Early Voting Archives - Page 21 of 25 - Voting Integrity Institute

Another ACLU Attack on Election Reforms

By Robert Knight Although people in the nation's smallest state can obtain photo voter IDs with ease, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says that requiring an ID in order to vote is a hardship. The group's Rhode Island chapter has demanded an end to the photo voter ID law that a solidly Democratic legislature enacted in 2011. It's the latest attack by the ACLU and other leftist groups against state election reforms that are specifically designed to prevent vote fraud. Over the past few years, courts have struck down laws in Arkansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Texas, while upholding them in Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio and Wisconsin. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana's photo voter ID law, which has been a model for other states. North Carolina's voter ID law, which also curbs early voting and ends out of precinct voting and same-day registration, went to trial in late July in a federal court.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:37:08+00:00August 17th, 2015|ACRU Commentary, Early Voting, Same-Day Registration, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

Election Reform in North Carolina and the Myth of Voter Suppression

By Hans von Spakovsky In 2013, North Carolina passed omnibus electoral reform legislation that, among other provisions, eliminated same-day registration, required that qualified persons who desire to vote in an election must register to vote no later than 25 days before Election Day, reduced the number of early voting days from 17 to 10, and created a voter ID requirement. Although opponents of this bill predicted that such reforms would disenfranchise minority voters and significantly suppress voter turnout, turnout actually increased. African-American voter turnout increased by almost 30 percent and Caucasian voter turnout increased by approximately 15 percent. Clearly, these changes did not suppress voter turnout.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:36:57+00:00August 4th, 2015|ACRU Commentary, Early Voting, Same-Day Registration, Voter ID|

Clinton Calls for Sweeping Expansion of Voting Registration

HOUSTON -- Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday called for sweeping changes in national voter-access laws aimed at making it easier for young people and minorities to take part in elections, putting her on a collision course with Republicans who say such measures are a political ploy that would lead to widespread abuses. In a speech at a historically black college here, Clinton called for federal legislation that would automatically register Americans to vote at age 18 and would mandate at least 20 days of early voting ahead of election days in all states. Making her most fiercely partisan political speech since her first, failed run for president in 2008, Clinton attacked Republicans for what she characterized as a calculated attempt to turn back the clock on voting rights -- and called out several potential 2016 opponents by name for backing voter restrictions as governors.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:38:03+00:00June 5th, 2015|Automatic Registration, Early Voting, News, Voter ID|

Rasmussen Poll: Nearly 8 in 10 Back Voter ID

Despite Democratic charges that conservative states and politicians are engaging in discrimination by demanding that voters show identification, more than three-quarters of likely voters believe photo ID laws are needed. A new Rasmussen Reports poll out Wednesday found support for photo ID laws at 76 percent, nearly exactly the 78 percent support registered in 2006 when the latest movement to scrap the laws kicked off. President Obama and several top Democrats have accused Republicans of attempting to keep minorities from the polls with the photo requirement, but even their own party faithful don't agree. Rasmussen found that 58 percent of Democrats believe a photo ID must be shown before voting. Ninety-two percent of Republicans and 78 percent of voters not affiliated with either major party support photo ID rules.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:34:43+00:00June 3rd, 2015|Early Voting, News, Voter ID|

Vote — Or Else: The Siren Call of Universal Suffrage

It's not enough to propose liberal ideas. Eventually, you must use force against your fellow citizens if they don't embrace them. Coercion is at the heart of the liberal enterprise. Hence, President Obama has unveiled his latest plan to fundamentally transform the United States -- mandatory voting. It comes on the heels of his unconstitutional order granting legal status to 5 million illegal immigrants. Coincidence? Ironically, it also landed the very same day that Hillary Clinton floated the idea that summer camps should be created for adults because we have a "fun deficit." Perhaps they will get together and create Camp Chicago, where "fun" activities include voting early and often. To bolster his case, Mr. Obama noted at the town hall in Cleveland on Wednesday that, "Other countries have mandatory voting." Most other countries have voter ID laws too, but I guess that doesn't fit the narrative. "It would be transformative if everybody voted -- that would counteract money more than anything," Mr. Obama said. This is the man who shunned matching funds as hundreds of millions of dollars poured into his campaign, some of it anonymously from outside of the country.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:37:08+00:00March 23rd, 2015|ACRU Commentary, Early Voting, Voter ID|

The Voter Suppression Myth Takes Another Hit

Federal lawsuits against North Carolina claim that recent changes to the state's election laws will "suppress" minority votes. For example, in N.C. State Conf. of NAACP v. McCrory, plaintiffs assert that the new laws "impose a disproportionate burden on the ability of African Americans to vote" and will "raise costs for voters and deter participation." They highlight testimony by a former director of the State Board of Elections who asserted that the laws will "ultimately reduc[e] turnout in comparison to comparable elections." Turnout data for the 2014 election, posted Dec. 10 on the state's Board of Elections website, tell a different story. Black turnout and registration for the November 2014 election increased by every relevant measure compared with November 2010, the last non-presidential general election. Last July, North Carolina adopted electoral reforms that eliminated same-day registration, reduced the number of days of early voting to 10 from 17, and required ballots to be cast in a voter's home precinct. It also instituted a voter-ID requirement that will take full effect in 2016. Two sets of plaintiffs, led by the NAACP and the League of Women Voters, sued in federal court on Aug. 12, 2013. They were followed a few weeks later by the Justice Department. Attorney General Eric Holder asserted that the state's new laws would restrict "access and ease of voter participation" and "would shrink, rather than expand, access to the franchise." All three suits alleged that the reforms will inflict "burdens" on North Carolina voters--and in particular, on minority voters. These allegations were backed by reams of expert reports submitted by social scientists predicting that these burdens would depress voter registration and turnout. One expert in the Justice Department lawsuit claimed that more than 200,000 black voters, along with 700,000 white voters, would be "burdened" in an off-year election. Another expert concluded that particular provisions "will lower turnout overall" and "will have a disparate impact on African-American voters." Those predictions were not borne out. The 2014 elections were the first test of the impact of North Carolina's new laws, including a "soft rollout" of its voter-ID requirement--under which poll workers asked voters if they had ID and if not, to acknowledge the new requirement in writing. Board of Elections data showed that the percentage of age-eligible, non-Hispanic black residents who turned out to vote in North Carolina rose to 41.1% in November 2014 from 38.5% in November 2010.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:36:58+00:00December 29th, 2014|Early Voting, News, Same-Day Registration, Voter ID|

Politician Whose Son Is Senator’s Chief of Staff Urges Supporters to ‘Vote Twice’

Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's chief-of-staff was present at an event held a day before the midterm election in which his father, a Louisiana mayor, urged people to vote twice in order to re-elect Landrieu. The Black Conservatives Fund published video of the event, recorded on Nov. 3, showing Opelousas mayor Don Cravins Sr. telling a crowd that if they had already cast an early voting ballot in the election that they should vote again. "If you early voted, go vote again tomorrow," Cravins Sr. told the crowd which was gathered at the Charcoal Lounge. Cravins Sr. is a former state senator and Democratic Party operative. He is currently facing a run-off against another Democrat. The mayor's son is Don Cravins Jr., Landrieu's chief-of-staff. According to the Black Conservatives Fund, he was present at the event when his father urged voters to engage in fraud. "One more time's not going to hurt," Cravins Sr. says. "Tomorrow we're going to elect Earl Taylor as D.A. so he won't prosecute you if you vote twice."

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:38:05+00:00December 1st, 2014|Early Voting, News, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

How to Fraud-Proof Elections

By Edwin Meese III and Ken Blackwell Once upon a time, Americans got together on Election Day, went to the polls, and chose our leaders. Voting on the same day helped bind us together as self-governing citizens in a free republic. It even felt like a national holiday -- Independence Day without the fireworks. Except for those traveling or who are infirm and who can use absentee ballots, Election Day puts everyone in the same boat. As a civic exercise in equality, it is unparalleled. It has the added advantage of making vote fraud more difficult, since there is a very short window in which to commit it. But over the past few decades, election laws have been relaxed in the name of convenience, with "reforms" such as early voting, same-day registration, Sunday and evening voting hours, no-excuse absentee voting and allowing out-of-precinct ballots. All of these increase the possibility of vote fraud. At the same time, despite a clear mandate in the National Voter Registration Act (also known as the Motor Voter Law) to keep accurate registrations, the system has grown lax; election authorities have left millions on the voter rolls who should not be there.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:38:05+00:00November 3rd, 2014|Absentee / Mail-in Voting, ACRU Commentary, Early Voting, Same-Day Registration, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

Here Comes the 2014 Voter Fraud

In the past few months, a former police chief in Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to voter fraud in a town-council election. That fraud had flipped the outcome of a primary election. Former Connecticut legislator Christina Ayala has been indicted on 19 charges of voter fraud, including voting in districts where she didn't reside. (She hasn't entered a plea.) A Mississippi grand jury indicted seven individuals for voter fraud in the 2013 Hattiesburg mayoral contest, which featured voting by ineligible felons and impersonation fraud. A woman in Polk County, Tenn., was indicted on a charge of vote-buying--a practice that the local district attorney said had too long "been accepted as part of life" there. Now come the midterm elections on Nov. 4. What is the likelihood that your vote won't count? That your vote will, in effect, be canceled or stolen as a consequence of mistakes by election officials or fraudulent votes cast by campaign workers or ineligible voters like felons and noncitizens?

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:36:58+00:00October 28th, 2014|Absentee / Mail-in Voting, ACRU Commentary, Early Voting, Proof of Citizenship, Same-Day Registration, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

ACLU ‘Thrilled’ to Kill Voter ID in Arkansas

Reacting to the Arkansas Supreme Court's ruling declaring the state's voter-identification law unconstitutional, ACLU of Arkansas Legal Director Holly Dickson said her group is "thrilled." Well, why not. They've been at it all over the country, trying to take down voter ID laws and enrich the ground that can yield a bumper crop of vote fraud. The unanimous decision on Oct. 15 upheld a lower court ruling and will affect early balloting, which began Monday, Oct. 20. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov 4. The Republican-controlled state legislature enacted the fraud-prevention law in 2013 over a veto by Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe. The justices ruled that the law requiring all voters to present government-issued photo identification, "imposes a requirement that falls outside" four qualifications outlined in the state constitution: A voter must be a U.S. citizen, an Arkansas resident, 18 years old and registered to vote. Providing proof that voters are, indeed, who they say they are, a requirement that the and more than 70 percent of the public strongly supports, is too high a hurdle, according to the ACLU. Ms. Dickson called the law "an unconstitutional barrier that has already stolen legitimate voting rights." When clerks ask to see an ID before selling beer, are they "stealing legitimate drinking rights?"

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:34:45+00:00October 21st, 2014|ACRU Commentary, Early Voting, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

SUBSCRIBE