Tag: voting

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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to introduce bill to expand online voter registration

I’m a big believer in getting as many legally eligible voters into the democratic process.

And now, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has announced she will introduce a bill to make online voter registration available to every eligible voter.

Via the Associated Press:

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says people across the country should be able use their computers, smartphones or electronic tablets to register to vote. The New York Democrat is announcing legislation Sunday that would force the 23 states that don’t have an online registration system to establish one. The bill also would expand enrollment access in states that currently have online systems by making them open to all eligible voters without requiring a state-issued ID. Gillibrand says nearly half of eligible voters don’t have access to online registration.

This is a good thing. Thanks for the leadership, Sen. Gillibrand.

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The Daily Show Public Service Announcement – “Voting Makes You Gay”

At the end of The Daily Show’s report on the very serious issue of voter suppression in North Carolina, the Comedy Central team added just a bit of snark to drive its point home.

After an interview where a North Carolina official admitted to engaging in voter suppression tactics, several out actors thought they’d give right-wingers a taste of their own medicine.

Jane Lynch, Neil Patrick Harris, and Ellen DeGeneres all demand that you “Vote,” in the 12-second clip below. And in doing so, they claim “voting makes you gay.”

“That’s right, Republicans,” says Quinto. “Voting makes you gay.”

(via Advocate)

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Breaking: Ohio Secretary of State refuses to follow court order to restore early voting days

Via ThinkProgress: Jon Husted, Republican Secretary of State in Ohio, is refusing to change his restrictive early voting schedule even after a federal court restored in-person early voting to all Ohioans during the three day period before the general election.

Husted claims expanding hours before an appeals court hears his case will “only serve to confuse voters.”

Husted first restricted the voting hours in Democratic-leaning urban counties to weekdays only, then restricted all counties’ voting schedules after complaints of unfairness.

In spite of several counties’ requests to stay open on weekends, when most employed people have time to vote, Husted has flatly refused to accommodate them.

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Federal judge restores early voting days in Ohio

The Obama campaign has sued the state of Ohio in federal court – to restore the three day early voting period that Republicans in the state legislature eliminated – and won.

A federal judge in Ohio on Friday restored early voting rights in the three days before the election, ruling in favor of the Obama campaign.

U.S. District judge Peter C. Economus ruled that “restoring in-person early voting to all Ohio voters through the Monday before Election Day does not deprive UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) voters from early voting.”

“Instead, and more importantly, it places all Ohio voters on equal standing,” Economus ruled. He said the state “fails to articulate a precise, compelling interest in establishing the 6 p.m. Friday deadline as applied to non-UOCAVA voters and has failed to evidence any commitment to the ‘exception’ it rhetorically extended to UOCAVA voters.”

Mitt Romney earlier had falsely tried to rewrite the issue: “President Obama’s lawsuit claiming it is unconstitutional for Ohio to allow servicemen and women extended early voting privileges during the state’s early voting period is an outrage,” Romney said in a statement.

Actually, the Obama campaign’s lawsuit, filed by the campaign in mid-July, explicitly asks a federal court to restore in-person early voting rights to ALL eligible Ohio voters on the three days preceding Election Day.

“This lawsuit seeks to treat all Ohio citizens equally under the law,” Obama for America attorney Bob Bauer said in a statement. “We want to restore the right of all to vote before Election Day.”

Under the Obama administration, the Justice Department has filed 10 lawsuits and reached nine settlements with various states to protect military voters under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).

(Source)