voting laws

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Judge Spikes Pennsylvania Voter ID Requirement

Issue likely headed to state Supreme Court

(Newser) - A nearly 2-year-old requirement that almost all of Pennsylvania's 8.2 million voters must show photo identification before casting a ballot was struck down today by a state judge, setting the stage for a courtroom showdown before the state's highest court. Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard L. McGinley, a...

NC Voter ID Law Runs Into Roadblock: the DOJ

Eric Holder to announce lawsuit today: source

(Newser) - North Carolina passed a controversial voter ID law in July, but if the Department of Justice has its way, the law—said to be the most sweeping of its kind in the nation—may never be enforced. The DOJ will file suit against the state today, a source tells Politico...

DoJ Fires Opening Salvo at Texas Over Voting Laws

Eric Holder wants state subjected to 'preclearance'

(Newser) - The Justice Department has made its first move since the Supreme Court struck down a key portion of the Voting Rights Act : Eric Holder said today that the department wants to require Texas to get federal permission before making any changes to voting rules . A motion asking a court to...

It's July 1: Hundreds of New Laws Go Live

On everything from drones to tanning to Election Day drinking, and more

(Newser) - The Jersey Shore is about to get a little paler. As of today, minors in the state won't be allowed to use tanning beds—and anyone under age 14 won't even be able to get a spray tan there. It's July 1, the day hundreds of of...

SOTU Guests: Ted Nugent, Mohawk Guy

A look at who will be attending tonight's State of the Union address

(Newser) - Who will be sitting in the audience when President Obama gives his State of the Union address tonight? Well, not everyone will be a fan:
  • Ted Nugent will be there as a guest of Rep. Steve Stockman, Talking Points Memo reports. Nugent wants to "counter the scams and lies
...

Robocall to Florida Voters: Vote Tomorrow

And more voting problems

(Newser) - Hopefully Pinellas County residents weren't paying too much attention to robocalls they received this morning telling them they had until 7pm tomorrow to vote. The polls actually close tonight, of course, and anyone trying to vote tomorrow won't have their ballot accepted. But more than 12,000 calls...

We Need to Stop Voting on Tuesdays
 We Need to Stop 
 Voting on Tuesdays 
OPINION

We Need to Stop Voting on Tuesdays

It's another way we disenfranchise voters: Jacob Soboroff

(Newser) - "There's absolutely no good reason whatsoever" that Americans vote on a Tuesday, declares Jacob Soboroff in Good . Nowadays the practice, which started in order to make voting easier for horse-and-buggy travelers in 1845, only serves to disenfranchise voters, at least in the 15 states where—despite the fact...

Fla. GOP Cans Firm Over Bogus Voter Registrations

Other voter ID problems cropping up in other swing states

(Newser) - Florida, no stranger to voting trouble, is home to a new controversy: The state's Republican Party last night fired Strategic Allied Consulting, a company it hired to register voters, after it turned in 106 suspicious and allegedly fraudulent voter registration applications. The firm appears to belong to Nathan Sproul,...

New Voting Laws May Block 10M Hispanics From Polls
New Voting Laws May Block 10M Hispanics From Polls
study says

New Voting Laws May Block 10M Hispanics From Polls

Could impact election outcome: study

(Newser) - Voter ID laws are already quite controversial , and a new study will probably make them even more so: It finds that more than 10 million Hispanic US citizens could be prevented from voting thanks to new laws in 23 states. The number is so high that it could swing election...

New App Helps You Get Around Voter ID Laws

The 'Election Protection' app provides info about election day

(Newser) - New voting laws could restrict millions of Americans from casting a ballot this fall—but an iPhone app aims to help voters navigate these rules and regs, writes Erika Eichelberger at Mother Jones . Designed by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and other voting rights groups, the "...

Ohio Voting Official: Why Accommodate Blacks?

GOP official calls for 'fair and reasonable' voting hours

(Newser) - An Ohio Republican Party county chair who also happens to be an elections board member wants voting to be "fair and reasonable"—but his definition of "fair" isn't likely to sit well with many voters. Amid controversy in the state over the decision to kill some...

Mandatory Voting: 'Absurd, Cynical, Repugnant'

Jonah Goldberg weighs in; plus, Sasha Issenberg's idea

(Newser) - To say that Jonah Goldberg disagrees with Peter Orszag—who recently called for compulsory voting —is a bit of an understatement: In the Los Angeles Times , Goldberg calls the idea of mandatory voting "absurd, cynical, and repugnant." The fact that Orszag and other Democrats are pushing for...

Let&#39;s Require People to Vote
 Let's Require People to Vote 
Peter Orszag

Let's Require People to Vote

It 'would make our democracy work better,' says Peter Orszag

(Newser) - Because of our low voter participation rates, it's likely that no US president has actually been elected by a majority of adult Americans, writes former budget director Peter Orszag at Bloomberg . We can fix that by making voting mandatory, as it is in Australia and more than two dozen...

Florida Gov Slams Feds' Lawsuit Against Voter Purges

Rick Scott: 'It doesn't make any sense'

(Newser) - Florida Gov. Rick Scott is showing no signs of backing off his showdown with the federal government, giving Fox & Friends today an earful over the feds' lawsuit to stop the Sunshine State's noncitizen voter purges . "We want to make sure that our voters get to vote and...

Feds Suing Florida Over Voter Purge
Feds Suing Florida Over Voter Purge

Feds Suing Florida Over Voter Purge

...while Florida sues feds over denied access to database

(Newser) - The Department of Justice is taking Florida's Board of Elections to court for disregarding its warnings and continuing to purge its voter lists . Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez has told Florida officials that the state's attempt to purge people it believes are noncitizens from the rolls needs to...

Florida Election Supervisors Refuse Voter Purges

County officials say the state's list is flawed

(Newser) - In Florida voting, the buck stops with county election supervisors—and they're not letting noncitizen voter purges go on any longer. "We’re just not going to do this," says one. "The list is bad," he says of a list of 2,700 people whom...

Florida Defies Feds, Purges Voter Lists

GOP says purge needed to keep non-citizens off voting rolls

(Newser) - Feds are telling Florida to quit purging its voter lists, insisting the process is kicking off many legitimate voters, but Florida won't stop, reports the Guardian . State officials say the purging, which so far has removed 2,600 names, is necessary to ensure that non-citizens aren't voting. But...

Justice Dept. Shoots Down South Carolina Voter ID Law

Says law makes it harder for minorities to vote

(Newser) - The Justice Department today rejected South Carolina's law requiring voters to show photo identification, saying the law makes it harder for minorities to vote. Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said the law didn't meet the burden under the Voting Rights Act and tens of thousands of minorities...

GOP Election-Law Rewrites Pose Threat to Dems

Minorities, young people targeted in new rules, say voting-rights groups

(Newser) - Pennsylvania’s Republicans aren’t the only ones instituting voting laws likely to hurt Democrats. Some 12 states have begun requiring voters to carry picture ID; Florida and Ohio have reduced early-voting time; and Florida has cracked down on ex-felons voting, the Washington Post reports. Republicans say they want...

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