States are failing low-income communities and our nation's democracy by not adequately complying with federal law that requires human services agencies to provide voter registration services.
Des Moines, Iowa — Today, national voting rights groups ACORN, Demos, and Project Vote released a report highlighting Iowa's "best practices" for offering voter registration in human services agencies offices, as required by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The new study, A Promise Unfulfilled: Ten Years Later, finds most states noncompliant with this NVRA requirement, known as "Section 7", more than a decade after it was passed into law.
New York, NY — As the National Governor's Association convenes today in Des Moines, Iowa, the Right to Vote Campaign applauds Governors Vilsack, Warner, Guinn, Riley, and others who took action to restore voting rights for thousands of people with felony convictions.
New York, NY — As the National Association of Secretaries of State convenes today in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Right to Vote Campaign applauds Secretaries Pedro A. Cortes of Pennsylvania, Rebecca Vigil-Giron of New Mexico, and Cathy Cox of Georgia in their efforts to streamline the process for restoring voting rights to thousands of people with felony convictions by making registration information more easily accessible.
New York, NY — Today, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, joined by a bipartisan group of legislators, issued an executive order that restores voter eligibility to thousands of disfranchised Iowans. Previously, Iowa was among only a handful of states that permanently denies the right to vote to people with felony convictions. Felon disfranchisement has been criticized across the country for unfairly excluding citizens from the electoral process and for its discriminatory impact on minority communities, who are disproportionately represented in the U.S. prison population.
New York, N.Y. — Today, a coalition of New York State voting rights and civics organizations announced a press conference for Thursday, June 2, to urge a legislative conference committee in Albany to reject dangerous measures that would restrict voter access to the polls. All mayoral candidates have been invited to speak in support of New York City voters. Thus far, Gifford Miller has confirmed his attendance.
The debate on voter ID is a clash between some people, many of them conservatives, who believe more restrictions are needed on voting and registration to rein in fraud, and others who think the process needs to be opened up to more voters, according to Miles Rapoport, who as secretary of state for Connecticut from 1995 to 1999 oversaw that state's election process.
Long lines, challenged ballots and two of the closest presidential elections in the country's history have touched off a landslide of propo
New York, N.Y. — In an effort to reduce widespread barriers faced by New York City's voters, the New York City Council Committee on Governmental Operations, Chaired by Councilmember Bill Perkins, will hold a hearing on Monday, May 2, 2005, to consider legislation that would reform the city's administration of elections.
New York, N.Y. — New York, NY- Concerned about widespread misinformation about voter eligibility and proper voter registration and balloting procedures in New York State, Unlock The Block: Release the Vote, a New York voting rights restoration coalition that is housed at Demos and includes the Legal Action Center and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU, will testify at a public hearing in Westchester County on Monday April 18th.
Albany, NY — Members of the Joint Legislative Conference Committee on HAVA Implementation have made substantial progress. However, key issues remain unresolved.
At a news conference today representatives of good government, voting rights, and civil rights organizations voiced concern that legislation proposed by the Senate leadership would undermine HAVA's most important purpose - making sure that every eligible voter gets to vote.
The children of the New Economy have responded to the economic disparity and social insecurities in our schools, neighborhoods and workplaces with a backlash against government bashing.
New York, NY/Los Angeles, CA — A new report, Drawing Lines: A Public Interest Guide to Real Redistricting Reform, released today by Demos and the Center for Governmental Studies, shows that current legislation and proposed initiatives on redistricting all fail to sufficiently address the needs of the public, and suggests clear guidelines for much fairer redistricting.
Flaw-proof election machines. Easy-to-read ballots. Registration systems that catch double-voters or dead voters still on the rolls. For top state election officials meeting here, the pressure is on to make sure the election changes demanded after President Bush's disputed 2000 victory are in place by the Jan.
Steve Carbo, director of the Democracy Program, said voters should be allowed to cast provisional votes even if they vote in the wrong precinct, a practice many states now forbid.
New York, NY — Advocates for democracy had one strong reason to cheer on election night: higher voter turnout, especially among youth, reversed a decades-old trend of low electoral participation. Although they are still counting votes in almost every state, it is clear that about 120 million will have voted in the election — an increase of 15 million voters from 2000.
Florida Republicans in Jacksonville have been busy compiling and disseminating lists that many believe will be used to challenge minority voters today.
(A report, "Securing the Vote, a Report on Election Fraud," would suggest the Republicans' concerns are overstated. The paper, released by the nonprofit group Demos, shows that election fraud is at most a minor problem across the 50 states and does not affect election outcomes.)
New York, NY — Today Demos, a leading, national nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting democracy, voiced its strong support for rulings by U.S. District Judges Susan Dlott and John Adams barring all voter "challengers" from Ohio voting places.
New York, NY — Today Demos, a national, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting democracy, issued a statement regarding the brewing voter registration scandal in Nevada, where political consulting firm Sproul and Associates, sometimes operating as Voter Outreach of America, has been accused of destroying registration forms completed during a months-long voter registration drive.
New York, NY — Today Demos, a national, nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting democracy, voiced its strong support for South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson's recent decisions regarding counting voter registration applications without "double affirmations" of citizenship.
New York, NY — Anticipating a razor-thin election Nov. 2, many election officials and political commentators are making alarmist and inaccurate claims that "new" voter registration procedures will enable voter fraud.
However, election fraud is at most a minor problem across the 50 U.S. states, and does not affect election outcomes, according to a 2003 study being re-released today by Demos, titled "Securing the Vote: A Report on Election Fraud."