2012 Election

“Our election system is literally awash in money, and the 2012 election will again shatter all spending records. The amount of money from wealthy special interests, millionaires and billionaires coursing through the Wisconsin recall election and the presidential election corrodes public faith in our democracy.”

“The Minnesota Supreme Court plans to move quickly in determining whether to change or quash a constitutional amendment on voter ID before it appears on the November ballot. The court has ordered oral arguments for July 17, an expedited schedule that would allow it to order changes to the ballot question before the November election.”

“Wisconsin’s League of Women Voters also reported ‘widespread’ problems with the residency law at polling places across the state, according to Executive Director Andrea Kaminski. ... Carolyn Castore, the League’s election coordinator, stressed that students could claim their parents’ residency to be their home if they have not registered at their Madison address, a stipulation she claimed several polling officials had overlooked.”

“Young voters and African-American voters did more than their part to show up, according to exit polls and early reports, despite significant efforts to confuse and challenge them from groups that profess to be fighting voter fraud.”

“... Turns out the Division of Elections, working with outdated information from the DHSMV, has been demanding that county elections supervisors purge a number of legal citizens, both natural-born and naturalized, from the voter lists. On Thursday, the Division of Elections announced it was giving up on the use of outdated driver license records.”

“Ohio’s march toward what’s expected to be a nationally watched 2012 election took an apparently unprecedented step Tuesday, one that could put election officials into court before a ballot is cast. ... ‘If the legislature had truly wanted to return the clock to where it was...it would have eliminated that last-three-day restriction,’ said Carrie Davis, executive director of the League of Woman Voters of Ohio.”

“A contentious new election law was on track to being repealed in...Ohio after a bill to rescind the law cleared the Legislature on Tuesday, amid Democratic accusations that Republicans were thwarting the chance for voters to weigh in on the issue this fall. GOP Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign the repeal bill. Voter advocates, including the League of Women Voters in Ohio, have urged state lawmakers not to make any changes to Ohio's election law before November...”

“Some see South Carolina’s voter ID law and other states’ efforts to tighten early voting as less of an attempt to curb voter fraud than some of the earliest volleys in the 2012 presidential race. ... Julie Hussey of the League of Women Voters of the Charleston Area said, “A lot of it is really national-level politics that we're seeing at the state level.” She said such efforts appear directed at states, such as South Carolina and Texas, ...”

 “‘They're reducing the number of precincts and increasing the number of (voters) per precinct. And they're relying on the fact that people are relying on early voting, and at the same time they're reducing the number of hours. So voters are going to be caught in a Catch-22,’ said Jeanette Senecal of the non-partisan League of Women Voters, which has filed suit to block the law.”
 

 “‘It's enough already,’ said Carrie Davis, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. ‘This constant round of election changes in the midst of a presidential election cycle causes too much confusion. They need to stop.’”