have their rights restored should have to write an essay about why they are deserving of receiving such an honor. And while voting rights and civil advocates may be crying foul--particularly since many ex-felons have limited writing skills and deep distrust of authorities--the McDonnell administration is insisting that this is being done to help the very people it is creating hurdles for.
Online voter registration is a leading election reform issue often touted as an avenue for modernizing voter registration for the 21st century. A new report by the Pew Center on the States says online voter registration is a cost- and time-effective method that is widely used and favored by people in states with established programs. With more states moving towards online registration, legislators and advocacy groups are moving to address concerns and find innovative new ways to ensure Americans can take advantage of the technology.
A bill to automatically register voters when applying for a driver’s license was introduced to the Wisconsin Assembly yesterday. If passed, advocates in Wisconsin say the state would be the first to implement this streamlined procedure to make voter registration accurate and accessible under law.
With millions of Americans living and working in our communities, but disenfranchised by past felony convictions, Congress has taken the first step to put democracy back on track.
Although the 2008 presidential election showed unprecedented increases in turnout from underrepresented citizens, their rates of voter registration and participation were still well behind the electorate in general. As we approach election season, this pattern may only continue. Instead of taking steps to improve the administration of elections to encourage and facilitate voter participation from eligible citizens, lawmakers and elected officials are back to raising barriers to voting by implementing strict voter ID laws, as illustrated through high profile court battles, ballot initiatives, and fast-moving legislation
An appeal to an Indiana's court's decision to shut down the state's notorious voter ID law as unconstitutional was heard last week in the state Supreme Court.
Engaging young citizens in the democratic process is an issue that lawmakers and voting rights advocates have long attempted to address. But with most youth voter engagement efforts primarily targeting college-attending youth (who make up less than half of the population of 18-24 year olds and are more likely to register and vote), the problem of underrepresented youth is likely to remain unsolved.
As voter education and access to voter registration seem to go hand-in-hand with greater voter participation rates, more lawmakers and advocates are siding with a simple solution for youth voter engagement: preregistration. However, as the state legislatures demonstrate this year, support for this reform could not happen fast enough.
With a population of more than 30 million, California is one of the lowest ranking states in voter registration rates. Once registered, however, the vast majority of Californians show an interest in democratic participation by turning out to vote. In recognition of this gap, some California lawmakers are finding ways to make voter registration more accessible to citizens, including the tried and true method of providing access to voter registration and voting at the same time: Election Day Registration (EDR).
A seemingly harmless trend in voter list maintenance is to compare voter lists between states and cancel apparent matches. However, this method not only violates federal law, but has the potential to put thousands of voters at risk of wrongful purging. As a result, one of the first states to launch this trend has taken steps to ensure that voters are not improperly removed from the rolls and perhaps will serve as an example to states that may be putting voters at risk through these interstate compacts.
While there is nothing wrong with states sharing information in an attempt to keep their voter lists up-to-date, some state election officials think that they are justified in immediately removing a voter from their rolls if the computerized interstate database comparison reveals an apparent match with the name and birth date of a voter who has more recently registered out of state. Removal based on such a match without adequate notice to the voter is not only unreliable, it's also illegal under the National Voter Registration Act.
After the state Supreme Court shut down Indiana's contentious photo voter ID law as unconstitutional last September for unfairly exempting absentee voters, this year's crop of voter ID bills appeared to be tweaked just enough to avoid major public scrutiny. This month, however, policymakers have returned to debating over traditional photo ID bills that pertain to voters who cast a ballot in person, and unfortunately, they are picking up in several states.
STATE BLOGS
You might think that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's proclamation extolling the celebration of treason would have been the worst thing you'd read about him all week.