“On Wednesday, in the heat of another pitched American battle over voting rights, one that is playing out in courthouses and state capitals all across the nation, the Senate Judiciary Committee met yet again to remind us of how tenuous the right to vote still is in this country. ... The hearing was called "The Citizens United Court and the Continuing Importance of the Voting Rights Act" and, as the title suggests, it was an attempt by the Democratic leadership on the Committee to connect together on Capitol Hill two legal trends of recent vintage, each beginning in 2010.”
Testifying today before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the continuing importance of the Voting Rights Act, Elisabeth MacNamara, president of the League of Women Voters of the United Stat
League of Women Voters Lawsuit unsuccessful in halting voter ID law
Forty-seven years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the historic Voting Rights Act (VRA) into law.
Letter to The Boston Globe: “The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts applauds the Globe’s opposition to current voter suppression legislation around the country, including requiring photo ID to vote (“A brief moment of candor,” Editorial, July 9).”
“With four lawsuits and more than 180,000 names of potentially ineligible voters, the situation in the Sunshine State is getting messier by the day. ... A letter to the newspaper from the director of the state chapter of the League of Women Voters and a lawyer from the Brennan Center for Justice (both groups that submitted friend-of-court briefs supporting the DOJ) argues for continuing vigilance.”
“Elisabeth MacNamara, national president of the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan group that works to lower barriers to participation, said that the patchwork of rules across the states is cumbersome and intimidating for historically reluctant groups of voters.”
“Elections should not be decided by politicians who manipulate voting laws for partisan gain. Improving our elections need not come at the expense of our shared value that all citizens should have the opportunity to participate in our democracy.”
“Michigan is poised to become the latest state to pass harsh new restrictions on voting. On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled House passed three laws...”
Last night, the faux-news show The Daily Show took on Florida’s new voter registration law.