Expanding Voter Access
Washington, DC (May 17, 2012) – The League of Women Voters supports the goals of the new Voter Empowerment Act introduced today in the U.S.
“A coalition of new, professional Latino civic leaders from established non-profits organizations [including the Houston League of Women Voters Education Fund] have united to celebrate the right to vote by organizing Tacos & Votes, a free community gathering and march to the ballot on Saturday, May 19...”
“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.”
Earlier this week, 3 federal judges issued an older scolding the Texas government on how it has handled a suit against its voter ID law.
“A contentious new election law was on track to being repealed in...Ohio after a bill to rescind the law cleared the Legislature on Tuesday, amid Democratic accusations that Republicans were thwarting the chance for voters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...”
“Filling a federal courtroom and adjacent overflow room, some 300 Cleveland area residents heard two hours of testimony on Ohio's new voter suppression law at a field hearing May 7 called by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).”
“Minnesota lawmakers spent hours going back and forth on the Voter ID amendment, before finally passing it through both chambers ... The League of Women Voters is against the amendment saying it only disenfranchises voters.”
“Gone will be the arbitrary deadline, according to Cheryl Dunson, president of the League of Women Voters of Connecticut. Instead of having to register seven days before the election, the measure approved by state lawmakers allows for same-day registration.”
Special interest money in elections has been a problem for years. The issue was magnified by the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
“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, ...”