PHOENIX – An investigation by voting rights groups revealed Arizona agencies are persistently violating the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which Congress enacted to increase opportunities to register to vote and simplify the registration process. The groups detailed their findings and demanded action in a formal notice letter sent today to Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Supreme Court arguments in the Ohio voting purge case, Husted v.A. Philip Randolph Institute, have been rescheduled for Jan. 10, 2018. Paul M. Smith, vice president of litigation and strategy at the Campaign Legal Center, will argue the case on behalf of the plaintiffs.
While Public Interest Legal Foundation Undertakes National Campaign to Institute Massive Purge Voter Programs, Civil Rights Groups Offer Needed Guidance to Election Officials on Prohibitions within the National Voter Registration Act
Washington, DC – Today, over 80 community leaders signed a letter urging Mayor Bowser and the members of the DC Council to support the Fair Elections Act of 2017, important legislation under consideration to create a voluntary, small-donor matching program for local elections.
Washington, D.C.-- Today’s 5-0 vote by the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety to advance the Fair Elections Act of 2017 (B22-0192) to the full Council for consideration is a major step forward for the campaign, supporters said today. They called on the Council to immediately schedule a vote to pass the legislation.
Councilmembers Charles Allen, David Grosso, Anita Bonds, Mary M. Cheh, and Vincent C. Gray voted unanimously in favor of the legislation, which passed without amendment.
Demos and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will host a media call to discuss the upcoming Supreme Court oral argument in the case of Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute.
WASHINGTON – Demos and the American Civil Liberties Union presented arguments today to the U.S. Supreme Court in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), a case focusing on Ohio’s practice of purging voters from its registration rolls. The groups argued that the Supplemental Process directly violates the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).
Settlement in “Motor Voter” Case in Time for 2018 Elections
SACRAMENTO - Millions of Californians who renew their driver’s license or state identification by mail will be able to use the renewal form to register to vote or update their voter registration, starting in April of 2018.
Washington, DC – Today, Demos, a New York public policy organization, released a first-of-its-kind congressional college yearbook, which compares the cost of college tuition members of Congress experienced with the cost of college for today’s students. The yearbook, entitled When Congress Went to College, finds that the average student today paid nearly $20,000 a year more for college than current members of Congress.
MASSACHUSETTS - Yesterday, Demos, Rock the Vote, SEIU, and Massachusetts Community Action Network (MCAN), represented by attorneys from Cooley LLP, filed an amicus brief in a case challenging Massachusetts’s 20-day voter registration cutoff. In the case, Chelsea Collaborative v. Gavin, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts is being asked to determine whether the state’s voter registration deadline violates the Massachusetts Constitution.
Indiana—On Thursday, Demos, the ACLU, the ACLU of Indiana and the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, on behalf of Common Cause of Indiana, filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the implementation of a new Indiana law that would allow the state to kick voters off the rolls based on flawed data, beginning on July 1.
Coalition cheers final passage of bill, calls for full funding and implementation of landmark democracy reform
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Advocates and activists celebrated on Tuesday as Mayor Bowser signed the Fair Elections Act, a major democracy reform that will bring small donor public financing to local elections. The campaign to pass the bill has been supported by dozens of economic, social, and racial justice organizations, as well as the entire D.C. Council.
FLORIDA – Today, voting rights organizations Demos, LatinoJustice/PRLDEF and 18 other social justice groups sent letters to 13 Florida County Supervisors of Elections, urging them to provide bilingual voting materials for their Puerto Rican residents, as required by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.