Fighting Voter Suppression

“A second judge has declared Wisconsin's voter ID law unconstitutional, further guaranteeing that the ID requirement will not be in place for elections this fall.”

“Josephine Givnin is 99 and a regular voter, but to cast a ballot this year she needs a photo identification card - which she lacks because she never had a driver's license.”

“As several states prepare to implement voter ID laws passed by their legislatures in November, TPM’s interviews with elections officials show that education efforts are all over the map.”

"'Unfortunately, those most likely to have problems [with ID] are being the most severely suppressed -- the elderly, minorities, those with a disability,' said Roberta Winters, the issues and action vice president for the Pennsylvania League of Women..."

“One would think that in a nation where so many citizens do not vote — 75 million eligible people in 2008 — legislators would spare no efforts to increase exercise of the franchise.”

“The fact is there are tens of thousands of folks in Milwaukee County [WI] who don't have a valid photo ID for any number of reasons but still manage to get by just fine. These are the same people some suggest are committing massive voter fraud even though there's little hard evidence to support most of those claims.”

League Joins Case in Support of Voting Rights / Department of Justice

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.”

“A panel of federal judges opened a trial in Washington, D.C., on Monday to decide whether Texas can carry out its year-old voter ID law, which the Justice Department contends will prevent Latino and African-American citizens from voting.”