Issues Archives - Page 198 of 222 - Voting Integrity Institute

States Seek Right to Ask New Voters for Citizenship Proof

States are vowing to go to the courts for permission to ask newly registered voters to show proof of citizenship after a federal commission ruled late Friday that it's up to the national government, not states, to decide what to include on registration forms. Under the motor-voter law, federal officials distribute voter-registration forms in all of the states. Arizona, Kansas and Georgia all asked that those forms request proof of citizenship, but the federal Election Assistance Commission rejected that in a 46-page ruling released late Friday, just ahead of a court-imposed deadline.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:37:00+00:00January 22nd, 2014|News, Proof of Citizenship, Voter ID|

Judge Strikes Down Pennsylvania Photo ID Law

A Pennsylvania judge on Jan. 17 struck down the state's voter ID law, which was signed in early 2012 and is one of the strictest in the nation, ruling that the statute "unreasonably burdens the right to vote." "Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal," Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley wrote.Pennsylvania's law requires all voters to bring to the polls identification issued by the state government or the U.S. government, or another valid credential such as a student ID with an expiration date, in order to cast their vote. If a would-be voter does not have an appropriate ID, that person can cast a provisional ballot and the vote will be counted if an adequate ID is brought to the local elections office within six days. The state's Republican-led Legislature passed the law in spring 2012, saying it would help prevent voter fraud, and GOP Gov. Tom Corbett signed it shortly thereafter.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:37:00+00:00January 18th, 2014|Early Voting, In the Courts, News, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

Sensenbrenner Works with Far Left Groups on Voting Rights Act

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) this week announced his intention to pass a bill "reforming" the Voting Rights Act. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act last year. As J. Christian Adams reported: " [Sensenbrenner's bill would] radically expand federal power over state elections. It would give Attorney General Eric Holder expansive new federal powers over state elections, including the ability to barge into polling places to monitor the use of foreign language election materials. It would also give Holder the power to block election integrity measures like Voter ID and citizenship verification." Holder has earned a reputation for being one of the most partisan attorneys general in American history, litigating against states that have chosen to adopt election security reforms including voter ID. On Friday, Jan. 17, Sensenbrenner was to hold a conference call to discuss his bill. He was to be joined on the call by far-left leaders, including Nancy Zirkin of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Deborah Vagins of the ACLU, and Tanya Clay House, from the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:37:09+00:00January 17th, 2014|News, Proof of Citizenship, Voter ID|

Voter Fraud in New York — Proof that It’s Easy

Liberals who oppose efforts to prevent voter fraud claim that there is no fraud -- or at least not any that involves voting in person at the polls. But New York City's watchdog Department of Investigations has just provided the latest evidence of how easy it is to commit voter fraud that is almost undetectable. DOI undercover agents showed up at 63 polling places last fall and pretended to be voters who should have been turned away by election officials; the agents assumed the names of individuals who had died or moved out of town, or who were sitting in jail. In 61 instances, or 97 percent of the time, the testers were allowed to vote.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:37:00+00:00January 14th, 2014|ACRU Commentary, Vote Fraud, Voter ID|

Texas Vote Buying Schemes in the Spotlight

Donna, TX -- Three women working as politiqueras in the 2012 elections in Donna were arrested by F.B.I. agents in December and accused of giving residents cash, drugs, beer and cigarettes in exchange for their votes. According to court documents, the typical payment to a voter was $10, a sign of the extreme poverty in the Rio Grande Valley, which is home to some of the poorest counties in America. Two of the three women -- Rebecca Gonzalez and Guadalupe Escamilla -- are accused of paying some voters as little as $3 for each of their votes. One voter was given a pack of cigarettes. Others were taken to buy drugs after they received cash for voting for a politiquera's candidate.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:38:08+00:00January 13th, 2014|News, Voter ID|

Fighting Voter ID Laws Is Part of Massive Liberal Plan

A month after President Barack Obama won reelection, top brass from three dozen of the most powerful groups in liberal politics met at the headquarters of the National Education Association (NEA), a few blocks north of the White House. ' At the end of the day, many of the attendees closed with a pledge of money and staff resources to build a national, coordinated campaign around three goals: getting big money out of politics, expanding the voting rolls while fighting voter ID laws, and rewriting Senate rules to curb the use of the filibuster to block legislation. The groups in attendance pledged a total of millions of dollars and dozens of organizers to form a united front.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:35:17+00:00January 9th, 2014|News, Voter ID|

Tea Party Pushing Voter ID in California

California conservatives and Tea Partiers have launched a campaign to pass a voter ID measure via ballot initiative, sidelining the state's Democratic-controlled legislature. The California Secretary of State's office announced on Dec. 31 that proponents of a measure that would require voters to present "government-issued photo-identification" can begin collecting the 504,760 signatures needed to put it on the ballot in November. They have until the end of May to gather the signatures. The campaign is being led by Elise Richmond, a southern California talk show host and conservative Republican activist.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:35:17+00:00January 8th, 2014|News, Voter ID|

MSNBC Guest: Voter ID Reforms Are ‘Anti-American’

On January 6, MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell began her Andrea Mitchell Reports segment on voting rights lamenting how in 2013 "[t]he Supreme Court effectively gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act in June last year when the court struck down a key provision opening the door for states and localities to undo nearly a half century of voting rights gains." Appearing alongside Ms. Mitchell was Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP, who charged that new voting laws across the nation were "anti-American." Mitchell tipped her hand by calling such policies "voting rights restrictions" and voiced her support for the NAACP's efforts.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:35:17+00:00January 7th, 2014|ACRU Commentary, Early Voting, Voter ID|

Elections Will Test New Voter ID Law in Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK -- Three special elections in January will test Arkansas' new voter ID law that took effect Wednesday. On Jan. 14, voters in Craighead County will elect a state senator to replace Sen. Paul Bookout, who resigned in August after he was cited by the Arkansas Ethics Commission. Poll workers will be trained about the law before the election, Craighead County Election Commissioner Scott McDaniel told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The voter-identification requirement was approved by the Legislature during the 2013 session. Previously, poll workers asked voters for identification but voters were not required to produce it before casting a ballot.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:35:17+00:00January 2nd, 2014|News, Voter ID|

Mississippi Counties Prepare for New Photo ID Law

MCCOMB, Miss. -- Circuit court clerks in Pike, Amite and Walthall counties say their offices are prepared for Mississippi's new voter ID law, which goes into effect in January. The exact date for when voter ID cards will be issued will be clearer when the clerks travel in mid-January to a training session with Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann in Jackson.

ACRU Staff2020-05-03T23:37:00+00:00December 30th, 2013|News, Voter ID|

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