New York, NY — Demos, a leading national public policy organization, denounced the passage of the House of Representatives bill (H.R. 4844) also known as the "Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006," which would require all voters to obtain and present government-issued photo ID by 2008, and present proof of citizenship before voting in 2010.
New York, NY — Today marks the publication of a groundbreaking new book on the moral landscape of America, THE MORAL CENTER: How We Can Reclaim Our Country from Die-Hard Extremists, Rogue Corporations, Hollywood Hacks, and Pretend Patriots (Harcourt Press, September 11, 2006; ISBN 0-15-101151-6; $24.00), by David Callahan, co-founder and Senior Fellow at Demos, a national public policy organization. In THE MORAL CENTER, Callahan argues that nothing's the matter with Kansas: Americans voting their values are responding to a real moral crisis.
In recent years, citizens, the media and political experts have expressed growing concern over redistricting--the process of drawing new district lines to determine which residents will be grouped together when electing representatives. This concern has focused on the steady decline in competitiveness in congressional and legislative districts across the country and the recent efforts of several states to redraw legislative districts mid-decade to gain partisan advantage.
New York, NY — The organizations listed below respectfully submitted public comments today seeking improvements in draft New York State Database Regulations.
WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Supreme Court today announced its decision in Randall v. Sorrell, a case addressing the constitutionality of Vermont's comprehensive campaign finance law, passed in 1997.
Stuart Comstock-Gay, Executive Director of the National Voting Rights Institute, which defended the law alongside the state of Vermont, had this statement on the decision.
New York, NY — Today the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, Demos, and the Legal Action Center, three leading national public policy organizations, praised the New York Assembly Committee on Election Law for passing the Voting Rights Notification and Registration Act on June 14th, a bill that would reduce barriers to voting by individuals with felony convictions.
Boston, MA — The National Voting Rights Institute (NVRI) and the State PIRGs Democracy Program released a study today that found there is no support for the notion that campaign contribution limits hurt challengers. In fact, according to the study, contribution limits can work to reduce the financial bias that traditionally works in favor of incumbents.
Columbus, OH — Ohio's noncompliance with a federal voter registration law could land the state in legal jeopardy, according to a letter sent by several national voting rights and election reform organizations to Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. In the letter, dated May 12, 2006, Blackwell was warned that Ohio's continuing failure to comply with a 13-year old federal law that requires states to offer voter registration to its low-income citizens could lead to a lawsuit. A prominent national law firm has already taken the first step in initiating litigation against the state.
New York, NY and Boston, MA — This week, Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action and the National Voting Rights Institute (NVRI) announced that they have signed an affiliation agreement. Longtime allies on national and state election reform campaigns, the Demos / NVRI collaboration will combine the strategy and resources of two of the nation's leading public policy and advocacy organizations.
The United States faces major challenges in sustaining a strong middle class in the decades ahead. Rapidly changing, often volatile economic conditions are making it more difficult to enter the middle class -- and stay there. Even as the bar to a middle class life is raised higher, economic opportunity is fading. As a result, the most rapidly growing groups in the U.S. -- particularly African Americans and Latinos -- face growing obstacles to entering, and staying in, America's middle class.
The Brennan Center for Justice, Demos and the Legal Action Center call upon the New York State Board of Elections to end the systematic practice of illegally disenfranchising thousands of eligible voters. A survey of 63 local election boards conducted late last year by the Brennan Center and Demos found that more than one-third of local boards, including four in New York City, are disenfranchising former prisoners and probationers who are eligible to register and vote under state law.
New York, NY — Many of New York's local boards of election are systematically and illegally preventing thousands of eligible New Yorkers from registering to vote, according to a new study released by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and Demos.
New York, NY — Today, Demos, a national, non-partisan public policy organization that studies economic security issues in the United States, announced the launch of the new Around the Kitchen Table online. Published at www.aroundthekitchentable.org, this monthly news journal offers commentary, analysis and fresh perspectives on how national economic trends in debt, assets, education and income play out around the kitchen tables of individuals and families in America.
New York, NY — Today, Demos, a national election reform and voting rights organization, issued the following statement condemning the passage of new restrictive voter ID requirements in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Georgia. Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue have already signed the bills, while the bills in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania will arrive at their governors' desks next week.
New York, NY — Today marks the release of a groundbreaking new book; STRAPPED: Why America's 20- and 30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead (Doubleday; On-Sale January 17, 2006), written by Tamara Draut, Economic Opportunity Director at Demos.
Boston, MA — A Poll commissioned by the National Voting Rights Institute (NVRI) revealed overwhelming support for election campaign spending limits as a way of improving the fairness, honesty and integrity of elections.
This new Demos report, published in collaboration with Business Ethics Magazine, explores growing efforts by state and local governments to ensure corporate accountability. It looks at the changing role of state treasurers, labor pension funds, and others working to demand more responsible business practices at a time when national reform proposals have been stalled in Congress.
Washington, DC — American families are turning to credit cards to make ends meet in an increasingly volatile economy, according to The Plastic Safety Net: The Reality Behind Credit Card Debt in America, a new report released today by Demos and Center for Responsible Lending.
American families are struggling in an increasingly volatile economy defined by job instability, continued layoffs in the guise of "downsizing", and declining employee benefits--factors augmented by new trends like outsourcing and unfettered trade. The result is a fragile alliance between workers and employers-- and families and the economy. At the same time that American households have become more vulnerable, our economic safety net has steadily eroded.