Educating Voters

“Michigan is poised to become the latest state to pass harsh new restrictions on voting. On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled House passed three laws...”

“Government and politics teacher Dawn Quarles' voice goes tight with frustration when she thinks back to how trying to register her students to vote thrust her into the center of Florida's high profile and deeply partisan voting rights controversy. ... ‘I never felt like the voting process was on my side... That's not the way it's supposed to be,’ said Quarles, a registered Republican who was slapped with a $1,000 fine...”

“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.”

“...the League of Women Voters of Florida and Rock the Vote will get back to work registering voters, the groups announced Wednesday. ... ‘Failure was never an option in this battle against voter suppression,’ said LWVF President Deirdre Macnab. ‘Now it’s time for our volunteers to work overtime to make up for lost ground.’”

“A major focus of the League of Women Voters of Greater Rockford is the registration of new voters. ... This year the League registered 492 area students.”

“I count members of the League of Women Voters among my political heroes. Year after year, the League does some of the most important work of our democracy.”

“Hoping to start high school students on a lifetime of voting, the League of Women Voters of the La Grange Area [IL] is sponsoring voter registration May 23 at the Lyons Township High School...”

“...we say kudos to the Pompton Lakes League of Women Voters [NJ] for turning out this week and offering Pompton’s students the opportunity register. They signed up 55 students from Pompton and Riverdale who were either 18 or would be 18 by the time of the November general election.”

According to Dr. Carol Weissert, professor of political science at Florida State University: “Since the passage of this bill, third-party voter registration groups such as the Boy Scouts and the League of Women Voters are not registering people. ... These organizations are often responsible for registering many young people and students on college campuses. Because they’re not doing so like they used to, the ability of people to register to vote has lowered.”